Hospital-based clinical engineering
Shona Michael is Head of Clinical Engineering at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. She is a chartered engineer and member of the Institute for Physics and Engineering in Medicine.
At school I was always good at science - in particular, working things out. I went to Cambridge to do a natural science degree and found the applied stuff really got me interested, and I did as much material science as possible, closest to engineering.
I had no idea what to do after that. At the time, jobs for metallurgists were in steel and heavy industry. Thank goodness I didn’t go down that path – many of those industries have gone. Instead, I worked out that I wanted a job that involved people in a direct way, and I found a Masters in Biomedical Engineering at Guildford.
It was great. After that I got a research assistant job at a hospital in North London. I worked on special mattresses and cushions, and I stayed on to do a PhD. The technology had just come in enabling us to create individually-contoured seats from big blocks of foam, and the Occupational Therapy Department would often ask us for help. I realised I loved solving people’s problems, providing an innovative service.
I moved to Edinburgh to provide a small body support service in the hospital bioengineering department, and then went to Glasgow to manage a team of six. It was hard work, but we made a difference – helping bed-bound people to sit up after years lying down, for instance, through customised support.
Then I got a more senior job here in Leeds, and my role has gradually grown. Now I manage 80 engineering staff across the hospital trust, covering two major hospitals and several other sites. Hospitals are full of technology and equipment, and we deal with everything from electronic thermometers to anaesthetics machines. We make sure the right technology is in place, sometimes loaning it out from our library. We train staff, service and mend a huge range of devices, help develop practical equipment for people with disabilities. We service the medical equipment at a lot of GP practices, and support wheelchair services Yorkshire-wide.
It requires a lot of logistical planning. The hospital spends about six million on maintaining its equipment– though we are implementing cuts. I’ve been drawn to management because I can see how working as a team you can improve services and change things for the better. Its not always easy being the only woman, and I’ve recently acquired a mentor, a woman in senior management in a nearby hospital. I would really recommend this to any woman in a minority situation. My colleagues are very good, but this additional support is very helpful to me.
There are only four women in my team, including me. We get very few female applicants. Medical engineering has a direct and beneficial impact on people’s lives, and in some areas you have lots of patient contact. I hope that we can get more women into engineering and this profession in particular.
Comments
Ruth Wilson (moderator):
Hi Shona,
Welcome to the GetSET Women blog - you are our second contributor who is a member of the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine, and I am going to declare an interest, as I am trustee of IPEM.
I wanted to ask if you are ever involved in talking to schools, or showing them the equipment. As you say, lots of people simply can't picture a career such as the one you have, and so they don't think of going for it.
Shona:
Hi Ruth,
We get a few requests from younger people who want to come and have a look around - to the point where we are thinking of having a schools open day.
The enthusiasm and interest of students or people starting off on their career makes these type of interactions good fun.
Jim :
Hi,
How many many medical devices do you manage.
Helen:
Hi Shona,
As you may know the current government is promoting apprenticeships particularly apprentices at technical level. Is there a vocational route into your field? I noticed that in your early days at uni you were most interested in the applied aspect of your study. I would have thought that girls would be really interested in doing something that had real world application and obvious value. What do you think?
Larry:
Hi Shona,
It's very interesting to read your story. Less than 10 per cent of engineers are women, but I reckon, from what you say, that in your team of 80 engineers, only around five per cent of the workforce is female. I'm interested, because I thought this area of engineering might appeal to women because the NHS is a family-friendly employer and because the work has obvious benefits for patients and their families and this can make the work attractive to women. How do you explain the low representation of women in your field?
And congratulations - to get to such a senior position when there are so few women is a real achievement.
Shona:
Hi Jim,
Hi Jim,
We've got about 45,000 medical devices on the inventory. The Hospital Trust in Leeds is very large, so keeping track on everything is quite a challenge. We are currently going through a process of visiting all the clinical areas in the Trust and checking what's there. It may be some of the older medical devices have been disposed of without letting anyone know!
Shona
Shona :
Hi Larry
Assistive Technology is one aspect of Clinical Engineering where we do get applications from women. These are jobs where the engineer has to decide on the technology for a particular client, and then set up the technology to meet the person's requirements. I'm sure that, if we were able to employ more people in this area, we would have more women in the group.
There is a an aspect of Clinical Engineering where we are ensuring that the medical devices are available in the Trust where needed, are safe and in working order, and are replaced when necessary. Some may see this as a 'backroom' job and find it less attractive as an area to work. We are trying to take this closer to the front line of healthcare by doing equipment checks on the wards. This also ensures that we are clear what our clinical users have as priorities for medical devices.
Thank you for your interest.
Shona :
Hi Helen,
There is a new career pathway proposed by the Department of Health for Clinical Engineering (and other areas of Healthcare science), where it is possible to enter the field at different levels, and there is then a route for moving up through the different levels during a career. This should open up the vocational route into the Clinical Engineering field to a greater extent.
You are right about girls and women often being interested in the real world application and direct value of Clinical Engineering work. It is worth saying that the field is relatively small compared to other healthcare fields, e.g. medicine and nursing, and therefore there are fewer opportunities for people to get into this area of work.
Shona
Joanne:
Hi Shona
It's great to see a female Engineer in such a senior role. I'm an Engineer at the early stages of my career in a Medical Physics Department and it's nice to have a female role model who has proven that it is possible to reach the heights that many of us aspire to.
Shona:
Thank you, Joanne.
Brian Willetts:
Hi Shona,
Could you tell be a bit more about mentoring, how did your mentor help and how oftern do you meet?
thanks Danielle
Shona:
Hi Danielle,
I meet with my mentor every few months. These meetings are outside the scope of daily work, so there is an opportunity to reflect without being interrupted by everyday business.
Mentoring provides a forum to be challenged on whether there are different approaches to what I am working on, objectives that I have not even considered or skills that need developing. I find it particularly helpful to review areas of work where I have got stuck in this type of mentoring situation as, with help from my mentor, I can usually see a way forward.
I usually come away from mentoring with ideas, a plan and some energy!
Shona
Jem:
Hi Shona,
Reading your blog was really inspiring; I'm currently on the clinical technologist training course for the NHS and have a background in Biomedical Engineering (I even seriously considered the same MSc at Surrey), but I have difficulty picturing myself as a manager, especially in such a male-dominated arena.
What kind of barriers did you face on your journey to get to where you are now?
Jem
Shona:
Hi Jem
I think that I have been lucky in that opportunities have presented themselves which have been of interest to me. I have been on the look out for such opportunities and been ready to move between jobs.
I didn't consider the management side too much at the start of my career, but it is part of your role to improve something if you manage it and that can be very satisfying.
Shona
Subscribe by RSS
