A U.S. national BMET Apprenticeship Program recently launched by AAMI has gained a valuable new employer partner. Crothall Healthcare (Crothall), a U.S. healthcare support services provider, will be hiring ten biomedical equipment technicians (BMETs) in its Healthcare Technology Solutions (HTS) division within the year.
“AAMI’s apprenticeship program will allow us to diversify our talent pipeline further and ensure our company culture, protocols, and processes are instilled in our team from the very first day,” says Codi Nelson, CBET, Crothall Healthcare Technology Solutions program director.
AAMI’s BMET Apprenticeship Program, recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor, combines traditional education with up to 6,000 hours of on-the-job learning. Prospective BMETs are hired by program partners in their area, who then provide them with training and paid work experience, as well as cover expenses for the requisite educational courses.
Crothall HTS provides a valuable perspective for apprentices working with evolving and increasingly networked medical device technologies, and the company offers clinical engineering service solutions for clients nationwide, including diagnostic imaging repair services, transparent medical equipment management, and medical device cybersecurity.
Crothall HTS’s broad reach across the country is just one reason why Danielle McGeary, vice president of HTM at AAMI, is thrilled to call them an employer partner for the growing BMET Apprenticeship Program, she says, “With Crothall HTS participating in this national program, prospective BMETs will have more opportunities to get the hands-on experiences that are so necessary for this crucial field.”
Applicants interested in apprenticing at Crothall can find postings on the company’s career page: https://www.crothall.com/careers/
“An apprentice could be someone who’s ready for a career change, has an interest in the field but doesn’t have the means or life flexibility to go to college at this point in their life, or it could be someone just out of high school or in high school,” says McGeary. “This program is intended to bridge that gap to get them the training they need to be successful while concurrently helping to facilitate the strong healthcare technology management pipeline the field so desperately needs right now.”
Employers who take part in the program, McGeary added, benefit from having entry-level workers on their payroll they can train to their particular equipment and service specialties.
“If an employer wants someone to stay after the apprenticeship ends, they’ll already be up to speed—they won’t need retraining,” she says.
Featured image: Jarmaine Strickland (BMET II) and Gabriela Wojciak (BMET I), Crothall Healthcare. Photo: AAMI