© Copyright AAMI 2015. Single user license only. Copying, networking, and distribution prohibited.
Features
Using Athletics to Grow Stronger on the Job By Stephanie Stephens
A job in healthcare technology management (HTM) is anything but “8 to 5.” You’re committed to doing the best job possible— before, during, and after work. But you also need to “have a life,” and stay well, right? In his book, “Leading the Life You Want: Skills for Integrating Work and Life,” author Stewart D. Friedman suggests that the work-life concept is actually “a misguided metaphor.” “The idea that ‘work’ competes with ‘life’ ignores the more nuanced reality of our humanity,” writes Friedman, who is the practice professor of management at the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania. “It ignores the fact that ‘life” is actually the intersection and interaction of the four domains of life: work or school; home, or family; community or society; and the private realm of mind, body, and spirit … Conflict and stress aren’t inevitable. Harmony is possible.” In pursuit of your own harmony, learn how your well-rounded peers have made peace with the 24/7 aspects of life in the faster lane and have used fitness to cope and thrive.
He reviews his values list every six months to ensure behavior remains consistent with his goals. For his body, he regularly does weightlifting and yoga, calling the latter “very therapeutic.” He’s also committed to spending quality downtime with family and friends for support and fun. Huffman aims to be a role model for his employees. “That seems to be working, since we have a low voluntary turnover,” he says. “I also want to exceed the expectations of my employer.”
About the Author Stephanie Stephens, MA, is a freelance writer, producer, and multimedia expert. E-mail: stephanie@ stephaniestephens.com
Make the Mind-Body Connection Waking up and checking his e-mail at 3 a.m., then falling fast asleep again is nothing new for Tim Huffman, who is manager of biomedical engineering at Baylor Scott & White Health in Grapevine, TX. “I’m the watchdog,” he says. “I balance a reasonable workload, but there’s no vacation.”
Working out together creates great office morale, says Sandra Calderon, with co-worker Edwin Tanchez (far right) and former work team member Ralph Navarette (center).
Biomedical Instrumentation & Technology March/April 2015
105
© Copyright AAMI 2015. Single user license only. Copying, networking, and distribution prohibited.
Features
When J. Michael Shepherd gets physical to fields. “I like to expand my working knowlalleviate the natural stresses of work and “to edge, and lately that’s been computer let off steam,” he does it with a mixed form of networking,” he adds. martial art called Lotus. A biomedical Shepherd shares that “keep going and equipment technician II at Grande Ronde growing” philosophy with Robin N. Faut, Hospital in La Grande, OR, he values Lotus’ biomed/IT at Cerner Connectivity in Olathe, multipurpose applications. MO. “The best HTM profes“Lotus helps me disconnect, sionals continuously learn and Diversity of keep fit, and strengthen both do different things, many of knowledge creates physical and mental disciwhich don’t connect to work,” a diversity of pline,” he says. He also likes to Faut says. walk—either with or without He’s mindful of the philosounderstanding. his dogs—and remains a phies of the Tao Te Ching, a committed self-starter. classic Chinese text of trans“I use a resistance band and do push-ups lated poetry. Its principles help him see and sit-ups,” Shepherd says. “I only do things in the bigger picture, he says, citing a exercise I can do at home. Going to the gym recent example. has always felt depressingly like “Just because you aren’t getting a signal being on a hamster wheel.” here, doesn’t mean the problem isn’t a server “All of this, away from work, His commitment to fitness has two buildings away,” he says. “In our jobs, we helps me clear my mind and paid off handsomely: Shepherd have to think about pneumatics, physiology, troubleshoot so I can calm down has lost 35 pounds. and hydraulics—beyond our training in For mind-sharpening, Shepelectronics. Diversity of knowledge creates a in a crisis when I need to.” herd studies other scientific diversity of understanding.” — Robin N. Faut, biomed/IT disciplines such as biology, An avid practitioner of Tai Chi, Faut calls it physics, and virology, and he stays “meditation in motion.” It’s a series of slow, on top of current news in those focused movements accompanied by deep breathing. “Tai Chi helps me learn to do the contrary thing to what my natural instinct might be telling me to do,” he says. He also does woodworking, motorcycle repair, and home beer brewing. “I just took a metal-working class,” he says. “All of this, away from work, helps me clear my mind and troubleshoot so I can calm down in a crisis when I need to.”
Run Toward a Balanced Life
Mike Vohsen participated in a Tough Mudder competition to stay fit.
106
Biomedical Instrumentation & Technology March/April 2015
Being on the run is a way of life for Michael J. Vohsen. This operations manager in clinical engineering service for SSM Health—Integrated Health Technologies in St. Charles, MO, runs marathons and half-marathons. He trains up to six times a week to help balance nine-hour workdays and de rigueur housework. “When I run, everything just seems clearer,” he says. He often runs at 9 p.m. and absorbs the bounties of nature at night, another soothing experience. “I saw the full moon, and it illuminated a deer and a giant owl the other night.”
© Copyright AAMI 2015. Single user license only. Copying, networking, and distribution prohibited.
Features
He’s serious, and has done two Ragnar Relay Series runs—200 miles shared by teams of 12 competitors. Vohsen also did a Tough Mudder Competition, a 10-12-mile militarystyle obstacle course that meant navigating a polar plunge ice-water tank, massive climbing walls, and a field of live electrical wires. Brains meet brawn with equal importance. Since becoming a manager, Vohsen has earned his bachelor’s in business administration and is midway through his masters. He’s devoted to his two younger children, and to his church. “It’s a big part of my life,” he says. Although she wasn’t “big into working out” earlier in her life, Sandra Calderon changed course. Now a BMET supervisor at INOVA Clinical Engineering in Falls Church, VA, Calderon noticed she was gradually gaining weight. She took charge of her appearance and her health—now she weighs less than in high school. She joined INOVA’s weight loss challenge and used the P90X extreme home fitness program, often working out 1.5 hours a day for six days in a row. Now she says she’s sick less often, and like Vohsen, she does mud and obstacle races. At work, she walks up flights of stairs and encourages her colleagues to do the same. “I pulled in my teammates,” she says. “I come to work a lot happier, more energetic, and with less stress. Working out together after real work creates good morale. It’s fun, and it keeps us healthy.”
“I pulled in my teammates. I come to work a lot happier, more energetic, and with less stress. Working out together after real work creates good morale. It’s fun, and it keeps us healthy.” — Sandra Calderon, BMET supervisor
Magnarelli started running in his late 30’s, married another fitness buff, and the couple worked out together. “I still have a treadmill in my home office and a machine that allows me to maintain upper body strength,” he says. His philosophy on aging actually also applies to work and life in general. “We cannot always control the inevitable ailments that confront us as we age, but there are many things we can do to prevent them or enable us to cope better with them.” n
Protect Your Healthcare Staff Protective Barriers Guidance Collection
Don’t Put It Off What you do today for mind and body can only pay off later, says Frank Magnarelli, age 75, of St. Petersburg, FL. A retired biomedical engineering manager who also worked internationally, Magnarelli has a few “If I knew then, what I know now” points to share. “No one ever told me that one of the most important things that I could do to prepare for retirement was to stay in good physical condition,” he says. “No one said that ‘It is of no value to be in sound financial condition if you can’t get out and enjoy a great dinner in a new restaurant, climb a flight of stairs or enjoy a walk, or bicycle ride, or play a game of catch with your grandchildren.’”
Protective Barriers Guidance Collection 2012
Includes PB70, TIR11, and ST65. Order Code: PBRB or PBRB-PDF List $300 AAMI member $180
Includes: Selection and use of protective apparel and surgical drapes in healthcare facilities (AAMI TIR11:2005)
Liquid barrier performance and classification of protective apparel and drapes intended for use in health care facilities
Processing of reusable surgical textiles for use in health care facilities (ANSI/AAMI ST65:2008)
(ANSI/AAMI PB70:2012)
Source Code: PB
To order call 877-249-8226 or visit http://my.aami.org
Biomedical Instrumentation & Technology March/April 2015
107
Features
Using Athletics to Grow Stronger on the Job By Stephanie Stephens
A job in healthcare technology management (HTM) is anything but “8 to 5.” You’re committed to doing the best job possible— before, during, and after work. But you also need to “have a life,” and stay well, right? In his book, “Leading the Life You Want: Skills for Integrating Work and Life,” author Stewart D. Friedman suggests that the work-life concept is actually “a misguided metaphor.” “The idea that ‘work’ competes with ‘life’ ignores the more nuanced reality of our humanity,” writes Friedman, who is the practice professor of management at the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania. “It ignores the fact that ‘life” is actually the intersection and interaction of the four domains of life: work or school; home, or family; community or society; and the private realm of mind, body, and spirit … Conflict and stress aren’t inevitable. Harmony is possible.” In pursuit of your own harmony, learn how your well-rounded peers have made peace with the 24/7 aspects of life in the faster lane and have used fitness to cope and thrive.
He reviews his values list every six months to ensure behavior remains consistent with his goals. For his body, he regularly does weightlifting and yoga, calling the latter “very therapeutic.” He’s also committed to spending quality downtime with family and friends for support and fun. Huffman aims to be a role model for his employees. “That seems to be working, since we have a low voluntary turnover,” he says. “I also want to exceed the expectations of my employer.”
About the Author Stephanie Stephens, MA, is a freelance writer, producer, and multimedia expert. E-mail: stephanie@ stephaniestephens.com
Make the Mind-Body Connection Waking up and checking his e-mail at 3 a.m., then falling fast asleep again is nothing new for Tim Huffman, who is manager of biomedical engineering at Baylor Scott & White Health in Grapevine, TX. “I’m the watchdog,” he says. “I balance a reasonable workload, but there’s no vacation.”
Working out together creates great office morale, says Sandra Calderon, with co-worker Edwin Tanchez (far right) and former work team member Ralph Navarette (center).
Biomedical Instrumentation & Technology March/April 2015
105
© Copyright AAMI 2015. Single user license only. Copying, networking, and distribution prohibited.
Features
When J. Michael Shepherd gets physical to fields. “I like to expand my working knowlalleviate the natural stresses of work and “to edge, and lately that’s been computer let off steam,” he does it with a mixed form of networking,” he adds. martial art called Lotus. A biomedical Shepherd shares that “keep going and equipment technician II at Grande Ronde growing” philosophy with Robin N. Faut, Hospital in La Grande, OR, he values Lotus’ biomed/IT at Cerner Connectivity in Olathe, multipurpose applications. MO. “The best HTM profes“Lotus helps me disconnect, sionals continuously learn and Diversity of keep fit, and strengthen both do different things, many of knowledge creates physical and mental disciwhich don’t connect to work,” a diversity of pline,” he says. He also likes to Faut says. walk—either with or without He’s mindful of the philosounderstanding. his dogs—and remains a phies of the Tao Te Ching, a committed self-starter. classic Chinese text of trans“I use a resistance band and do push-ups lated poetry. Its principles help him see and sit-ups,” Shepherd says. “I only do things in the bigger picture, he says, citing a exercise I can do at home. Going to the gym recent example. has always felt depressingly like “Just because you aren’t getting a signal being on a hamster wheel.” here, doesn’t mean the problem isn’t a server “All of this, away from work, His commitment to fitness has two buildings away,” he says. “In our jobs, we helps me clear my mind and paid off handsomely: Shepherd have to think about pneumatics, physiology, troubleshoot so I can calm down has lost 35 pounds. and hydraulics—beyond our training in For mind-sharpening, Shepelectronics. Diversity of knowledge creates a in a crisis when I need to.” herd studies other scientific diversity of understanding.” — Robin N. Faut, biomed/IT disciplines such as biology, An avid practitioner of Tai Chi, Faut calls it physics, and virology, and he stays “meditation in motion.” It’s a series of slow, on top of current news in those focused movements accompanied by deep breathing. “Tai Chi helps me learn to do the contrary thing to what my natural instinct might be telling me to do,” he says. He also does woodworking, motorcycle repair, and home beer brewing. “I just took a metal-working class,” he says. “All of this, away from work, helps me clear my mind and troubleshoot so I can calm down in a crisis when I need to.”
Run Toward a Balanced Life
Mike Vohsen participated in a Tough Mudder competition to stay fit.
106
Biomedical Instrumentation & Technology March/April 2015
Being on the run is a way of life for Michael J. Vohsen. This operations manager in clinical engineering service for SSM Health—Integrated Health Technologies in St. Charles, MO, runs marathons and half-marathons. He trains up to six times a week to help balance nine-hour workdays and de rigueur housework. “When I run, everything just seems clearer,” he says. He often runs at 9 p.m. and absorbs the bounties of nature at night, another soothing experience. “I saw the full moon, and it illuminated a deer and a giant owl the other night.”
© Copyright AAMI 2015. Single user license only. Copying, networking, and distribution prohibited.
Features
He’s serious, and has done two Ragnar Relay Series runs—200 miles shared by teams of 12 competitors. Vohsen also did a Tough Mudder Competition, a 10-12-mile militarystyle obstacle course that meant navigating a polar plunge ice-water tank, massive climbing walls, and a field of live electrical wires. Brains meet brawn with equal importance. Since becoming a manager, Vohsen has earned his bachelor’s in business administration and is midway through his masters. He’s devoted to his two younger children, and to his church. “It’s a big part of my life,” he says. Although she wasn’t “big into working out” earlier in her life, Sandra Calderon changed course. Now a BMET supervisor at INOVA Clinical Engineering in Falls Church, VA, Calderon noticed she was gradually gaining weight. She took charge of her appearance and her health—now she weighs less than in high school. She joined INOVA’s weight loss challenge and used the P90X extreme home fitness program, often working out 1.5 hours a day for six days in a row. Now she says she’s sick less often, and like Vohsen, she does mud and obstacle races. At work, she walks up flights of stairs and encourages her colleagues to do the same. “I pulled in my teammates,” she says. “I come to work a lot happier, more energetic, and with less stress. Working out together after real work creates good morale. It’s fun, and it keeps us healthy.”
“I pulled in my teammates. I come to work a lot happier, more energetic, and with less stress. Working out together after real work creates good morale. It’s fun, and it keeps us healthy.” — Sandra Calderon, BMET supervisor
Magnarelli started running in his late 30’s, married another fitness buff, and the couple worked out together. “I still have a treadmill in my home office and a machine that allows me to maintain upper body strength,” he says. His philosophy on aging actually also applies to work and life in general. “We cannot always control the inevitable ailments that confront us as we age, but there are many things we can do to prevent them or enable us to cope better with them.” n
Protect Your Healthcare Staff Protective Barriers Guidance Collection
Don’t Put It Off What you do today for mind and body can only pay off later, says Frank Magnarelli, age 75, of St. Petersburg, FL. A retired biomedical engineering manager who also worked internationally, Magnarelli has a few “If I knew then, what I know now” points to share. “No one ever told me that one of the most important things that I could do to prepare for retirement was to stay in good physical condition,” he says. “No one said that ‘It is of no value to be in sound financial condition if you can’t get out and enjoy a great dinner in a new restaurant, climb a flight of stairs or enjoy a walk, or bicycle ride, or play a game of catch with your grandchildren.’”
Protective Barriers Guidance Collection 2012
Includes PB70, TIR11, and ST65. Order Code: PBRB or PBRB-PDF List $300 AAMI member $180
Includes: Selection and use of protective apparel and surgical drapes in healthcare facilities (AAMI TIR11:2005)
Liquid barrier performance and classification of protective apparel and drapes intended for use in health care facilities
Processing of reusable surgical textiles for use in health care facilities (ANSI/AAMI ST65:2008)
(ANSI/AAMI PB70:2012)
Source Code: PB
To order call 877-249-8226 or visit http://my.aami.org
Biomedical Instrumentation & Technology March/April 2015
107
