Terri Taylor, one of our clinical application specialists (CAS), talks about the importance of clinical workflow knowledge and the day-to-day life of a CAS.
1: Tell us about why you initially joined Mindray?
After travelling around so many hospitals I realised I was seeing more and more Mindray equipment. I saw one of their stands at a show & tell day and the devices just looked so modern, way more advanced than the competition. At this point I was beginning to miss clinical work from my NHS days, so when the job at Mindray came up, doing CAS work for this interesting new company, it all made sense to me.
2: What does your role entail?
Because the CAS team has that mix of clinical and technical experience, we can get involved in pretty much anything. I’ve worked on tasks across the customer journey, starting with the initial show & tells, then site visits, unboxing, training, and installation support.
As a key point of contact between the customer and Mindray, we can also offer post-install support where systems/configurations need to be reviewed or modified. There’s a lot of variety; one day I could be working with clinicians to help them come up with a new configuration, the next I might be physically putting monitors up on the walls and helping move patients over to new systems. It all depends on what the customer needs.
3: How has the role changed since you started?
The first few months of covid were a big change from what the CAS team were used to. We couldn’t go out on visits so we used that time to develop more online resources that customers could use remotely. We introduced an online library of videos and education materials to help customers keep up to date on their training. Then, once all the PPE and sterilisation protocols had been worked out and we could visit again, we added those new materials to our training packages. Now we can deliver training and education remotely, in-person, and via self-directed videos & guides so it’s a really streamlined system.
4: What is your proudest moment at Mindray so far?
After such a long year of dealing with covid and helping set up the new training methods it was great to be awarded the CAS & Marketing Employee of the Year for 2020. Professionally, that was probably my proudest moment so far. Clinically, my proudest moment was seeing one of our South Yorkshire customers installing Mindray into their intensive care unit. It was their first high-acuity install and took a lot of teamwork and preparation, so seeing the project complete was a proud moment for me.
5: How critical is it that clinicians are supported by people that understand the workflow?
It’s a confidence thing. Clinicians can understand the benefits of the Mindray devices but they want to be confident it will work within their own environment. Particularly in high-acuity projects, I think the mix of clinical and technical experience that CAS offer is an important factor in establishing that confidence. Customers like that there are clinically-trained people on the supplier-side to support them; they know that we understand their challenges and goals. Of course it’s a team effort to help customers achieve that clinical vision, bringing in different parts of Mindray at every stage, but CAS are often the first point of contact so we have to be able to communicate confidently with the customer.
6: What have you gained from working at Mindray?
The variety of day-to-day work has meant I’ve definitely developed stronger organisational skills. Balancing all the different tasks that CAS can get involved in, across the whole customer journey, has been a learning curve but now I have a better understanding of how long things take and what will be required.
7: What key principals have guided you in your career and been key to your success?
I think in any clinical job you’ve got to have respect for other people’s workloads and priorities. Everyone is thinking about the patients, so you’ve all got the same end goal, but I think respecting people’s time, like nurses, goes a long way to developing a good working relationship. Having empathy for the people you work around really helps.
8: What do you enjoy doing outside work?
I’m really into crossfit so I spend a lot of time throwing myself into that, but if I’m not in the gym I love being outdoors. I live on the edge of the Pennines so it’s a perfect place for walking.
