Engineered to cure

As a student, Sarang Deshmukh had five engineering options to choose from: civil, electrical, mechanical, production and biomedical. He picked the last option because he felt this field dealt not only with engineering technology but also medical operations, human anatomy and physiology and was thus likely to prove more interesting than the other choices.

The fact that the healthcare sector was growing in India also made this decision easy for Deshmukh, now a biomedical engineer at Fortis Hospital in Delhi’s Vasant Kunj.

Biomedical engineering brings engineering principles and techniques to medical science. Practitioners of medical science use equipment designed to diagnose and treat ailments; engineers create and maintain these.

In the course of his day, an engineer will also look after medical equipment, surgical instruments and medical furniture from a sphygmomanometer (BP apparatus) to a CT-MRI machine. He will also resolve breakdown and maintenance issues.

The coolest part of his job, says Deshmukh, is the feeling of satisfaction he gets after the successful completion of his job. “Most of the time, we face application-related problems such as improper plug-ins, sensor disconnections, wrong switch selection, and improper accessories installation. Here, biomedical engineers play a major role and provide training to the user for continual improvement,” he says. But what is disappointing for him is the fact that in healthcare, “we are still 30 years behind the Western countries. Most government healthcare institutions are not aware of the importance of biomedical engineers and their roles.”

Before his engineering studies, Deshmukh was under the impression that a biomedical engineer was just meant to carry around a toolkit and rectify problems. “But it is not like that. Biomedical engineering is the strongest beam of the healthcare industry, with an engineer playing a major role in quality improvement, patient care, safety, hospital organisation and management. These things surprised me,” he says.

Deshmukh’s advice to budding professionals is, “Every field has got its own beauty and growth. Apply theoretical knowledge to the practical; pay more attention to the practicals; always attend seminars, conferences and exhibitions. Visit, at least once a month, hospitals or manufacturing units. And stay updated on the new technology being launched.”

Industry indicates that biomedical engineering has a bright future in India and abroad. With the opening up of state-of-the art hospitals and advent of medical tourism, lots of opportunities exist for engineers in hospitals, with manufacturers, laboratories, research and development centres and quality forums.

Job opportunities are available in diverse spheres like medical equipment manufacturing, orthopaedic and rehabilitation engineering, molecular, cellular and tissue engineering in public as well as in corporate sectors. Opportunities also exist for orthopaedic engineers who develop prosthetics, artificial limbs, hips and other organs.

Writing skills also play a part in the success story, “as it will help maintain relationships, communications, co-ordination and evidences with vendors, internal departments and all other sources,” says Deshmukh.

Author: Syed Amir Ali Hashmi

Date: 21st Jan., 2010

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