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You might have seen all the seriously amazing (and literally life-saving) equipment in hospitals, but have you ever wondered how it gets there, who teaches the staff how to use it, and who makes sure it won’t break down? That’s all part of Jessie Muchena’s job, and we asked her to tell us all about her role as an Implementation Specialist at GE Healthcare, and the path she took to enter this fascinating area of STEM.

Hi Jessie, please tell us about your role and how you ended up working in it.

I currently work as an Implementation Specialist at GE Healthcare. I previously worked as a Biomedical engineer in various hospitals. One of the sites I worked at got some new patient monitoring equipment and anaesthetic machines from GE Healthcare. As an engineer, I worked closely with some of the team from GE Healthcare. One of the people who inspired me was a lady I observed who was so poised in the way she did her job. She seemed to be enjoying it. I thought she was an engineer, but it turns out she was an implementation specialist. I told myself I wanted to someday do the job she was doing but didn’t think too much of it or explore it further. Months later, I found out about a new implementation specialist role within GE Healthcare, and I applied for it. I didn’t get the role the first time round but applied again when for the role was reposted. I got it the second time round.

Can you share with us a typical day working at GE Healthcare?

There’s nothing really typical about a day in my job because the role is so varied! One of the exciting things about my role is that I get to visit different customer sites depending on what I have going on. I usually drive to a hospital site where I am could be doing installations of new GE Healthcare equipment, supporting the customers by training them on how to use the equipment or general troubleshooting.

What’s your favourite part of your role and why?

My favourite part of my role is troubleshooting any problems that may arise and being able to resolve them. I also enjoy teaching the clinicians on how to use our equipment.

What are the top 3 skills that you need in your job?

Communication and customer service: you need effective communication skills to train users and collaborate with stakeholders

Technical Proficiency: strong knowledge of the products the customers are buying from us and understanding and knowledge of product implementation processes, system configurations, and troubleshooting.

Project management and problem-solving: ability to manage multiple implementation projects efficiently and strong analytical skills to diagnose and resolve implementation challenges

We know it’s not always plain sailing; have you faced any setbacks during your career? How did you overcome these?

 I wouldn’t necessarily say setbacks, but definitely challenges. One of my biggest challenges in my current role was integrating my technical knowledge/skills (Biomedical engineering) with clinical knowledge/skills (Implementation). I’ve had to learn how to transfer my knowledge of how to troubleshoot and repair medical equipment to explaining to a clinician how it works on a patient. This has meant learning and understanding medical terminology and using that to understand how something like a monitor is used on a patient.

I have overcome these challenges by spending a lot of time increasing and improving my knowledge and asking for assistance from my colleagues when I don’t know the answer to a question or don’t have a solution to a problem.

How did you end up pursuing a career in engineering? What steps did you take during school to get here?

To be honest, I never actually thought about a career in engineering until I got into university. My dad was a doctor, and he wanted me to follow in his footsteps. I had no passion for medicine so in the end we agreed on Pharmacy (this was still not a passion of mine). To cut the long story short, I missed the grades for Pharmacy and was given the option to go through clearing instead. I came across the Medical engineering degree and applied for it. The options I was given was to do this for a year and if my grades were good enough in my first year, I’d be allowed to transfer to Pharmacy. I finished the first year completely in love with the field and opted to stay on instead. I’ve never looked back since them. I believe I was always meant to be an engineer because during my school years, I was always involved in JETS club (Junior, Engineers, Technicians and Scientist) and was always either fixing items around the house or breaking them to find out how they operated.

What are your top tips for a young female interested in a career in engineering?

I have a few tips for those who are interested in pursuing a career in engineering:

Explore different fields of engineering; engineering has many branches – biomedical, mechanical, electrical, civil, aerospace, software, etc. Try to explore different areas through work experience/internships, or hands-on projects to find what excites you the most

Develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills; engineering is all about solving real-world problems. Work on projects, join STEM clubs, or engage in creative problem-solving activities

Don’t be afraid to speak up; engineering is still male dominated in many areas, but your ideas and contributions are just as valuable. Be confident in expressing your thoughts and advocating for yourself.

Find a Mentor or Role Model; connecting with female engineers or professionals in the field can be inspiring and helpful

Stay resilient and Keep learning; engineering can be challenging, but persistence is key. Stay curious, embrace challenges, and continuously learn new skills to stay ahead.

The Smallpeice Trust is privileged to once again partner with both GE Healthcare and Leonardo this summer to deliver Girls Into Engineering, an immersive and enriching, three-day residential course at Loughborough University.

Learn hands-on skills such as soldering and circuit building, discover the different areas of engineering open to you and explore the future of exciting technologies such as AI.

We have spaces remaining for aspiring young female engineers aged 12-14, including some fully-funded places, thanks to the generosity of our partners.

Click the link below to reserve yours.