Esmeralda Estrella’s students in a Texas State Technical College classroom are huddled around incubator equipment used to support newborns in neonatal intensive care units.

The students on the Harlingen campus are enrolled in TSTC’s biomedical equipment technology program. Students jot down notes and confer in teams as if they were in real-world hospital settings. Maintenance and repair of this sort of equipment is critical to sustaining and saving lives.

“The equipment doesn’t get a rest,” Estrella said of the incubators, IV pumps, X-ray machines and ultrasound devices. “The equipment always needs to be running.”

Estrella herself worked for years at Doctors Hospital At Renaissance in Edinburg. She is also a graduate of the same program her students are now in under Estrella’s tutelage. The combination of classroom training and real-life experiences bring home what Estrella teaches daily.

“We’re the backbone of hospitals,” she said of biomedical equipment technicians. “I think COVID made people more aware that hospitals never stop working no matter what situations or circumstances arise.”

Biomedical technicians, she said, are critical to “taking care of everything” in keeping hospital operations going. 

“People started realizing we’re here, we exist,” Estrella said of the vital role technicians play in healthcare.

“Hi-Tech Mechanics”

Daniel Rendon is one of those students who Estrella says are willing “to get their hands dirty.”

Rendon commutes from Alton in western Hidalgo County to TSTC’s Harlingen campus. He is working toward an Associate of Applied Science degree in biomedical equipment technology. There’s also a medical imaging systems component to the program. It suits Rendon well in rounding out his skills and capabilities.

“We’re essentially hi-tech mechanics,” Rendon said. “It’s hands on. You can see what you’re doing.”

Fellow student Anthony Vega of La Feria was working at Home Depot. He was looking to improve on skills gained from a previous HVAC background and a lifelong fascination with tinkering and machinery.

“I’ve always liked tearing things up,” Vega said. “I want to keep bettering myself and this program is a good fit for my interests.”

A significant benefit for the program’s students is the frequent recruitment by major hospital systems in the Valley and elsewhere. 

“It’s ultimate job security,” Rendon said of acquiring skills that will always be in demand – and in great need.

Helping Others

It’s not only a matter of knowing how high-tech hospital equipment works and being able to repair and maintain the machinery.

There’s also understanding how the human body reacts to the equipment itself, and structuring and calibrating the machinery to the needs of individual patients. In that way, Estrella said, there is a theory side to what she and other instructors teach. 

“At the end of the day, we have to be there for doctors and nurses,” Estrella said. “The technology of the equipment we learn how to operate and maintain helps people stay alive.”

Ray Longoria, the biomedical equipment program director, calls it “seeing the product of our labors” in knowing machinery technicians keep operating at high levels, keep patients healthy, or in some cases, “bring a life back.”

Longoria was working as a master electrician over two decades ago when learning of TSTC’s biomedical equipment program in the early 2000s. He would enroll in the program, then graduate, and go on to work for many years at Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen. Longoria would return to TSTC to teach and eventually become the director of a program of which he is an alumnus. 

“I wanted to come back here to help change the dynamic in the field,” Longoria said. “I wanted to influence the mindset of students after the experiences I had out in the field. Our goal is to continue to provide high quality students and technicians to the industries we serve.”

Rendon is one student who’s ready and able.

“You can branch out with what you learn in this program to other industries utilizing computer and electronic technology,” he said. “But I want to work in a hospital. I like the idea of helping others.”