{"id":3495,"date":"2018-10-14T22:59:34","date_gmt":"2018-10-14T22:59:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=3495"},"modified":"2019-05-03T07:55:00","modified_gmt":"2019-05-03T13:55:00","slug":"tstc-alumna-looks-to-inspire-women-to-pursue-medical-repair-field","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=3495","title":{"rendered":"TSTC Alumna Looks to Inspire Women to Pursue Medical Repair Field"},"content":{"rendered":"

(WACO) \u2013 Rosie the Riveter, the World War II symbol of a woman\u2019s working world, is still important today to Texas State Technical College alumna Rhiannon Thurmond.<\/span><\/p>\n

A small doll version of the icon is Thurmond\u2019s travel companion on work assignments as a working manager for the regional branch of Ultimate Biomedical Solutions in Magnolia. Thurmond\u2019s Rosie the Riveter carries a tool bag and is an inspiration for her work.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI get in my truck and see her hanging there and say to myself, \u2018We can do it,\u2019\u201d Thurmond said. \u201cBe the example you would want your kids to see. This speaks to my heart as I have two girls. My youngest is in second grade and my oldest is in high school. I hope they see me doing great things and walk away inspired. I was a single mom when I started at TSTC.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of Thurmond\u2019s job duties include meeting monthly preventive maintenance and corrective quotas, negotiating contracts and helping to purchase new medical devices for clients. Her work is done at surgical centers, emergency rooms and imaging centers in the Austin, Dallas and Houston areas.<\/span><\/p>\n

She recently received certification from Penlon, an international company specializing in anesthesia, intubation, oxygen therapy and suction equipment.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day is a new opportunity to assist in the growth of my company,\u201d Thurmond said. \u201cI provide as much value as I can by offering new, dynamic ideas to improve our task management software, business processes and new account acquisitions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jobs for medical equipment repairers are expected to grow to more than 49,000 through 2026, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Woodlands \u2013 Houston \u2013 Sugar Land area has the highest number of medical equipment repairers in the state with about 850 workers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Roger Bowles, a TSTC instructor in the Biomedical Equipment Technology program, is encouraged by the number of jobs available in the field for graduates.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s wide open,\u201d he said. \u201cThey just need to be flexible about where they need to go.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Thurmond grew up in Bryan and San Marcos. She was influenced to pursue her career by her mother-in-law, an emergency room trauma nurse.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have always enjoyed tinkering with electronics,\u201d Thurmond said. \u201cI used to tear apart my brother\u2019s fire engines for the LEDs to make flashlights so I could stay up late and read after my mom said it was lights-out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Thurmond graduated in 2006 from TSTC with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Biomedical Equipment Technology.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I went to TSTC, there were only a handful of us gals, and by the end of the semester, I believe there were only two in my graduating class,\u201d Thurmond said. \u00a0\u201cIf you are a female interested in the Biomedical Equipment Technology field, don\u2019t let that stigma that a woman can\u2019t do well in the technology field stop you. Put on your boots, be confident and absorb everything like a sponge.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to www.tstc.edu<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"TSTC<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(WACO) \u2013 Rosie the Riveter, the World War II symbol of a woman\u2019s working world, is still important today to Texas State Technical College alumna Rhiannon Thurmond. A small doll version of the icon is Thurmond\u2019s travel companion on work assignments as a working manager for the regional branch of Ultimate Biomedical Solutions in Magnolia. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-waco"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3495"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4342,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3495\/revisions\/4342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}