Work Experience in Medtronic, Galway.
For my first day in Medtronic, I was shown to the lab that I would be based in. This lab was called D/A (Design Assurance). This lab tests new ideas that have been designed in R & D (Research and Development)for the company to make sure they work. First of all I was given an introduction to what the lab does and what it specifies in. It specifies in dealing with coronary problems for the heart e.g stents or balloons. I learned that a balloon is used to open an artery that is full of cholesterol or plaque to let blood flow through and to prevent a heart attack or stroke. I was given a tour of the lab and shown what each of the machines did. For example I was shown a machine called a zwick. This machine simulates a patient on a surgeons table. A test that I was shown on it was a simulation of a catheter being put inside a person to deploy a balloon with a stent into an artery inside the heart. The purpose of this test was to see if the catheter would bend around the body or heart to get to the artery without breaking or blockage. I also learned basic lab rules. I had to wear a lab coat and safety glasses at all times in the lab and tie back my hair in case it got in contact in any machinery. I also had to wear gloves if i was handling some stents/catheters as they were coated with a drug called zotarolimus. This is used so cholesterol dosen't grow of the stent.
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I was in the D/A lab for most of it observing tests. Then there was a meeting about quality which I thought was very interesting to see what work meetings are like and how they are handled. This was a meeting to make sure hat the quality of the products of Medtronic were at a high standard. Each department had to sit at a table and were given an area of quality control. We were given booklets of all the regulations and new rules that are to be brought into the company. Each table had to come up with questions to ask the head of the area of quality given and people were asked to sign up for the quality management team. After this meeting I was moved to a different lab called the Functional Lab and Met Lab. In the functional lab technicians and engineers examine products to make sure a batch made is suitable for a patient to use. The test that I was shown was called 'fatigue balloon testing'. This was to see if it can hold as much pressure as its supposed to. At the end of each day there is a meeting with the supervisor to see what work had been done in the day and to sort out the work for the next day.
On the final day of work experience I got to see the business side of the company. I loved my week experience in Medtronic as I learned alot about medical design and factory operation. Although this would not be my career path, it was interesting to see this line of work. |