About B.Braun
"Sharing Expertise" - B.Braun
B.Braun is a private German company that is one of the world’s largest medical device companies having over 65,000 employees worldwide working for it, more than 300 subsidiaries in 64 countries, and a portfolio of approximately 5,000 healthcare products. The company specializes in solutions related to infusion therapy, orthopedics, neurosurgery, anesthesia, extracorporeal blood treatment, spine surgery, clinical nutrition, wound management, infection prevention, and surgical technologies. Bbraun not only has the aim to protect and improve the health of people globally but, with its slogan “Sharing Expertise”, the company values collaboration with stakeholders as they believe greater things can be accomplished with cooperation.
Roles & Responsibilities
For the 6 months of internship in B.Braun, I worked as an assistant service engineer under the company's Automated Infusions Systems (AIS) department. I had been assigned to three main hospitals: Changi General Hospital (CGH), Khoo Tech Phuat Hospital (KTPH), and KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH). My responsibility at each hospital was to perform the preventive maintenance, repair, and commissioning of B.Bruan Space system devices, mainly the Infusomat Space and Perfusor Space. In addition to the servicing duties, I was also tasked to carry out administrative work. Below is a gallery of my day-to-day job as an assistant engineer.
Projects
Halfway through the internship, National University Hospital (NUH) started a company project called the Bedside Communication Controller (BCC) configuration project. The first aim is to integrate a bi-directional data communication system between the pump and the hospital’s network through software updates. The second aim is to incorporate a new “force look-up“ system by uploading new modification data files. I collaborated with B.Braun's sales representatives and NUH's IT team to implement this mass software update.
Contributions to B.Braun
To increase the efficiency of administrative processes, I created a simulation of a B.Braun dedicated cloud computing software for vendors and users to share documents with each other. This software enables the digitalization of paperwork and can be used by any department under B.Braun and is not limited to the AIS department I was working under.
Reflections
A brief summary of what I have learnt
Technical Knowledge and Skills on Medical Devices
I am now much more confident and knowledgeable about how infusion and syringe pumps work and their inner workings. This is thanks to the help of many people that I have met throughout my internship. They were all very friendly and willing to share their expertise with me.
Communication Skills
From the day-to-day informal conversations to the serious discussions that I have with my supervisor and colleagues, I observed a great improvement in my communication skills as well. It is now easy for me to switch back and forth between a professional stance and a casual attitude, maintaining both professionalism at work and good relationships with the people I work with.
Cross Cultural Experiences
Working alongside BME staff provided me with lots of cross-cultural experience as well. The BME department is filled with staff of different races and ethnicities that inevitably adopt different ways of communication. Through communicating with them on a regular basis, I am now able to adjust the way I speak and interpret their words to avoid any misunderstandings or conflict.