ECPI University Medical Assistant and EET Students Working Together

At ECPI University’s Richmond/Moorefield campus, students from the Electronics Engineering Technology (EET) program teamed up with Medical Assistant students on a project that bridged two vastly different career paths. One of the campus externship sites is the Virginia Cancer Institute where patients receive treatments through a catheter port. To better prepare students who may someday have an interest in working with cancer patients, faculty member Dr. Azima Shethwala created supplementary instruction on the techniques used to treat patients using catheter ports.

[Tweet “It began when the campus installed a new 3-D printer.”]

It began when the campus installed a new 3-D printer. “In examining the capabilities, Dr. Shethwala and Dr. Paul Nussbaum came up with the innovative idea for the EET students to review the exact specifications used to manufacture the plastic catheter ports and create them for the Medical Assistant students to use in practicing their skills,” says ECPI University Richmond/Moorefield Campus President Ashley Richards. “This collaborative learning experience allowed the EET students to not only create something by applying what they have learned in their program, but to also expose them to seeing and understanding how their creation would actually be used and, in this case, how a patient would benefit.

“Students from both programs participated in a hands-on application of the skills learned in their program and, as an extension of that, also understand that they were, and always will be part of a collaboration amongst many individuals from many different disciplines in order to perform their duties and provide quality service and care to their patients and customers.”