College Relations - Recent Grads (The 411)

Pooja - Verification & Validation Engineer

R.K.N.E.C. India, Industrial Engineering, 2000
West Virginia University, Industrial Mgmt. & Systems Engineering / Safety & Environmental Management, 2001, 2004

Q: What first attracted you to MEDRAD?
A: Well, the first time I heard about MEDRAD was at our school’s career services, and I wanted to see what kind of a company it was, so I went on the Internet and I “googled” for MEDRAD. It took me a few minutes to realize that this was a company that was awarded time and time and over and over again as one of the best places to work for in Pennsylvania. This was a company that had the mission to produce quality healthcare products that would improve human lives and eventually save lives as well. And this was the company that had just been awarded the prestigious Malcolm Baldridge Award, which was presented by the President of the United States himself. And then I thought to myself, “Wow! If I could be a part of a company that is one of the great places to work for, has been recognized by the President of the United States, and its mission is to save lives, I would do great.” That is what attracted me to MEDRAD.

Q: How do you add value to MEDRAD?
A: I started my career at MEDRAD in 2004 as a Verification and Validation Engineer in the CV SBU and moved on to the CT SBU and became the senior Verification and Validation Engineer where I am responsible for testing CT disposable products. My group gets involved in the new product development process early on when we are defining the requirements. Then we write test plans, test protocols, and test the products. We test them hard, complete, and inside and out.

Q: How do you make a difference at MEDRAD?
A: Whenever I’m working on a project at MEDRAD, I always ask myself the question, “Have I done enough? Have I thought of enough that if this product goes out in the field and is used on my family members, I will be comfortable with it?” I would go to every length possible and go to every minute detail to ensure that this product… I’ll be comfortable with it when it’s used on anybody in my family or myself.

Q: Why choose MEDRAD?
A: If you were a new person walking into MEDRAD and you would pick somebody up from a parking lot; maybe pick up an operator from a manufacturing floor or pick up a senior VP from his office, they would all give you the same answer that I would give you now and that is just one word: it’s the MEDRAD culture. It is our culture that sets us apart from all the rest of the companies that are out there. It’s our culture that’s focused on customer satisfaction, which is why we offer very high quality and reliable products that are changing the way imaging is done every day. It is our culture that strives toward employee satisfaction. Managers take special care in making sure that the employees are satisfied and they are happy in what they do. It is our culture that mentors and develops its new employees. As a new employee myself, walking into MEDRAD, I found out that I was mentored at every step. People taught me what I needed to learn from them and I was presented with ample opportunities to progress my career.

Q: What is your most memorable experience at MEDRAD?
A: This is a very hard question for me to answer because every day that I walk into MEDRAD it’s a very challenging atmosphere, it’s fun, it’s very lively; but the one thing I can pick from many, many memories that I have of MEDRAD was actually a very sad incidence in my life. Last year, my mother-in-law passed away and my husband and I, my husband also works for MEDRAD, had to urgently leave for India. It was a weekend and I just made one call to my manager and I told her about the unfortunate incidence. In minutes, we started getting so many calls from our colleagues at work and I was very moved when one of the employees offered me her air miles so I could buy a ticket and go to India on the next flight. They also took care of dinner arrangements for us. These were such minor things, but we spent about two weeks because of the travel distances, and because of the ceremonies we had to stay there for about ten days. So after two weeks when we got back, our bereavement leave policy only allowed for five days, but then the HR department and our CEO told us that we did not need to worry about it and they would change the policy for us. So if you think about a company that can go to the length of changing the policy to make sure that its employees are well taken care of, that’s an excellent company to work for. That was a very moving and memorable experience for me personally.

Q: Can you talk about your career progression here at MEDRAD?
A: I started my career at MEDRAD in 2004 as an intern. I came in and was working as a human factors intern on cardiovascular products. I was just ready to get launched into the field. After that, I was hired full time in November of 2004 as a Verification and Validation Engineer on cardiovascular products. Soon after, there was an opportunity that came up in another SBU for a Senior Verification and Validation Engineer. Through the IPO process, the internal employment process, I applied for the job and I was hired for the senior role in 2005. In that role I was leading the verification and validation on injector products. In my career goal, I wanted to move ahead in operations and when I talked to my manager and expressed my interest in operations, we mutually decided that it would be better for me to move into leading the verification and validation of disposables instead of injectors. I took that lateral move from injectors to disposables and right now I’m supporting and leading the verification and validation of CT disposable products.

Q: Do you think there is a lot of opportunity for college graduates to advance in the company?
A: I think MEDRAD offers excellent career growth opportunities. Personally, my example, I’ve had three different roles and I have progressed in all of these roles and I’ve learned so much from all of the people around me. It’s a great place to work for; all of my managers have taken personal responsibility of making sure that I am getting closer and closer to my next career goals.