Selby Holder

Co-author with Nicholas Cram of both Basic Electronic Troubleshooting for Biomedical Technicians (August 2005) and Safety in Healthcare Facilities (May 2007), Selby Holder graduated from Connally High School in Waco, Texas, with honors in 1989 and only a year later graduated from Texas State Technical Institute (now Texas State Technical College Waco) with a Biomedical Equipment Technology degree. He was subsequently employed by Healthcare Biomedical Services of Waco and worked on a variety of medical devices including defibrillators, monitors, diagnostic ultrasounds, sterilizers, infusion devices, and more. Since 1999 he has been a certified biomedical technician. After the birth of his son–and therefore wanting to spend more time at home than on the road–Holder became an instructor at TSTC Waco in 2002. After serving as assistant department chair in Biomedical Equipment Technology and as Electrical/Electronics Core Cluster Director, he is currently the TSTC Waco Physical Plant Director.

Can you tell us about TSTC Waco's Biomedical Equipment Technology program and what kinds of job biomed graduates can expect to find?

TSTC Waco has the second largest biomed training program in the country after the Department of Defense and typically there are between 150 and 200 students a year in it. After graduation, there are three main areas that a biomed tech can go into. First, they can go in-house, which means they would work directly for a hospital. Second, they could work for a third-party; basically, this would be a separate entity from the hospital, but that company would service the hospitals and local clinics when necessary. Third, they could work for a manufacturer. About 60 percent go in-house and 20 percent each go to manufacturers and to third-party situations.

What educational background and industry experience did you have before coming to teach at TSTC Waco?

I have an associate degree in biomedical equipment technology. In addition, I have a national certification in biomedical equipment and probably eight different industry training certificates in sterilizers, ultrasounds, monitoring, infusion devices and physical therapy equipment. I also worked in the field for about seven years before coming here to teach.

What made you want to write Basic Electronic Troubleshooting for Biomedical Technicians?

It was the lack of troubleshooting books specifically made for the biomed field. Plus, out of Carr and Brown, the two authors who had produced a lot of the troubleshooting books (even when I was in school some 15 years ago), one author has passed away, and the other one hasn't updated the information in five or six years. So, there was a real need for a current version of a troubleshooting book.

If you were trying you to describe this book to someone who doesn't even know what biomedical technology is, how would you explain the book and its content?

It's basically an overview of electronic troubleshooting techniques used for medical devices. That is as generic as I can put it without getting too technical. It gives you a step-by-step knowledge of the main components of medical devices. It doesn't cover all equipment and their specifics, but in this book you have general techniques and main troubleshooting concepts that biomedical majors need knowledge of to work on equipment.

Is this an introductory book or a book for an advanced class?

You would have to have an electronics background to really utilize this book to its fullest potential. That's not to say no one could pick up this book and really understand it. But it would be an intermediate-level book. It's not basic and it's not advanced, because an advanced book would contain more depth into various devices.

Selby Holder may be reached by email at selby.holder@tstc.edu.