Life Sciences

With more than 20 hospitals and medical institutions in Northeast Florida, there are plentiful career opportunities in patient care. Amber Gainer, RTR, CT, found her purpose providing patient-centered care as a radiologic technologist at Baptist Health.

“I take pictures all day long,” Gainer said. “There is nothing typical about my job. No two days are ever the same. I like that every day provides a new challenge and a new experience.”

Radiologic technologists perform X-rays and scans on all parts of a patient’s body for a variety of reasons. The images enable physicians to diagnose a disease, an acute condition or an injury. In addition to having the appropriate education in medical technologies, radiologic technologists are licensed and registered.

In 2013, Gainer took part in Tipping the Scale, a nationally recognized mentoring and advocacy program founded by Baptist Health and The Bridge of Northeast Florida. The program pairs Jacksonville high school students with Baptist Health team members who volunteer as mentors. The experience left a lasting impression on Gainer.

“I couldn’t see myself doing anything outside of health care,” Gainer said. “I was drawn to patient care and the sense of helping others.”

Gainer initially considered pursuing a career in veterinary medicine or pediatrics. She began her healthcare career working as a certified nursing assistant (CNA). After two years, Gainer wanted to take her career in a different direction.

Finding the right career resulted after Gainer began searching for opportunities and exploring different career pathways that appealed to her interests. She took advantage of shadowing to explore different jobs and discovered her passion.

“I had a job shadowing experience in the X-ray department and I fell in love with it,” Gainer said. “I knew it was the career for me.”

Gainer attended Florida State College at Jacksonville and Keiser University, where she earned an associate’s degree in Radiologic Technology and a bachelor’s degree in Imaging Sciences. After graduation, she earned her certification from the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists and was eligible to be licensed by the State of Florida.

Gainer returned to Baptist Health in 2019. Radiologic technologists play an important role in patient care. Gainer communicates with patients as well as physicians, nurses and other hospital personnel. Her job requires adaptability and working with others as a team.

“I enjoy being part of a system that helps people get better,” Gainer said. “My goal is to make every patient smile and to make sure I do the best for that patient.”

Gainer continues to advance her career with on-the-job training. In addition to her certifications in X-ray and CT, she is expanding her radiology expertise to include MRI modalities. She encourages everyone interested to consider and explore the vast opportunities in health care.

“There are so many career opportunities in hospitals and health care - more than most people realize,” Gainer said. “If you find something that interests you, pursue it.”

“No one grows up wanting to be an Ex Vivo Lung Perfusion Specialist (EVLP),” says Brandi Zofkie, General Manager of Jacksonville’s Lung Bioengineering facility in collaboration with Mayo Clinic Transplant Center. Brandi holds a BS in Biochemistry as well as MS degrees in both Public Health and Human Donation Science. Brandi initially used these skills and education in a non-profit space, serving in a procurement transplant coordinator role before making the transition into this aspect of biomedicine. Brandi has been on staff with United Therapeutics for seven years in an exciting career that saw her working in the Midatlantic, receiving training in Canada, and “transplanting” to Jacksonville.

Brandi’s current role can be traced to a scholarly project for a master’s program, which led her to make contact with a company to request some information and leading to a ventilator, pig lungs, and a dome to support her presentation. After beginning her career in the non-profit world, the relationships formed during the class project resulted in a hiring offer with United Therapeutics and six months of training at Toronto General Hospital, which created this niche within the biomedical space. United Therapeutics has the first EVLP service in the United States, including Brandi.

Organ procurement was Brandi’s focus, so this career transition to biomedicine initially felt risky. She wanted to ensure that she could still derive satisfaction from knowing that “every day, I did something to save someone’s life.” Brandi was used to working closely with families and transplant recipients seeking a variety of organs, so she was concerned the role would feel impersonal. However, fulfillment is still part of the work. To date, Brandi has helped ensure that well over 100 patients have received lifesaving lung transplants. She generates impactful results, but success is realized differently.

To best understand Brandi and her work with the Mayo Clinic via United Therapeutics, it helps to understand the context of this very innovative company for which she works, United Therapeutics. Dr. Martine Rothblatt, founder and CEO of United Therapeutics also founded what is now SiriusXM Satellite Radio. An attorney by trade, Dr. Rothblatt became an entrepreneur and later pursued her PhD in medical ethics after her daughter was diagnosed with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH). This patient population was too small to develop and sell medicines to assist those with PAH, so pharmaceutical companies were not willing to develop a drug that was just sitting on a shelf. Dr. Rothblatt started United Therapeutics to develop that drug now with multiple routes of administration (i.e., pump, inhalation, oral medication) to help patients like her daughter live. The next step after developing these drugs was to help influence more patients being able to receive lung transplants.

Less than 20 percent of all donor lungs are suitable for transplant. The EVLP process allows specialists like Brandi to support, maintain, and monitor donor lungs, as well as generate and analyze data to provide more information for decision making by the lung transplant program. The lungs are perfused with a blood-free solution and ventilated for several hours. A colleague of Brandi’s explains that the option to use EVLP can “help turn a ‘no’ into a ‘maybe’” regarding the availability for transplant of a donor lung, since these lungs would otherwise not have been used. Even lungs that fail may do so on the EVLP system rather than in the patient.

Donated lungs can be well-traveled before being transplanted. For example, a lung could be ex-planted from a donor on the west coast, sent to a Lung Bioengineering facility in Silver Spring, Maryland for evaluation, and then sent on to be transplanted at a center in other states including Illinois, Tennessee, or Florida’s Mayo Clinic. The company’s research studies are designed to show that lungs can come from anywhere in the continental United States.

Not only does Brandi need to understand the physical aspects of maintaining the lung, interpreting data, and providing information for physicians to make critical decisions about the use of the lung, but her role also involves non-medical, yet critical work creating inventory systems, writing standard operating procedures, and creating the structure for the department in their brand-new facility, expected to be live for transplants this fall. She also makes connections and develops relationships with the other providers that make operating a biomedical facility possible.

Brandi is excited for the potential of the industry, particularly as it relates to technology as a therapy platform to improve lungs that are currently unusable. Biomedical advances through future research could result in the rehabilitation and modification of lungs in the future, essentially making EVLP’s the “fixer uppers” of lungs to “flip” them to new owners. Brandi says, “We’re in startup mode. You wear a lot of hats and have to strike a balance to be successful. It’s really just about hard work and being dedicated to your mission. But, passion must be behind it. Don’t get into it without passion for it.” Good news for students in Northeast Florida? This field is growing rapidly, so the need for internships and a skilled workforce will only increase.

Loveann Burch entered the U.S. Navy a month after high school graduation and served for 14 years. In 2006, she qualified to advance to the medical personnel team, serving as a Corpsman in Orthopedics. This role is similar to a medical assistant, but with additional responsibilities.

In preparation to transition out of the military, Loveann began exploring educational options. She had taken college coursework throughout her career and wanted to transfer those credits. After careful research, Loveann chose the Biomedical program at Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ), earning a bachelor’s degree in 2018.

The program involves chemistry, anatomy, biology, physics, statistics, organic chemistry, quantitative analysis, scientific writing, critical thinking and communication. Loveann’s hands-on military experience set her up for success, as did the program’s format.

Loveann took hybrid classes, a combination of evening in-class labs and online coursework. As such, she began taking classes prior to fully transitioning out of the military service. This flexibility allowed her to balance family, work, and school commitments. An on-site counselor at the Navy college provided support in navigating both college and military cultures. “They went above and beyond to provide access,” Loveann says.

Loveann didn’t initially intend to utilize the articulation agreement between FSCJ and Nova Southeastern University. However, she decided to take advantage of this unique opportunity and applied for the competitive Nova’s Physician’s Assistant (PA) degree program. Loveann was accepted and will graduate in 2022.

After graduating from Nova, Loveann plans to serve as a Physician’s Assistant in Pediatric Orthopedics. She began orthopedic work in the Navy but also enjoys working with children. She’ll be able to assist babies with club feet and help set broken bones. She says, “Children have such a great bounce-back.” Loveann enjoys the pace of the Emergency Room, rushing in to assist patients with trauma, followed by assisting in the Operating Room. As a PA, she’ll assist throughout the multidimensional process of providing care.

Loveann shares, “Anywhere there’s a physician, you can work as a PA.” She was drawn to the field because her career pathway mirrors that of the military, with its emphasis on work-based learning. PA’s learn by doing. Loveann states that, “Unlike a Nurse Practitioner, a PA can learn a new specialty from a doctor first-hand rather than returning to school for several years. If you need a change of pace, feel burned out or have a lifestyle change, you have options. A doctor will make sure you are completely qualified in that aspect of the medical field. Looking at photos in a book and reading about an experience are very different than encountering a situation with a real person.”

Loveann’s Biomedical training will ensure an interesting career pathway. “It’s a great fit.”