Former Kuluin resident Kristin Caddell would love to have attended graduation at USC in mid-April to receive her Bachelor of Biomedical Science degree, but she had a very good excuse for missing it.

Kristin, 21, recently started work in Taunusstein, near Frankfurt in Germany, as a medical device technician and patient educator for a company that works across Europe. It is exactly where she had hoped to find employment in her chosen field.

“My boyfriend is German, so I had been searching for possible jobs in Germany for a while,” Kristin said.

“When I spotted an English-speaking job at a medical company in the same town where he currently works, it sounded like it was truly meant to be.

“I was very happy to discover that overseas employers recognise and highly regard the qualifications and experience that USC has equipped me with.”

Kristin, who attended Mountain Creek State High School, will be assisting and educating patients on how to use respiratory and sleep devices and rehabilitation equipment in various hospitals and clinics.

As part of her degree, Kristin completed a 10-week clinical measurement training placement at Prince Charles Hospital in the Cardiac Sciences Unit where she worked with doctors on carrying out exercise stress tests, ECGs, cardiac catheterisation lab procedure monitoring and electrophysiology lab monitoring.

USC Biomedical Science discipline leader Dr Mark Holmes said he was delighted to hear about yet another USC graduate securing a great job.

“A few years ago we introduced structured clinical training opportunities for our biomedical science students, such as the one Kristin undertook in cardiac science, to help them find work in this very competitive field,” he said.

“We now have a number of USC graduates working in cardiac, respiratory and sleep diagnostic units throughout Queensland hospitals. Kristin’s experience indicates that our students are also competitive in the European job market.”

— Jane Cameron