The most successful cardiovascular perfusionists are highly organized, detail-oriented people who work well with others — just like Lorena Araujo. Last year, Araujo had a unique opportunity to demonstrate these skills — honed during her time at Rush — as a student intern working alongside organizers of a national cardiothoracic conference in Florida.
Specifically, Araujo worked as part of the committee coordinating the Sanibel Symposium, a three-day event held in Florida. As part of her role, she helped set up rooms, check in attendees, introduce presenters and make sure the sessions flowed smoothly. She even sang karaoke during a social reception to set the tone and ensure everyone was having a good time.
“As a student, I was very lucky to get that position,” Araujo says of the event, which draws hundreds of perfusion leaders from around the world. “I made so many connections, and it was an amazing experience so early in my perfusion career.”
Of the seven students selected as interns from perfusion schools across the country, four were Rush students. Logan Hislope, Cris Parra and Maegan Harris from Rush also served as student interns.
Prepared to lead
Araujo, who is from Tampa and originally from Uruguay, says the perfusion program at Rush helped her feel confident and prepared while working on the symposium. “The program teaches us organizational skills and teamwork, and that definitely helped me be part of this committee,” Araujo says. “During the symposium, the committee trusted me and knew that I would be organized and work as part of the team.”
Rush’s cardiovascular perfusion program curriculum includes an organizational leadership course, which students take during their second year. “Our organizational leadership class focuses on tools and strategies necessary to become an effective leader in organizations of any size,” says Julie Collins, MS, CCP, LP, cardiovascular perfusion program director.
Another second-year class on health care quality and operations management is designed to expose students to principles that foster continuous improvement and help organizations deliver higher quality care. “Quality control and quality assurance have become part of our jobs as perfusionists, and at the end of the course, students have a solid understanding of how to ensure that evidence-based medicine is being delivered,” Collins adds.
Simulation sessions in the lab also give students an opportunity to role-play different operating room scenarios, so they can feel prepared when real-life emergencies arise. In addition, students can build leadership skills by assisting faculty on collaborative projects, such as training respiratory therapy students and cardiovascular/pulmonary fellows on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) systems, which perfusionists manage.
“I feel lucky to have found my passion...I could talk about perfusion for hours, and I would choose this program over and over and over again.”
Students also can demonstrate their leadership by representing Rush at events like the American Society of ExtraCorporeal Technology (AmSECT) Perfusion Bowl, a “Jeopardy!”-style game for students held at the AmSECT International Conference.
In 2023, Rush students earned second place. Many Rush perfusion students also present at national and local conferences, where they have an opportunity to build their communication and networking skills, Collins says.
Making the right choice
Such leadership opportunities give students like Araujo an edge when they are ready to join the workforce. After Araujo graduates from Rush this year, she hopes to work as a perfusionist in Chicago.
Before finding the perfusion program at Rush, Araujo had not found a career path that spoke to her. While working as a certified nursing assistant on a cardiovascular ICU, she helped take care of post-operative heart patients. There, she learned about perfusion from one of the ECMO specialists. Intrigued, she started observing surgeries and learning more from the perfusion team, who encouraged her to apply to a few programs.
When she interviewed at Rush, the attentive faculty made her feel comfortable right away. “I felt like, if they’re this involved just in the interview process, I can only imagine how involved they are with the students who actually make it into the program,” she says.
Reflecting on her decision, Araujo is grateful for choosing perfusion and Rush. “I feel lucky to have found my passion,” she says. “I could talk about perfusion for hours, and I would choose this program over and over and over again.”