Archana Rajendran

Archana Rajendran of Westerville believes she wouldn’t be where she is today without the hands-on training and personal attention she received from the professors at Central Ohio Technical College (COTC). Rajendran participated in a recent photo shoot celebrating the fact that her alma mater was ranked number one in Ohio and number 19 in the nation by PayScale in its 2016-17 College Salary Report ranking the best community and career colleges by salary potential. “I had an echocardiogram done to me once, and it looked interesting. I used to be a medical assistant as a part-time job, and I wanted to go back to school for something more and this caught my attention,” said Rajendran. “I started at COTC when I was 38 years old in the Diagnostic Medical Sonography (DMS) program.”

Rajendran is originally from India. She came to the United States 22 years ago because of her husband’s job. She is quiet and reserved and has a thick accent. So, when she started doing clinicals at local hospitals as part of the DMS program, she kept to herself. Rajendran said her lack of assertiveness hurt her because hospital administrators did not think she knew what she was doing. “I didn’t speak up, and I was not able to get a lot of scan time during clinicals. I almost gave up. I thought maybe this job wasn’t for me,” said Rajendran. “However, my instructors stood up for me. They got me the scan time I needed working with Loretta Damron and Maryellen Orsinelli, who are dedicated clinical instructors at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. I am thankful that everything worked out well for me.”

Rajendran graduated from COTC in 2012 and is now an echo technologist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus.

“We do ultrasounds of the heart. It is very important for the patient, and the echo does benefit them. It’s a quick and easy approach. It’s not invasive for the patient,” said Rajendran. Rajendran said she knows the training and hands-on experience she got in labs at COTC and in the clinical environment prepared her well for the job. She is doing something that helps to save lives, and loves being able to help others in a time of need.

“It’s worth the price of going to COTC, and the training they give you. You can get right out in the world working. It works out very well,” said Rajendran. “I love my job, and I would not be here if it wasn’t for COTC.”