TrainSmart: The Medical Device Educators’ Podcast

This week Liz and Rachel dive into their conversation with Trey Morton on building training programs for your expanding product portfolio. They discuss the benefit of utilizing physicians to teach this new content to both physicians and reps as well as important watchouts to ensure it remains authentic and effective. In addition, they look at when, why, and how to pull reps from the field for trai...

This week Liz is joined by Trey Morton, Senior Director, Professional Education and Sales Training, and, as his LinkedIn rightly proclaims, "All-around Awesome Guy." Liz and Trey discuss what companies need to consider about training their sales forces as they add products to their portfolios. They discuss when to pull sales reps out of the field for in-person training, the balance betwe...

Join Liz and Rachel as they debrief the conversation with Becky Lai on the journey to standard of care. They dive into best practices for using training to drive adoption, engage KOLs, and create a respected brand. In 2025, we're embarking on a MedDevice Training Journey: From clinical trials to standard of care. Join us all year long as we explore training at each stage of the product life cy...

Liz is joined on the podcast by Becky Lai, Chief Strategist and VP of Marketing, to talk about the true North Star of commercialization: standard of care. Their discussion reframes success as more than building a product—it’s about building a market where the product is trusted, adopted, and indispensable. Together, they explore how purposeful training, meaningful KOL engagement, and a clear strat...

As you grow and scale out of early start-up mode, there will come a time to hire an internal training department. But when? And who? This week, Liz and Rachel break down the interview with Heather Ramsey diving into what to look for in an internal training team. They cover key qualities to prioritize, the differences between hiring from MedDevice vs. L&D, and how consultants can help bridge th...

When is it time to move from a training consultant to a full time hire? In this episode, Liz sits down with Heather Ramsey, Director of Client Learning and Development for OneDigital, to discuss just that. In their conversation, they explore when to hire, who to hire, and how to align that hire with the business strategy. Along the way, they define what makes a good trainer and some of the common...

This week, Liz and Rachel discuss the interview with Marnie Hamp and the importance of staying relevant post-launch. In their conversation, they focus on the need for training, marketing, and sales to all have ears in the field and strong collaboration among departments so that the needs of the reps and the customers can be met. In addition, they discuss the need to cross-train clinical reps and s...

Our guest this month is Marnie Hamp, a seasoned marketing executive who gets the importance of partnering closely with the training team, not only at launch, but in post-launch as well. She and Liz discuss best practices for continuing momentum, including knowing your targets, developing strong partnerships between clinical reps and sales reps, and listening in to what is actually happening in the...

This week Liz and Rachel break down the interview with Tony Recupero as they discuss commercial training and the meeting of technical and selling skills. They reflect on the power of informal mentors, the need for good questions, and how to reinforce marketing messages within clinical training. They end their conversation reflecting on how they've changed their minds over the course of their caree...

In 2025, we're embarking on a MedDevice Training Journey: From clinical trials to standard of care. Join us all year long as we explore training at each stage of the product life cycle. Need help developing your clinical trial training strategies? Contact us at training@cumbyconsulting.com . Related Resources: Tony Recupero is President, Commercial Operations of SI-BONE. Tony leads SI-BONE’s c...

In this episode, Liz and Rachel dive into the interview with Sarah Keenan about commercial training. They discuss their thoughts on a competency model, how and why to certify (or not), and the benefits of developing a learning culture. The episode ends with a reflection how training starts with trust: without it, your training just won't be effective. In 2025, we're embarking on a MedDevic...

This week Liz is joined by Sarah Keenan, VP of Commercial Excellence, to discuss the importance of building physician and rep competency for commercial success. In their conversation they dive into how to create a learning funnel, assess competency, and partner with hospitals to track training. Listen in for how to create a culture of learning at your organization. In 2025, we're embarking on...

In this episode, Liz and Rachel discuss Liz's interview with Sandy Waugh Ruggles on the importance of developing a go-to market strategy with specific physician targets. They share best practices for getting specific on who to target first, and how that information impacts the training process. In 2025, we're embarking on a MedDevice Training Journey: From clinical trials to standard of ca...

Are you ready to launch? This week, Liz is joined by Sandy Waugh Ruggles to discuss go-to market strategy. In their conversation, they discuss the importance of identifying targets early and training commercial reps on those targets so that they can best sell the product. Sandy shares why she recommends utilizing psychographic descriptors for targeting and the importance of gaining alignment on th...

This week Liz and Rachel dive into the interview with Liana Mari-Gordon on building best practices during the clinical trial. They share what stood out to them and how they've seen Liana's comments play out at other organizations. In 2025, we're embarking on a MedDevice Training Journey: From clinical trials to standard of care. Join us all year long as we explore training at each stag...

In this episode, Liz Cumby is joined by Liana Mari-Gordon, an expert in mechanical engineering and surgical training, to discuss best practices throughout the clinical trial phase of medical devices. Liana shares her experiences of learning how what "looks good on paper" may need to be updated when the device is in the hands of a physician. They delve into the importance of standardizing training,...

This week, Rachel and Liz discuss Liz's conversation with Nada Hanafi on the FDA approval pathway and how training can be used to mitigate risk. They share what they learned from Nada about the process and their insights for developing curriculum that has high standards to ensure patient safety. In 2025, we're embarking on a MedDevice Training Journey: From clinical trials to standard of care. Joi...

Liz is joined by Nada Hanafi to talk all things clinical trials. They start by defining the clinical trial pathways and all the acronyms used. Then, they discuss how training can be used as a mitigation measure for avoiding risk, exploring the benefits and drawbacks for this approach and how the strategy can be modified along the process. Learn more about the process and how the answer is often "i...

Liz and Rachel dive into Liz's interview this week as they discuss competency exams for clinical support reps. As they do so, they share their insights into how creating assessments first can drive curriculum development and contribute toward a successful trial. In 2025, we're embarking on a MedDevice Training Journey: From clinical trials to standard of care. Join us all year long as we explore t...

Liz is joined by Dr. Varun Malhotra on the podcast this month to discuss clinical competency exams for clinical support reps. As both a practicing physician and an industry leader, he shares invaluable perspective on both how a rep should act in the OR and how companies should prepare reps to do so. In 2025, we're embarking on a MedDevice Training Journey: From clinical trials to standard of c...

This week, Rachel and Liz discuss their key thoughts and learnings from Liz's interview with Shienal Patel. They dive into how learning about the procedure in the clinical trial phase can impact the trial itself and the product for years to come. They also discuss the need for a strong clinical trial training strategy, especially as the FDA is requiring different investigators for different ph...

Shienal Patel joins Liz in this episode to discuss how having strong investigator and clinical rep training strategies can impact the success of your product in the trial and into commercialization. In their discussion they explore why it's important to invest in training during the clinical trial, considerations for the level of training that needs to be offered, and the possible consequences for...

In this episode, Liz and Rachel discuss Liz's conversation with Kelly Carty about developing procedural consistency during the clinical trials. They'll share the best practices they've learned for training with the Instructions for Use (IFU) and procedure guide and share their own opinions about FDA-mandated training. Tune in and learn why this procedural consistency is the base of the...

Liz kicks off this year's Medical Device Training Journey by interviewing Kelly Carty, who advises medical device companies on regulatory strategy throughout the product lifecycle. During their conversation, they dive deep into the clinical trials process, from how to develop the IFU to implementing best practices into a procedure, and how mandatory training can be a mitigation measure in the...

In this episode, Liz and Rachel discuss how their predictions played out over the course of the year and share what they expect to see as trends in 2025. Get inspired for the year ahead as you think about what we could see in 2025! Related Resources: We'd love to partner with you! Email training@cumbyconsulting.com . Connect with us on LinkedIn:   ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠ Cumby Consulting⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠...