As the son of a nurse and an engineer who ended up in sales, Zach Goetz wasn’t really sure at first what path he wanted his career to take. Inspired by his parents’ jobs, he decided to combine all of those things together and pursue a career in medical device sales. Now he has landed a highly competitive summer internship with Stryker, one of the top medical device companies in the world.
Originally from Minnesota, Goetz has spent most of his life in Greenville. He came to Clemson as part of the Arthrex Scholars program, which gives students the opportunity to intern with Arthrex, as well as take classes specifically focused on medical device sales. Goetz is a health science major with a minor in business administration. He is also earning an Orthopaedic Medical Device Product Specialist certificate from the Department of Bioengineering.
Because he was interested in learning more about how devices are made, he took an interest in 3-D printing, which led him to become an intern with the Clemson Makerspace. He splits his time between the Makerspace locations in Cooper Library and the Watt Family Innovation Center, assisting users with the technology and equipment, such as the 3-D printers, sticker printers, vinyl cutter, laser engraver and more. Goetz said his work in the Makerspace helped give him a leg up on getting the Stryker internship.
Zach Goetz works with a 3-D printer in the Adobe Studio and Makerspace
“They loved that I already knew how to work with 3-D printers and that I was familiar with the engineering and design side of things,” he said. “The R&D side of medical devices uses 3-D printing all the time to model and test products, so they were impressed that I knew how to do those things.”
Goetz has also already racked up some impressive credentials in sales. He is a part of the Sales Innovation Program in the Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business, and won the Clemson Sales Innovation Social Selling Competition in 2023. He is also on Clemson’s Sales Competition Team and placed fourth overall in his division in the University of Toledo Invitational Sales Competition that same year. He has performed so well in competition that he is now working as a coach to help other students on the team.
All of these factors led to him being one of 48 students from across the country selected for the Stryker internship in Albuquerque, New Mexico this summer. More than 11,000 students applied for the opportunity. In his role as a total joint arthroplasty sales intern, he will be in the operating room with surgeons as they perform joint replacement surgeries. He will shadow sales representatives and help ensure that surgeons have all the sterile components and tools they need from Stryker.
“A lot of the job is knowing about the actual implants themselves and what each individual patient needs, because everybody is a little different,” he said. “For example, if someone is allergic to nickel, we have to use a different implant for them. Or if a surgeon needs a different type of screw than he thought or a certain type of mesh, we have to have that in our bag and be able to provide it for them in that moment.”
Goetz says the combination of medicine, engineering and sales is the perfect fit for him.
“When I grew up, I always wanted to go into something medical, but I also really like talking to people and having face-to-face interaction,” he said. “I completely fell in love with this field — it ties together everything I want to do.”