This semester has been stressful. I have a full schedule and a lot of projects due. Just this semester I started the Master's program. I have stayed busy with lots of studying and reading assignments. I am taking Blood Bank, Mycology, Chemistry, Hematology/Coagulation and a research class.

I must say it's been one of the hardest semesters I have had so far. However, graduation is within sight. We are in the final week of three of our classes and have finals next week. We will then continue with our two other classes, Research and Blood Bank. This is our last semester of classes. We will then be on clinical rotations and working on our research projects. I'm pretty excited about mine! Looking back on it all, I can't believe how much I have learned and how far I have come. It's exciting to see an end in sight.

As students, we are taught about laboratory safety and how to handle situations as they arise. However, you never know how you are going to react in a situation until you're faced with it head-on.

It's important to realize blood products could pose a threat to you. Even the slightest cut could expose you to a lot of bacteria and infectious diseases. 

A fellow student of mine was cut in lab by a test tube last week. I never realized until that moment how scary a situation like that could be--especially when it's someone you care about. I think the most important thing to remember is to stay calm, clean the area and get to health services immediately. You never know what you could have exposed yourself to.

My med tech class took a field trip to Lifeblood, based in Memphis, a blood processing and collection center. The trip was very educational.

I always thought when someone received a blood transfusion they were getting whole blood, but that's not always the case. Depending on the situation, the patient could just receive plasma or platelets, etc.

Seeing the process from beginning to end was intriguing as well. It takes a lot of time and precision to make sure you're separating the different components accurately and precisely. Unlike other areas of the lab, the blood banking profession is very closely regulated by the FDA because blood is considered a drug.

It was interesting to learn about all the quality control involved as well, from the blood products' temperatures to the effectiveness of the transport boxes the products are delivered in.

It's important to make sure you are giving the patient a safe blood product. I believe we all enjoyed visiting Lifeblood and seeing the blood bank laboratory in action. Some of us were also moved to donate blood!

 It took me a while to figure out just what I am passionate about. I was sitting in on the presentations at the GMABB meeting in Memphis, and I realized my passion. My passion is becoming a medical laboratory scientist,  so that I can help people.

I have a blog I started with ADVANCE to let people know about the profession and how to become a medical laboratory scientist. I am a member of ASCLS and I am the Tennessee Co-Student Delegate. I love the profession!

I do not know quite yet which area I fit into, although I am leaning towards microbiology and blood bank. I like being hands-on and not having to worry about troubleshooting instruments. I like figuring out the puzzle pieces.

My passion was literally right under my nose but for some reason it took something that was said in that meeting to make me realize that. I would love to have the privilege one day to say I helped save a life. I know I chose the right profession.

I am dreading blood bank, but is this worth me fretting over? Medical technologists in blood bank must be organized and accurate. I can do that!

Blood bankers type blood and match it to a donor for blood transfusions. Getting more interesting!

A mistake in blood bank can be fatal to the patient. This is what frightens me the most. However, blood bank seems to be a very exciting part of the lab.

Blood bankers get to help people for many different reasons. People need blood for transfusions, if the person has loss too much blood or they have cancer and their blood counts are low. A blood banker can be a lifesaver. This is what is going to get me over the hump--that and lots of studying!

While I was in Chicago at the ASCLS National Meeting, it was announced the NCA and ASCP BOR were to merge to create BOC. I know there was some that were apprehensive about this merger.

In my opinion, the merger gives more recognition to the laboratory and will help unite the profession. This was what our profession needed to help aid in giving laboratory professionals a voice and a sense of unity. This also gives practitioners control of the profession by allowing practitioners to write the test questions.

Some may say this field has an identity crisis because so many people were either going by medical technologists or clinical laboratory scientists. With this merge,r we get a new name and I think it is fitting--medical laboratory scientists. I know when I saw medical technology written somewhere, I automatically thought of all the instruments in the lab. The new name brings new meaning to the people behind the lab work. I'm excited to see the outcome of the merger.

The ASCLS National Meeting was an amazing experience. I met a lot of wonderful professionals and made some really great friends. I was amazed will all the excitement about the profession and how welcomed I felt. Students are the future of this organization and we need to keep this organization growing. As I discovered a lot of students are not aware of the importance of the organization and all the opportunities it provides. Being a part of a national organization allows you to become part of a network, a means of making lifelong friends, a support system, a voice for the profession, leadership skills and so much more.

I am now on the second week of my 3-week rotation in microbiology. I started today on the urine and stools bench learning how to interpret plates and what tests to run next.

This is the problem-solving part of microbiology, which so far is pretty interesting. My teaching instructor is always in a rush to get things done so I am not getting to learn as much as I had hoped. I am hoping my next instructor will be able to slow down and explain things to me. I understand the technologists are busy and need to get their work done in order to provide the best care to their patients, so there is not much time to slow down and explain everything.

There is a lot of work to be done in microbiology, from reading patients to performing QC. It's all so overwhelming for me as a student, but I'm catching on to a lot of it. I learned how to work the new VITEK machine. I have also learned how to set of QC on all the QC bugs the lab has. I was able to read some patient plates today but I had a lot of "no growths," which I can't complain about, because that's good for the patient! I also learned to set up EHECs, which test for the antigens for E-Coli 0H157.

On the first day of my microbiology rotation, I did not know what to expect. I got a tour of the hospital and a lesson on safety. I was then put at my first station, set ups, as this hospital calls it. I took worksheets with the patient information and tests ordered and found the specimen that matched it. I then plated the specimen to the appropriate media.

I also learned how Campylobacter grows in a 42 degree incubator with extra CO2. At the hospital it has its own special jar and incubator. Additionally, I learned how to screen for beta strep, gonorrhea, Clostridium difficile and learned how to make wet preps of yeast.

On the second day I was shown the QC that is performed every morning and how to change the gram stain solutions. I also discovered the joy of an automated gram stainer. I have been doing QC every morning now and I really got the hang of it. I really enjoyed setups. I learned which media to use--for instance, if I received a rectal swab and a lot of other things as well. So far I am really enjoying it. Next week I get to read plates on the stool and urine bench.

Honestly, I was a little nervous about my immunology rotation! However, once I met my instructor and started learning about the machine they used, it was not so bad after all.

At the hospital I was at, they have the Centaur XP which runs tests from HIV, Hepatitis A, B and C, BNP'S, testosterones, prolactins, etc. It was actually a pretty cool machine. It utilizes competitive and sandwich assays to measure what it's looking for.

A lot of the other tests, such as vitamin B12 and complement, are run in the chemistry lab. We did not have a lot of specimen but it took about an hour and a half to run controls, maintenance and calibrators. At the end of week, I was able to run the machine on my own. I had good lessons in quality control and troubleshooting.

I will never forget it is always important to mix up your controls! I had ordered controls and put them on the machine and we kept getting errors. It turned out I had forgotten to mix them before I put them on. Needless to say, we had to rerun the controls. It was a good lesson and one I will never forget!

I was also able to get to know a fellow student from another program. We had fun sharing stories and learning about each others' programs. We did not find too much of a difference between the two. She was in her second week of a 6-week rotation in the chemistry lab. I learned a lot and got to make friends with someone I may end up working with one day.

I had a good immunology rotation, now it's on to microbiology!

The annual ASCLS meeting is being held in Chicago in July. This is a great opportunity for students, because of all the valuable information and connections that can be found there. This meeting will serve as an introduction to the organization and give students an idea of what the organization is all about.

While there is going to be business at this meeting, there are also going to be opportunities to see new instrumentation and meet future employers. There will be booths set up at the McCormick Place where there will be all sorts of goodies handed out. There will also be scientific sessions that will range from the latest in molecular diagnostics to new advances in forensic pathology.

This will be an excellent place for future graduates who are going to be looking for jobs to meet laboratory professionals. There is going to be something for everyone, from the new student to the practicing medical technologist.

I will be at the meeting myself, and I hope to see you there!

My summer rotations kicked off with a good start in hematology. I was placed at Centennial Medical Center in Nashville. I really like working and learning with all the medical technologists there. There is never a dull moment!

I really learned a lot about working the Beckman Coulter analyzer. After about 3 or 4 days, I was able to run the hematology section--well, except for reporting results, of course. I had to be able to troubleshoot problems that arose, such as the dreaded "platelet clumps" flag, and of course, the many others. I also got a lot of practice with blood smears. I still can't say I'm an expert, but I am getting there. Practice makes perfect!

Manual differentials were my favorite. I was able to see sickle cell patients, leukemia patients, babies and the various types of anemia patients and many others. I had tests on calling segmented neutrophils from bands and myeloctyes from metamyelocytes. Some patients had some hard to call cells, but I learned some good pointers to help me identify the cells I was not sure about.

The manual retic counts were the most interesting on the babies in the NICU, as well as the one adult patient that we came across. I performed a multitude of sed rates on this really cool machine that speeds up the process from a 1-hour test to about a 15-30 minute test.

I did a lot more and learned a lot from my time in the hematology lab. It was great getting to put all the knowledge I had acquired in lecture and student lab to work. Now I have microbiology, chemistry and immunology to go!

As medical technology students, we are being prepared for the workforce. We are being taught to perform laboratory procedures in a timely and accurate manner. We are being taught to think about the theory behind the test, not that we are just running the test to see a positive or negative. We are learning about the new technologies and the modern ways of running tests manually.

Once we are out in a laboratory, we have to be able to think fast and logically and be able to work in stressful situations. The program I am inat UTHSC is preparing my classmates and I really well for the "real world." I am earning information I know I'll have with me for a long time. The medical technology field will never be boring as long as you're willing to keep learning!

Currently, there is a shortage of medical laboratory professionals. It has been stated before that the laboratory is a big part of patient healthcare, yet the laboratory is often overlooked. Therefore, how can we get students interested in the field and how can we get them to apply to the medical technology programs?

Recruitment is a big part of trying to remedy the problem. Going out to the high schools and even colleges and targeting those students who are not sure what they want to do when they "grow up" is a great idea. Tell guidance counselors in high schools about the field and let them in on the work laboratory professionals do.

Medical technologists are the key to helping doctors find treatments and underlying health problems. In Tennessee, you can skim through the employment section of the newspaper and come across multiple hospitals hiring medical technologists--the need is there and the demand is high. Students are almost guaranteed a job once they graduate. I know that would appeal to college students, especially those who have undecided majors.

I read recently that employers pay with much more than dollars--they pay with experiences, too. A chance to save a life is far more valuable than getting your next paycheck. Also, the medical technology field gives you the chance for lifelong learning and variety. You can work in microbiology, hematology, chemistry, immunology/serology, molecular biology, blood bank and others. You will never be bored!