9781422279847

“An Experience I’ll Never Forget” A medical laboratory scientist was asked to share a real-life story about an experience she had had with a patient that would stay with you forever. She responded: “When I started out as a laboratory assistant, we had a young lady diagnosed with AML, acute myelogenous leukemia. I went on two of her bone marrow aspirations. I saw the ups and downs of her condition. I watched as she participated in an experimen- tal drug trial across the state. I called in her critical test results to nurses and empathized with them over her situation. Over a year later, her cancer got worse and she developed various other health issues. One of her last wishes was to marry her high school sweetheart. The staff and nurses of the hospital put on a wedding for her in the garden, just outside the hospital. Pictures and videos of the ceremony were on the news and on our employee website. Tears streamed down everybody’s faces as we watched her marry her fiancé. A few days later she succumbed to her illness.”

Medical laboratory scientists are also extremely knowledge- able about how to collect and process biological specimens. This means maintaining the chain of collection, keeping the scientist safe, and keeping contamination low. Not only do medical laboratory scientists perform laboratory procedures,

10

Clinical & Medical Laboratory Scientists