never dreamed that her part-time high school job cleaning test tubes at a community hospital would lead to a career as a manager of a physician office laboratory with a 75,000 annual test volume. But the on-the-job trained medical technician has managed to rise through the ranks to become laboratory manager of Physician’s Laboratories in Sherman, Texas, while maintaining a high quality lab that gets consistently good marks during its accreditation reviews.
Her career path began at a local community hospital in Sherman, where, for “pocket money,” she helped with lab maintenance, while also assisting with various procedures such as drawing blood samples, and running EKG equipment. “I learned how to draw blood by practicing on other lab aides at the hospital,” said Linda, “and in turn, I’ve taught others in the same way – we learn on each other.” In addition to drawing blood samples, she also was taught how to run a variety of laboratory tests under her manager’s supervision.
After graduating from high school, she married and started a family in the Sherman area. Interested in laboratory science, but not keen on hospital shift work, she decided to apply for a job at Essin Clinic in Sherman, a clinic practice consisting of 16 physicians and surgeons. The clinic’s laboratory staff then consisted of four medical technicians, two assistants and a manager, Dorothy Bishop, who took Linda under her wing and taught her medical technician duties, such as microscopic cell identification, bacteriology, and chemistry. Also, Linda was eventually taught to run the X-Ray department.
“While I didn’t have any formal training, I didn’t necessarily need to understand the underlying science behind each test in order to run it,” explained Linda. “Later, as our lab began to work with COLA, I began to better understand the reasons for the emphasis on quality control in the laboratory. And I came to appreciate having access to COLA’s training manuals and other resources which provide very clear guidelines for how to manage laboratory testing within quality guidelines.”
The physician office laboratory job also offered another major benefit -- a flexible working schedule, enabling her to spend more time with her children during their school years. “Dorothy let me work a full-time, part-time schedule which enabled me to be home when my children got out of school, and do things like volunteer as a parent for the Boy Scouts, Blue Birds, and other activities,” said Linda. “I never would have been able to do that if I had worked in a hospital.”
When her supervisor retired, Linda was able to take over as the clinic laboratory manager as a result of “grandfathering” rules, working closely with a supervising doctor at the clinic’s laboratory, Physician’s Laboratory. “I was 20 years old when I began this job in 1973. It’s hard to believe 35 years have passed.” While the laboratory staff today consists of just Linda and a part-time phlebotomist, working with five physicians, increasing mechanization enables her to keep up with the demanding test volume load.
Most of all, Linda enjoys working with her patients, about 90 percent of whom are elderly and suffering from chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. “I have a deep love for my patients, many of whom I’ve literally grown up with over the years,” said Linda. “It’s a blessing to be able to work with them. They always ask about my family and I take an interest in them. So many times, just giving an elderly patient a little compliment about how nice they look can help them forget whatever pain they may be experiencing.
“If you love people, and want to feel like you’re serving others, this is a great job,” Linda concluded.
Physician's Laboratories, Inc. has been a COLA client since 1998.
