An avid fan of “Cherry Ames” juvenile novels, featuring a mystery-solving nurse, dreamed of following in her heroine’s footsteps. After 10 days in nursing school in Pittsburgh, she was homesick and returned to her family’s farm in Plain Grove, Pa., north of Pittsburgh near Grove City.
Convinced she would have to abandon her dream of a medical career, her mother offered her an alternative--transfer to a 2-year program at nearby Grove City College to eventually qualify for Medical Technologist studies at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh.
A one-year internship was spent rotating through all laboratory departments. “In those days, you lived at the facility, received meals, uniforms and $3 per day for drawing blood and staying until 5 p.m.,” Sally remembers. “Additionally, students rotated weekends to assist the technologist with testing and phlebotomy for which we received a stipend of $25.” After completing the program and receiving her Medical Technologist certification, she worked in Hematology, taught students and earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Duquesne University at night school.
After marriage and a move to Morgantown, W.Va, she served as a Medical Technologist in West Virginia University Hospital’s laboratory. She worked in Routine Hematology and Blood Bank and was asked to develop a Special Hematology research section. She and her family moved to central Ohio six years later.
She accepted a position at the former St. Anthony’s Hospital, eventually becoming the Hematology Supervisor. Meanwhile, she raised three daughters. At St. Anthony’s Sally developed the Hematology Department into a department that performed many specialized procedures. She led training courses, served as the Laboratory Safety Officer and conducted studies on the Lupus Anticoagulant. Always interested in the “how and why” she found the study of hematology and coagulation fascinating. This led to her obtaining the Specialist in Hematology certification (SH). In 1993, while working at Doctor’s North Hospital as a staff Medical Technologist, she decided she missed the supervisory role she had held at previous labs, and accepted a position as a part-time Technical Supervisor and Medical Technologist generalist at Tri County Family Medicine in Canal Winchester, Ohio.
“Wherever I am, I seem to attract work. Within two weeks of my arrival, I was informed that we were scheduled for our accreditation visit by COLA. I quickly threw myself into updating the manuals and procedures we needed in order to achieve our accreditation,” Sally has worked full time at the practice since 2000. She initially was supported by a part-time technician, but now manages the high-complexity laboratory on her own, where she performs more than 100,000 tests annually in support of five physicians.
While she no longer supervises anyone directly, she still has a teaching role. Using the laboratory manuals she created for accreditation purposes, she helps train the practice’s medical assistants–who draw patient blood samples and perform several waived tests--in proper lab procedures. “I have found over the course of time that education is key to quality in Laboratory Medicine. My objective is to show my colleagues how we can avert problems in the laboratory through quality practices and reinforce that test results are only as good as the specimens drawn,” said Sally.
“The POL is a different setting than the hospital lab where I spent most of my career,” said Sally. “My experience and varied duties in the hospital setting were an excellent foundation for responsibilities now in the POL. A rookie may have had some problems.” While Sally has less patient contact at Tri County than she did in her hospital days, she still feels she is making a difference for patients. “In those days, I was much more involved in identifying disorders like leukemia and other blood diseases on a regular basis. The POL has the advantage of seeing the total patient picture by correlating all test results.”
Sally remains well satisfied with her career choice. “The field of Medical Technology is an extremely vital profession affording a variety of opportunities, including teaching, satisfying the creative side through writing manuals and teaching aids, and, most important, working with other healthcare providers so they understand how the laboratory contributes to quality patient care.
“From the 20-bed wards in a large general hospital to the small active lab in the ‘cornfields,’ I have always found reasons to stay in the Medical Technology field. Although technology has evolved since the early days, the primary purpose remains paramount: A patient’s life depends on quality laboratory results,” she added.
“Despite all the technological advances, the human touch can never be replaced. I was very fortunate in my chosen field of Hematology to have a great amount of patient contact. Knowing that your results are crucial to the diagnosis, treatment and quality care of patients is a powerful motivator for staying in the Medical Technology profession,” said Sally.
Tri County Family Medicine has been a COLA client since 1993.
