Clinical Lab Tech
Profile: Kris Cook
By JOHN BRUNING
For What2Be
“Ever since I was young I wanted to be a veterinarian,” said Kris Cook, MT, ASCP (Medical Technologist, American Society of Clinical Pathologists). She is an emergency-room lab tech in the Shaw Emergency and Trauma Center of Miami Valley Hospital.
What happened to the desire to be a vet? And why, instead, is she a full-time lab tech in the ER medical lab operated at Miami Valley Hospital by Compunet Clinical Laboratories of Moraine?
She fulfills her interest in animals by working part time at the Kettering Animal Hospital. And by caring for a dog, Chester, a refugee from the Society for the Improvement of Conditions for Stray Animals. She also has two cats, Trouble and KC, who get along just fine with Chester in Cook’s home in Dayton’s Belmont neighborhood.
Cook works the second shift, 3-11:30 p.m., in a room with the sign “STAT LAB” at the door. “STAT,” as you may know from TV medical shows, means there’s an emergency and you need to respond immediately. By its nature, everything is an emergency in an ER medical lab and in the ER to which it provides vital information.
Cook is one of several lab techs on every shift in the compact lab that is staffed 24/7 and which adjoins the ER. The lab is full of the latest in automated and computerized equipment to speedily and accurately test and provide information from blood and urine samples taken from ER patients.
The test results provide vital insights into each patient’s health, and are essential to the diagnosis and treatment decisions that the ER physicians need to make as quickly as possilbe.
“I know that I am able to help people who are sick,” Cook said, “and, hopefully, I’m making a difference. I like it a lot; it’s very interesting. It’s not routine; it’s different every day because of the patients.”
“I would tell young people looking for a career field that this is a good career path,” Cook said. “The schedule is flexible, and, for me, that’s a good thing. I don’t like to get up early, and I like being able to work second shift. I have a good rapport with my co-workers in the lab and with the nurses and physicians in the ER.”
The work is always “STAT” and sometimes it’s “super-STAT,” Cook said, when the need for quick results is more urgent than usual. The pace can be demanding, and the lab techs rub elbows in the course of the work. “It can get very stressful,” Cook said.
As a student at Dayton Christian High School, Cook liked science and math, and was an “A” student. Still intending to become a veterinarian, she was an honors student and earned a double major at Wright State University - in biology and in medical technology. Then she thought about the additional four years it would have taken to become a vet, and modified her plans.
She went to work in the lab at the former St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, and continued there when the name changed to Franciscan Medical Center. When the latter closed, she immediately found work at MVH, in her current role.
“The income is good; it’s a decent salary,” Cook said. “Health care is a good place to be; there will always be sick people. In this work you do have to work every other weekend and some of the holidays,” she added.
In her off time Cook relaxes with Chester and her purring cats, and goes bowling. She also cross-stitches and knits.
SCHOOLS WITH ACCREDITED PROGRAMS
BACHELOR’S DEGREE
Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Akron, OH (330) 543-8676 /sshriber@chmca.org
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green, OH (419) 372-2833 / rharr@bgnet.bgsu.edu
University of Cincinnati Medical Center
Cincinnati, OH (513) 558-7490 / linda.graeter@uc.edu
Ohio State University
Columbus, OH (614) 292-7303 / rudmann.1@osu.edu
Wright State University
Dayton, OH (937) 775-2306 / phyllis.pacifico@wright.edu
Southwest General Health Center
Middleburg Heights, OH (440) 816-8859
chartwell@swgeneral.com
Saint Vincent Mercy Medical Center
Toledo, OH (419) 251-8252/ Karlyn_Lange@mhsnr.org
TECHNICIAN
Stark State College of Technology
Canton, OH 44720 (330) 494-6170 ext. 4221
KCorsaut@starkstate.edu
www.starkstate.edu/academics/health/medlabtech.htm
Cincinnati State Technical & Community College
Cincinnati, OH (513) 569-1688
Janelle.Gohn@Cincinnatistate.edu
Cuyahoga Community College
Cleveland, OH (216) 987-4438 / barbara.freeman@tri-c.edu
www.tri-c.edu
Columbus State Community College
Columbus, OH (614) 287-2518 / Jdudas@cscc.edu
http://www.cscc.edu/DOCS/MedLab/index.html
ASSOCIATE
Lorain County Community College
Elyria, OH jdaly@lorainccc.edu
http://www.lorainccc.edu/LCCC/
LorainCountyCommunityCollege.lccc
(800) 995-5222 ext. 7194
(associate)
Lakeland Community College
Kirtland, OH (440) 525-7096 / fwlaw@lakelandcc.edu
Washington State Community College
Marietta, OH (740) 374-8716 / hkincaid@wscc.edu
Marion Technical College
Marion, OH (740) 389-4636 ext. 254 / batesd@mtc.edu
Shawnee State University
Portsmouth, OH (740) 351-3388 .
mthoroughman@shawnee.edu
University of Rio Grande
Rio Grande, OH (740) 245-7319 / rcheadle@rio.edu
Clark State Community College
Springfield, OH (937) 328-8077 /horns@clarkstate.edu
Jefferson Community College
Steubenville, OH (740) 264-5591 ext. 165
ssutherlan@jefferson.cc.oh.us
www.jefferson.cc.oh.us
Mercy College of Northwest Ohio
Toledo, OH (419) 251-1487 / pegestes@hotmail.com
www.mercycollege.edu
Youngstown State University
Youngstown, OH (330) 941-1761 / medelost@ysu.edu
www.ysu.edu
Zane State College
Zanesville, OH 43701 (740) 588-1311
vhuntsman@zanestate.edu
www.zanestate.edu
