Originally posted by potuhusky
so anyone else a medical technologist? i have my b.s. in med tech and i'll be starting med school this fall. for those who are already in medical school, do you find your training to be a big or slight advantage? or maybe not an advantage at all? are you used as an asset in the class and rotations or do people (both faculty and students) just think you're a know-it-all?
Potuhusky, MT (ASCP)
I got my MT (ASCP) in 1995. Worked in transfusion medicine/apheresis for 6 1/2 years. Started med school in 2002.
Microbiology is very easy for me, compared to classmates, and anything else that has to do with labs or lab tests. Since I worked as an apheresis specialist, the immunologic diseases (TTP, myasthenia, guillain barre) and also sickle cell anemia come more easily understood. I also collected stem cells for bone marrow transplant. My friends are all amazed when I start talking about E. Coli 0157:H7.
The first 2 years have not been any easier for me than for my classmates, because the lab stuff is in the background. I suspect that when I start clinicals this fall, I might feel a little more comfortable working in the clinics or hospital just because I've been there.
AND, funny, but I used to teach med students a little bit about apheresis. Sometimes there would be a student rotating through Pathology that would hang around our department. So, remembering how they were or were not effective as students stands out in my head--and I'll be sure to use that to my advantage in the coming years.
Otherwise, I'm in the same boat as everyone else. And I try to keep my mouth shut unless asked for an opinion about something lab oriented. My pathology professor is less than enthusiastic about my background.
Good to meet ya.
M.