{"id":19879,"date":"2024-11-25T11:30:43","date_gmt":"2024-11-25T16:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/?p=19879"},"modified":"2024-12-02T11:59:44","modified_gmt":"2024-12-02T16:59:44","slug":"mls-interns-health-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/news\/mls-interns-health-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Interns Learn by Doing in URI\u2019s Health Services Laboratory"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The University of Rhode Island\u2019s Health Services<\/a> operates a federally licensed laboratory that conducts routine lab testing, offering valuable services to the university community while serving as an integral training space: Undergraduate students majoring in Medical Laboratory Science<\/a> (MLS) work alongside professional medical laboratory scientists as interns. Among other responsibilities, they prepare samples, run diagnostic testing, perform urine dipstick analysis, and set up slides for microscopic examination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur interns develop essential skills in operating analyzers, documentation, specimen processing, safety, and lab regulations, all of which reinforce the importance of accuracy and precision in testing,\u201d says URI Health Services Laboratory Coordinator Cheryl McLarney, MS (MLS, ASCP). \u201cFor many students, this internship is their first opportunity to perform diagnostic testing and understand its impact, making it an essential step in their education and career development.\u201d She adds that they are \u201cheld to the same standards as medical laboratory scientists and train with the expectation of performing as employees.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This semester, junior MLS major Mikayla Ricks specializes in strep, influenza, and SARS CoV-2 testing. She preps samples for an immunofluorescence antigen test that produces rapid determination for results; compiles statistics on positivity rates; and researches the functionality of these tests, the pathogenesis of each infection, and how related data is documented on a local and global level. \u201cThis internship has positively impacted my understanding of my course content because it adds that extra layer of practical thinking and application,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve been able to see that learning content for an exam versus learning content for practice are two different types of skills. It\u2019s not often that you get to practice lecture content in a hands-on fashion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Velasquez in the lab.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Ashley Velasquez, a junior MLS major whose internship focuses on vaginal-saline and urinalysis testing, echoes the importance of applying knowledge gained from studying textbooks and professors\u2019 lectures to real-world situations. \u201cI wanted to integrate the knowledge that I learned inside the classroom into action in the lab,\u201d she says. \u201cIn other words: now that I know this knowledge, let’s put it into practice.\u201d She notes that the reverse is also true: hands-on experience enhances academic study. \u201cI am able to recognize what I learned in the lab and integrate those experiences inside the classroom, too,\u201d she says. \u201cIt brings me a new form of confidence and affirms that I know this knowledge.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fact that this firsthand experience takes place in a small university clinical setting ensures that skills beyond technical expertise are strengthened, McLarney notes. Students develop meaningful understandings of laboratory workflows, diagnostic procedures, and problem-solving as they work with skilled professionals who encourage a collaborative approach. \u201cEveryone around me in the lab is an expert in their field and is always welcoming questions, so I have so many opportunities to learn from the people around me,\u201d Ricks says. \u201cI’m always learning from personal experiences from the techs in the lab,\u201d Velasquez adds. \u201cI\u2019m learning about their stories and experiences from when they were students to now that they are lab professionals. They’ve become role models to me.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interns work under the supervision of medical laboratory scientists Kristen Conway, Hayley Hebert, and Lacey Wood. Conway and Wood work with the students performing urine microscopic and vaginal wet prep testing. “They help the students with the identification of cells, bacteria, yeast, and other organisms present in those specimens, as well as processing the specimens, training on the microscope, and using the urine analyzer,” says McLarney says of Conway and Wood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hebert \u201820, a graduate of the MLS program, supervises hematology, working with junior MLS majors Juliana Bucci and Ciera Santos to make peripheral blood smears both manually and using a HemaPrep. \u201cThey are taught how our stainer works, and are introduced to the basics of manual differentials including white blood cell identification, red blood cell morphology, and platelet counts,\u201d Hebert says. \u201cThe most rewarding thing about working with my internship students is seeing them grasp the nuances within hematology. Hematology can often be subjective and learning the differences between certain cells can be difficult. I am very proud of what my students have been able to learn in such a short time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI find it incredibly fulfilling to play a critical role in performing diagnostic testing and supporting the treatment of students within my own community,\u201d Bucci says. \u201cOur laboratory’s work contributes to maintaining the health of our university\u2019s population, which gives me a strong sense of purpose. I have also found it fascinating to observe trends in various diseases and how they impact our campus community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MLS students complete a 32-credit clinical program at affiliated hospitals in Providence in their senior year. \u201cI regularly hear from previous student interns at Health Services that they felt more prepared and had an easier time transitioning into the senior year clinical program as well as laboratory jobs upon graduation,\u201d says Neil Greene, director of the MLS program. \u201cCheryl McLarney and her team do an excellent job of fostering confidence and enthusiasm in these student interns for their future careers in medical laboratory science.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The involvement of interns has expanded over time. Originally, Health Sciences hired one or two students each semester as Lab Assistants. An effort to enhance engagement with the university community led to the development of internships for students studying MLS. Initially, interns focused on transitioning laboratory and procedure manuals to an online policy management software. Later, they began assisting with waived testing for influenza. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the need for rapid testing increased significantly. \u201cOnce students were permitted back on campus, our interns expanded their roles to include rapid SARS CoV-2 testing,\u201d McLarney says. \u201cTheir involvement was instrumental in helping the university remain open, as many other campuses faced closures due to a lack of consistent testing options.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because students wanted to continue working with Health Services after their semester-long internships ended, internships focused on hematology and urinalysis were developed. \u201c\u200b\u200bMany former interns have gone on to careers in clinical labs, epidemiology, cytology, research, and biotechnology, with some securing positions worldwide,\u201d McLarney says. \u201cThe most rewarding aspect of working with undergraduates in this capacity is seeing where they end up and knowing that we have played a role in shaping their futures.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Undergraduate students majoring in Medical Laboratory Science work alongside professionals in URI’s Health Services as interns. Among other responsibilities, they run diagnostic testing, perform urine dipstick analysis, prepare samples, and set up slides for microscopic examination.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1089,"featured_media":19880,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1089"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19879"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19896,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19879\/revisions\/19896"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}