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Click here or scroll down to respond to this candidateKristin EppersonCertified Medical Technologist-Microbiology and Core LabEvanston, IL Street Address
EMAIL AVAILABLEPHONE NUMBER AVAILABLEI have worked as a medical technologist for a total of 13 years. I have 10 years experience as a generalist and I have also spent approximately three years working only in microbiology. The majority of my experience in the lab has been as a generalist; rotating around to different areas of the lab with a great deal of experience in basic lab areas such as automatic chemistry, hematology with three years at a lab serving a cancer center, and coagulation studies with experience in special coag. I also have four years experience in blood bank with two years on an overnight shift dealing with emergency releases, hemorrhages, and other high stress situations while working alone. I am very proficient at handling multiple benches at once, having worked in labs that were short staffed and on overnight shifts with significantly less coverage.Currently in my career I am searching for a part-time preferably day shift position in either microbiology or as a generalist. I would ideally like to be part of a lab staff where teamwork is highly valued and practiced daily. I want to continue to grow as a tech as much as possible, so that in the future I can take on leadership roles in the lab such as technical specialist. Authorized to work in the US for any employerWork ExperienceMedical technologistNorthshore University Health System/Endeavor Health-Evanston, IL June 2021 to May 2024I worked as a generalist in the Core Lab at Northshore Evanston Hospital for almost 3 years. During that time I spent a great deal of time and focus on manual differentials, as Northshore has Kellogg Cancer Center, and learning how to identify and classify abnormal cancer cells and cell inclusions. As a result I have become exceptionally confident in my ability to detect abnormalities in blood cells. I also was trained in operating the Optilite for antibody titers, coagulation on the Stago model, CBC testing on the XN-3100 and chemistry testing on several different Roche models using Infinity system software. I also performed manual chemistry procedures including manual extraction methods for drugs like Tacrolimus and Prograf, and also manual dilutions on specimens for the Roche analyzers. The incredible learning experience Ive had at Northshore has been invaluable to my growth as a professional. At Northshore, I was fortunate to work with some of the best med techs Ive ever encountered in my entire career. The expertise of these incredible techs ranged from identifying rare cancer cells to protein electrophoresis to flow cytometry and bone marrow slide preparation. Although I was not directly trained in flow or proteins, I had constant daily exposure to both as they were directly related to benches I worked on. Northshore lab is extremely high volume and, mostly due to the cancer center, high intensity. There was a high number of patients in very critical condition, and prioritizing multiple serious cases at once was essential every day, particularly with hematology patients. For example, when reading manual diffs there were always at least several very critical cancer patients who were waiting on my diff report in order receive their chemotherapy infusions. Frequently these patients had WBC counts of 1.5 or less, and counting 100 cells required looking at multiple slides in order to see 100 WBCs. These patients diffs were very time consuming, and having multiple cancer patients waiting on my results in order to receive their chemo was extremely challenging and required my utmost focus and efficiency. Likewise when I performed antibody titers on the Optilite, the tech doing protein electrophoresis would be waiting for me to release my results in order to perform analysis on and release their own; while the pathologist was waiting on the proteins tech to release their results in order to make her final reports. With so many people counting on me do do my job as quickly as possible while still retaining accuracy, I was able to refine my already strong multitasking skills even further by dramatically improving my time management skills. During my time here I became the most efficient tech Ive ever been. I experienced a great deal of growth, both professionally and personally, while at Northshore, and I now have even greater confidence in my capabilities as a med tech. I am truly excited for what will come next in my career because I know I will be an extremely valuable asset to my future team.Medical TechnologistHoly Cross Hospital, Sinai Health System/Alverno Clinical Labs-Chicago, IL January 2017 to April 2021At Holy Cross Hospital I was a generalist on the day shift and also on the night shift. I was trained in blood bank, hematology, chemistry, urinalysis, coagulation studies, and specimen processing. I was the charge tech for night shift, which gave me a chance to further develop my leadership skills. During my shift I covered anywhere from 2 to 6 benches (or lab areas) at a time; sometimes dealing with severe tech shortages. Most of the time I covered 3 benches on night shift. On day shift I was usually responsible for at least 1-2 benches at a time. In hematology I was trained on the Advia analyzer for CBC's, performed manual differentials, manual body fluid and CSF cell counts and diffs, and ESR's. I performed coagulation testing on the Stago analyzer, chemistry testing on the Architect, and urinalysis on the Iris. I also read wet mounts, performed rapid testing for Strep A, Influenza, RSV, and also for Covid-19. In blood bank I performed blood typing and antibody identification, immediate spin and Coombs crossmatch, plasma thawing, antigen testing, processing transfusion reactions, and releasing emergency blood units for critical patients.This position helped me to fine tune my multitasking and organizational skills, and also gave me the opportunity to gain experience managing the lab during my shift. I experienced what it was like to have to handle every bench in the entire lab, including specimen processing, by myself when my partner on the overnight shift got stuck dealing with an emergency in blood bank, sometimes for hours. I was fortunate enough to work with very experienced techs at Holy Cross and was able to learn a great deal from them. This position provided me with an opportunity to explore my abilities as a leader in addition to my responsibilities as a tech. Professionally, this experience significantly added to my confidence, both in my abilities to do impeccable work under high stress and low staffing situations, and in being completely on my own in the lab and knowing that Im capable of handling everything by myself if necessary. With the constant severe shortage of med techs, this has proved to be an asset. In October of 2019, Alverno Clinical Labs took over our laboratory and we became Alverno employees at that time.Medical Technologist, MicrobiologyPCL Alverno-Hammond, INApril 2016 to August 2016Although I worked at Alverno for only four months, I gained an incredible amount of knowledge and experience during my time there. Alverno is an extremely high volume reference lab with a large microbiology department.While working at Alverno, I was trained on the Maldi Tof system of identification to identify the genus and species of bacteria and yeast; and also on the WASP lab system which combines instrumentation with manual methods in the processing and workup of urine cultures. I would've liked to continue working at Alverno, but the commute proved to be just too far for me. However I am grateful to have had this experience, as I learned so much about how to improve my skills as a microbiologist and as a med tech in general. I was introduced to new technologies that challenged me to work at an extremely fast pace with a high volume while still maintaining accuracy; and this is a skill that I continue to use and improve.Medical Technologist, MicrobiologyRush University Medical Center-Chicago, ILOctober 2008 to August 2013At Rush, I worked as a generalist on the evening shift for approximately four years, eventually spending all my time in microbiology and becoming one of the leading techs on second shift for that area. I assisted supervisors by writing the training manuals for second shift microbiology and by training other techs on all microbiology benches. I also had the opportunity to work on first shift in microbiology for a little over one year. Working first shift microbiology provided me with the opportunity to become highly skilled and further educated in this area. I was trained in DNA amplification assays for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea, plate work-ups for urines, enterics, and blood cultures, antibiotic susceptibility testing using manual plate methods such as Kirby-Bauer and E-test mand also using the automated Microscan. I am highly skilled in preparing and reading gram stains thanks to my time at Rush, as I read 50-100 of them per shift. I also performed EIA testing for HIV and ELISA testing for C. diff toxin and Campylobacter antigen. On first and second shift in both the Microbiology and the Core Lab I was trained in specimen processing and receiving, which was an extremely busy and high-stress area to work in. It taught me how to be more efficient in a higher stress and higher volume environment, juggling the prioritization of STAT and urgent specimens with constant phone calls and any necessary specimen preparation. In the Core Lab I was also cross trained on the SYSMEX hematology analyzer, the blood gas analyzer and on manual RPR and ESR testing. I was also trained in coagulation and special coagulation studies. I learned to use the Cerner LIS system and I had some experience using Epic. Rush is an extremely large medical facility and as a med tech here I dealt with a very high volume of patient specimens and at times an immense workload. I loved the challenge and the pace, and working at Rush has greatly improved my multitasking and organizational abilities. In addition, Rush is also a teaching hospital and I became very involved with med tech students and medical residents, taking every opportunity to help them learn, which in turn helped me be better at my job. I was able to start taking on extra responsibilities in addition to my bench work such as training new employees, re-writing outdated training manuals and doing inventory. Spending 5 years at Rush was a tremendously valuable experience in that it provided me with the opportunity to grow significantly as a professional.Medical Technologist, GeneralistIndian River Memorial Hospital-Vero Beach, FLJuly 2004 to June 2005This was my very first job as a med tech. At Indian River, I was introduced to managing benches on my own, learning to troubleshoot when I had problems, and handling multiple benches at once by myself. I worked both second and third shift and rotated thru Blood Bank, Microbiology, Hematology, Chemistry, and Immunology. I was responsible for quality control, result analysis and reporting, inventory, and both automated and manual testing. I performed data entry on Sunquest Systems and I also learned how to operate and troubleshoot automated instruments such as the Sysmex, Dimension, Vidas, and Elecsys. In Microbiology I was responsible for all set-ups on the evening or night shift, performing and reading Gram and acid- fast stains, wet preps, and positive blood culture setups. In hematology and coagulation I ran the automated systems MDX and Sysmex, as well as manual procedures such as differentials, sickle cell testing, and body fluid analysis. In blood bank I performed type and screen, cross matching, antibody identification- both manual and with gel cards, thawing and assigning plasma, and transfusion reaction procedures. I also was responsible for urinalysis both manual and automated dipstick methods and microscopy. In chemistry I was responsible for blood gas analysis, urine and serum osmolality, serum and whole blood chemistries on the Dimension, and thyroid and hormone testing on the Vidas. Indian River is a small hospital, and it was a huge advantage to be trained as a generalist immediately after graduation from school. This provided me with the opportunity to gain skills in all areas of the lab. EducationBS in Clinical Laboratory ScienceEastern Illinois University - Charleston, IL2003 to 2004BS in Clinical Laboratory ScienceSt. John's School of Clinical Laboratory Science - Springfield, IL 2003 to 2004Bachelors of Science in Medical TechnologyMurray State University - Murray, KY1999 to 2002Skills Epic Automated laboratory instrument operation, superb organizational skills, microscopy, quality control testing, result reporting and documentation, LIS Sunquest, Meditech, and Cerner operation, specimen handling and processing, inventory management, public speaking, sales, teaching, typing(10+ years) Time management Microsoft Office Laboratory experience Clinical laboratory experience Communication skills Laboratory procedures LeadershipCertifications and LicensesNCA - National Society of Collegiate ScholarsMay 2004 to PresentNCA is the clinical laboratory science equivalent of ASCP for medical technologists. It required graduation from an accredited clinical laboratory science program and passing a board exam in order to be certified. ASCP - American Society of Clinical PathologyMay 2004 to PresentAdditional InformationI was unable to work in a clinical laboratory position from summer 2005 until the summer of 2008 due to family circumstances.From August of 2013 to April of 2016 I worked a job unrelated to medical technology. I am a very enthusiastic and dedicated worker, and anyone who has worked with me would undoubtedly validate this. I believe in being kind and courteous to everyone, not only in person but also when answering phones and helping patients, visitors, and guests who need assistance in finding their way around the facility. I get along easily with my co-workers, and I am highly committed to teamwork in my laboratory and workplace. The best labs Ive ever worked at have been those that valued teamwork tremendously. Working together as a team with my coworkers in the lab is of utmost importance to me because it promotes efficiency throughout the lab. From specimen processors, to bench techs, to technical specialists, when everyone I believe in never leaving my work area in any condition except stocked, clean, and well organized, so that the next tech following me has a clean area to begin his or her work. I pride myself on arriving for my shift on time and staying late whenever needed. My experience as a professional thus far has provided me the opportunity to mold myself into a highly competent med tech with a broad background. I am confident that I will be an asset to any team I become a part of in the future. |
