National Med Lab Week is April 22 – April 25, LMP always takes part in National Medical Laboratory Week – the annual celebration of our medical laboratory professionals who play a critical role in every aspect of health care.
From Tuesday through Friday this week we’ll be profiling a few of the different types of laboratory professionals that make up the Laboratory Medicine Program team. Today is Jeanette Campbell from our specimen management area in our core lab.
Read about Jeanette’s role in the laboratory and the value she brings to patient care at UHN:
What is your position? I’m a senior lab technician
What do you do here? I perform duties relating to specimen management including receiving, sorting and processing samples for in-house and referred out testing, problem solving regarding samples, assisting staff in lab and throughout UHN, and I’m also a liaison between external clients and our Core Lab in relations to Specimen Management.
Why did you get into Lab medicine? Working with sick people has always been my passion and once I was introduced to lab medicine, I instantly knew that’s where I wanted to be.
How did you get started at UHN? Once I gained experience from various private labs, I joined UHN (then known as Toronto General Hospital). I worked at the Diagnostic Test Center performing ECG/ venipuncture, then transferred into the STAT Lab at Doctor’s Hospital which was then operated by The Toronto Hospital. From there I came to Specimen Management where I’ve been ever since.
How long have you worked here? I’ve been working here for the last 25 years.
What is your favorite part of the job? Problem resolution
What is the most challenging part of your job? With colleagues and clients coming to me with their individual request, remaining organized can sometimes be a challenge.
What value would you say you add to patient care? With enthusiasm I take extra steps to ensure that sample integrity is maintained to provide the best possible test result for each patient.
National Med Lab Week is all about promoting the work of laboratory professionals – what do you wish people knew about the work that goes on inside the lab? I would like them to know that it’s not always as simple as collecting a sample and providing a result. There are collaborative effort among staff to ensure the best standards are maintain from the point of greeting the patient, the order in which samples are drawn and processed to even the inventory and supply control of reagents and solutions in order to test samples all before we get to the end stage of reporting the test result.
The Pathology Report 