MLT to MPH: My Public Health Journey and Utilizing the Lab

I’ve taken the quite long route to my current position as a MPH student at the University of Waterloo. I first started my post-secondary education in 2007 and graduated in 2011 with a B.Sc in Microbiology and a minor in Chemistry. I always enjoyed science in high school and was interested in microbiology and this felt like the best subject for me. I found myself gravitating towards the infectious disease courses and during my time in the program, we had one of the biggest flu pandemics since the Spanish flu in 1918, Swine H1N1. On top of the swine flu outbreak, Maple Leaf foods had their listerosis outbreak leading to a lot of discussion and lectures on bio safety and microbiology for public health.

After completing my undergraduate degree, I knew I wanted to take what I learned and apply it in a clinical setting to help people which led me to Medical Laboratory Science. I moved to Toronto to attend The Michener Institute which opened my eyes to many of the different people involved in healthcare system beyond the typical professions. I did not know how regulated and technical laboratory testing was until I undertook this program and came out with a great appreciation for allied health professionals. Inspired by the program, I spent many hours volunteering to advocate for lab professionals to raise awareness for the profession and its role in the healthcare landscape on my blog medlabmaven.com.

Outside the lab, I try to utilize my social media to bridge the gap between the laboratory and other professions. We are often regarded as a “black box” where samples go in and results come out but we are highly educated professionals that can be of great help with decision-making in health care. I have had many interactions with other professions not realizing the depth of the lab profession and the type of work that is performed. I like to use my platform to share what I can about the lab and hope to spark some new ideas and considerations for public health.

I have been involved with my professional society, the Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science (CSMLS) for many years. I helped create the Ambassador program to bring lab professionals into schools and universities across Canada to share more about what the laboratory does and raise our profile in healthcare.  I acted as a lab representative on national lobby days speaking with members of the Federal Government about shortages in health care in rural and remote communities and the role of laboratory testing in health care. With the aging population, the health care system is going to be stretched thin and will be a large public health issue in the coming years. These experiences allowed me to address gaps in our current system, see social inequities and push me to want learn more in an MPH program so I can apply my perspective to make changes to help Canadians.

Upon graduation, I was thrilled to accept my current position working as a Medical Laboratory Technologist with Public Health Ontario. This is a dream position of mine that marries my passion for microbiology and infectious disease with my technical skills as a technologist. Working in a public health laboratory allows me to work on many different infectious disease outbreaks like influenza, norovirus and tuberculosis and help generate the data used to make public health decisions. It really piqued my interest and I found myself trying to understand how decisions were made at health units or on outbreak reporting. After many years of staring out influenza outbreaks, I knew I wanted to take what I’ve learned in the lab and help apply it on a larger scale in public health which helped bring me to apply to the MPH program.

I chose to attend the MPH program at University of Waterloo as it is unique as it allows you to complete the entire program online (minus 2 two-week session on campus). They focus on having students with professional experience, which was a huge draw for me as I am able to work with students from a vast variety of professions from Doctors to Analysts to NGO workers all across Canada. I have enjoyed my courses in epidemiology as it’s been great to see what all of my hard work in the lab gets used for! I have also been surprised by how much I am interested in Health Policy and Health Economics and I am hoping to explore these areas more and take all my program has to offer.

It’s hard to know where this MPH will take me but I am sure I will be able to utilize my experience in the laboratory in some way. I want to continue to advocate for lab professionals and use my experience to find creative ways to collaborate with multiple professions in public health. There is a lot of untapped knowledge out there and we need to use it to create solutions for the health of all Canadians.

-K

Presenting at Labcon 2015 - a Blast from the Past!

*I originally wrote this post for another blog that ended up not being published. I discovered it while going through my archives and didn't want it to go to waste!*

On May 22^th,2015 I had the honour of speaking at the Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science’s conference, LabCon 2015, in Montreal, QC.  The journey how I got to speaking as a new MLT was large in part to the great support I received from colleagues and my time as a student at The Michener Institute. 

I first had the idea of presenting about social media for lab professionals after the response I received online. I have always been extremely active on social media and in 2012, I decided to start my blog, MedLabMaven to raise awareness about the med lab profession.  When I entered the Med Lab Program, I realized how hidden we were in the health care world and wanted to raise my voice and share how important we are. Throughout the years, I have received many emails from students, lab professionals and other healthcare professionals who have come across me on social media and thanked me for being a voice online for the profession.

After discussing with some colleagues and realizing lab professionals wanted to get online – I submitted my proposal to the CSMLS. Since I was a new tech, I didn’t think I had anything to present but I was thrilled to find out I had been selected as one of the session presenters! This shows that just because you’re a “new tech” or even a student doesn’t mean you can’t share what you’ve learned and be seen as an expert in your field.

I designed my presentation to be less of a “social media 101” and more about what I have done online, how they have been successful and how you can use them to be successful too. I wanted to bring concrete examples of how lab professionals can use social media to reach out and expand their online network as well as raise awareness for the profession.  From Blogging and Twitter to Youtube and Instagram, I shared my posts, photos and how we can bring lab professionals into the spotlight and highlight our work. 

From the reception I received after the presentation, I can tell this was a valuable topic to speak on. I had many people come up and say how they were inspired and wanted to get online right away. I even had a few let me know they had shared some of my posts online or had seen my video! Many said they hope the new lab professionals entering the field are engaged and want to get involved as well – even if it’s just slowly. That’s the great thing about social media – there are no rules. You can post as much as you want or as little as you want but the fact you are out there sharing your story is what matters. We make a difference in healthcare and it’s time we get out of the shadows and start the discussion.

Speaking at Labcon 2015 was definitely one of the highlights in my short career and I hope to present at many more conferences.  I encourage you to start to get involved in your profession early and be a voice for your profession - whether through social media, conference or at your workplace!