After completing coursework in Clinical Laboratory Sciences in May of 2002, I began a six-month internship at Lakeland Regional Medical Center in St. Joseph, MI. During my internship, I gained experience working in Clinical Chemistry, Hematology, Coagulation, Blood Bank, Serology and Microbiology.

After receiving my BS in CLS in December 2002 and successfully passing the ASCP certification examination, I accepted a position as a Quality Control Technologist with the American Red Cross Blood Services in Lansing, MI. As a QC Technologist, I performed quality control testing on finished blood products, as well as equipment used for testing and manufacturing.

In the fall of 2003, I returned to MSU as a student in the first graduating class of the Biomedical Laboratory Operations, Professional Master of Science program. For this degree, I was able to take science courses such as molecular biology and statistics, as well as business courses such as management and health communication. For my master’s thesis project, I performed a workflow analysis and designed a laboratory for the American Red Cross Components Manufacturing laboratory. While earning my degree, I also received a Business Management and Communications Skills Certificate through the Graduate School, as well as earned a Certificate in Epidemiology from the College of Human Medicine. During this time, I worked as a Graduate Assistant for the hematology lab courses and co-authored an online course for Medical Technology. I also continued to work part time as a QC Technologist at the American Red Cross, and as a Medical Technologist at Ingham Regional Medical Center.

After receiving my Master’s degree in May 2005, I spent two weeks traveling through Italy, before beginning work at Abbott as a member of the Quality Professional Development Program. As a member of the QPDP program, I will have the opportunity to work and gain experiences in four diverse functions over the course of two years in quality assurance for pharmaceuticals and medical devices. This will include assignments at the corporate and plant level, as well as experience with regulatory affairs.
I feel that both my undergraduate and graduate courses provided me with knowledge, experience and skills that are useful in my current career.

I recently completed training as a Six Sigma Green Belt. Other interests include photography, traveling, exercising, reading and spending time with family and friends. I currently reside in Lake Bluff, Illinois.