Tucked away in the Biomedical Building on the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa campus is the Medical Laboratory Science (MLS) Department. On August 17, the public was invited to an open house event to learn about the only MLS program in the state and the only baccalaureate program at the John A. Burns School of Medicine.
The MLS department trains and develops medical lab technicians and scientists. These students later play a crucial part in generating data needed to assist healthcare providers in making patient diagnostic and treatment decisions.
Med tech students and alumni performed demonstrations and offered visitors a hands-on opportunity to learn about microbiology, parasitology, hematology, urinalysis and blood bank stations. Faculty and staff members were also available to answer questions and provide information.
“The importance of clinical testing—especially in the age of COVID—cannot be underestimated. Yet, these professionals do their work quietly, often without acknowledgement from the public, which vastly benefits from their efforts,” said Violet Nxedhlana, who began as MLS program director in March.
Many attended from affiliate clinical labs, which train UH’s med tech students during their clinical rotations. Some attendees met the faculty and staff for the first time, while others had been with the department for years but hadn’t seen the instructors and med tech staff since before the pandemic broke out.
Nxedhlana said she was pleased with the turnout. “We put our department out there and this event created a buzz about the department afterward.”
MLS faculty member Sheri Gon added, “That was what the event was all about, making connections with students, alumni and the community.”
See more on the JABSOM website.
—by Marybeth Kotrodimos
