Medical Laboratory Professionals Week, April 21- 27, 2019, is an annual celebration of medical laboratory professionals who play a vital role in your health care at Stamps Health Services (SHS). They provide a full range of blood tests needed for diagnosis and preventative care through our in-house and reference labs. When asked about the lab staff SHS clinical lab manager Helen Ukoh said, “I appreciate my staff for taking pride and ownership in their work and for consistently producing quality work with excellent customer service.” To learn more about this unique role at SHS we spoke to clinical lab technician Evodie Epane to learn more about how her work impacts Georgia Tech.

What sort of work do you in the Stamps Medical Lab?

For me, work starts at 7 am. I get in, and I turn on the analyzers. I also make sure the controls on the machines are stable, so they don’t interfere with the next patient’s data. If there are errors, I troubleshoot them to figure out what’s going on. Then I deliver the machines to the doctors. When the doctors order tests, I run the controls. Not all of our tests are done in-house, so sometimes we have to send them out. When we do, we must make sure that what we send out is correct to ensure we’re getting accurate results for our patients. The lab is also where sample collection for analysis, such as blood work, is done.

What is the function of the Medical Lab as a whole?

The medical lab is essentially the backbone of the hospital because doctors rely on it for patient diagnoses. Before the lab tests are done, doctors can guess at a condition, but the medical lab confirms it.

What services do you offer? What’s the main reason a student would come to the lab?

A student would typically come to the lab for a check-up or physical, or if they’re just not feeling well. They’ll report their symptoms to the workers, and they order tests based on them, such as a strep test for a student with a sore throat. They then use the results to determine what medications the student needs from the pharmacy.

Is this unit also paired with the Radiology Lab?

Yes, the medical lab and radiology lab are basically like a big house with different rooms; they work hand-in-hand. Many tests are carried out in the medical lab and then further examination is done in radiology. For example, a student might get a red blood cell count done in the medical lab, then be referred to radiology for a chest X-ray. With the results from both of these departments together, we ensure that patients are getting the most accurate results possible.

What kind of tests does the lab offer?

Many, for many different purposes. Some that come to mind are tests for strep, mono, and flu A and B. We also do complete blood count tests, urine analysis, and tests of a patient’s sedimentation (which shows how fast red blood cells settle; if a patient is experiencing inflammation this takes longer).

Why is your work important for the Georgia Tech community?

Students at school are really stressed out, and once you’re sick it just adds another load on top of that. We're here to make sure they’re healthy so they can succeed at school. Seeing them succeed is our top priority.

Thank you to Evodie and all the SHS lab technicians for their impactful work every day. Interested in learning more about the SHS lab, go to health.gatech.edu/ lab.