Written by Ali Nussbaum, MHHSA, MLS(ASCP)CM, caPM, ASCLS Board of Directors, and Avid Supporter of New Professionals
Hey Rockstar!
You!
Yes You!
You are awesome, intelligent, and a value to the profession!
Am I making you blush? Did you just say “No that’s not me, I’m just a student/new professional”?
As a society we tend to be “just” people. I am “just” a blank. This framework is self-limiting and puts us in an inescapable prison of immobility and thinking less of yourself than what is true. I have found through my time as a medical laboratory professional that many of my colleagues and even myself are prone to devaluing their education and experience with “just” language.
Medical laboratory science is not a profession for the weak. The education is daunting, including a difficult curriculum, an internship, and a certification exam to prove that you are qualified to be a professional.
However, too often, students and new professionals cannot see themselves as budding members of the laboratory profession, but only see themselves as “just” students or “just” new professionals. The truth of the matter is: YOU ARE A LABORATORY PROFESSIONAL because not just anyone would be willing to do this! Thus, it is time to change this mindset!
Why do we do this? We are taught to be humble. We are in a competitive working environment where degrees matter. We work in healthcare where respect for doctors and nurses is high and few know what the medical laboratory does. We are fighting for our piece of the healthcare pie and we sell ourselves short by being “just” lab staff.
Additionally, let’s ponder why what we have accomplished is not “just” anything: did our friends in other programs have as intense course work as us ... probably not all of them. Have many of friends had a certification exam in order to be eligible for a position ... not likely. How many were required to do an unpaid internship … few if any, right? Yet we struggle recognizing that this is a huge accomplishment that makes us strong members of the healthcare team regardless of how long we’ve been a practicing medical laboratory professional.
We are never just a “just”. Together we all are essential to the dynamic flow that is the healthcare machine. We are vital for diagnostic medicine and even if our patients do not understand our role, that by no means diminishes our value. Remove the phrase: “I am just a ____” from your vocabulary forever because you are a rockstar who has accomplished more than you realize! Take a second to reflect on all you have done.