On Dec. 31, Phyllis Muellenberg retired after 22 years as director of the School of Allied Health’s Clinical Laboratory Science Program.
But that doesn’t mean she’s going anywhere.
Muellenberg, who began her career with UNMC in 1968 as a volunteer faculty member, will continue to supervise a special grant to develop more bioterrorism response curriculum at UNMC. Anyone who has experienced her dedication and energy over the past 37 years knows Muellenberg just “down shifts” – she never really stops.
That Muellenberg would preside over the rise of UNMC’s Clinical Laboratory Science Program into one of the premier programs in the United States isn’t surprising to her students and colleagues. But her career is still amazing to Muellenberg herself – a quiet, studious farm girl from Zell, S.D., who originally graduated from high school and planned to spend the rest of her life as a nun at Sacred Heart Convent.
“I’ve always loved education and knew that was what I wanted to do with my life,” Muellenberg said.
The graduate of Mount Marty High School in S.D. intended to follow in the footsteps of Bishop Marty, one of the first educators to work with Native Americans. “I thought I would continue that tradition as a nun,” she said.
Muellenberg, however, was “drafted” into a science career when the Sacred Heart Convent leadership wanted more sisters trained in basic science. As a result, she enrolled at Mount Marty College and received a bachelor’s of science degree in chemistry and biology. She obtained her national certification in medical technology in 1957 and worked in a lab at Sacred Heart Hospital in Yankton, S.D.
Every work day, Muellenberg left the convent wearing her nun’s habit. She was the only nun in the hospital lab. In 1962, she obtained a master’s degree in microbiology and biochemistry and served as microbiologist and manager in the hospital lab and head of the department’s education program.
But after 17 years in the convent, Muellenberg decided to leave Sacred Heart. She wanted to get a different look at life. In many ways, convent life was idyllic. After all, she said, one escapes the trials and tribulations of worldly existence – everything is taken care of for you. But then again, Muellenberg never quite relinquished a certain competitive spirit and yearning to engage life and see how the other half live.
She knew she would be happiest in education, and after discussing a number of opportunities with friends, accepted a position in Omaha. Her job was to develop a medical technology program at Methodist Hospital – from scratch. Muellenberg didn’t know it at the time, but she was now positioned to become one of the key players in Nebraska’s ascent to national leadership in clinical laboratory science. Her destiny in the field was sealed when she was appointed director of UNMC’s medical technology education in 1983.
Nebraska was unique in the nation for having three medical institutions form a partnership in clinical laboratory science in 1968, Muellenberg said. The three institutions were: Bishop Clarkson Hospital, Methodist Hospital and UNMC.
“We worked together to develop a state of the art program for Nebraska in clinical laboratory science,” she said. “No where else in America had two private hospitals combined forces with a public institution in this manner. That far-sighted collaboration 37 years ago led directly to our state’s national leadership in this field.”
Today, UNMC offers the only baccalaureate degree program in clinical laboratory science in Nebraska. There are strategic partnerships with the Great Plains Regional Medical Center, North Platte; Good Samaritan Hospital, Kearney; St. Francis Medical Center, Grand Island; Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital, Hastings; and Faith Regional Health Services, Norfolk.
UNMC is in its third year of a partnership with Creighton University Medical Center. There also are partnerships with hospitals and private laboratories in Casper, Wyo., Sioux Falls, S.D., and Columbia, Mo. Discussions with potential future partners are ongoing.
“Phyllis has been a visionary leader of the Clinical Laboratory Science program,” said Mary Haven, associate dean of the School of Allied Health Professions. “In the early 1990s, she visited with hospital and clinical laboratory leaders throughout the state to determine the needs of Nebraskans for clinical laboratory scientists. Her response was to develop a distance learning program that would allow rural students to learn their clinical skills in laboratories throughout the state.
“Phyllis’s theory – which proved to be true – was that rural students educated in the rural communities would remain in the rural areas to practice after graduation. Through the creativity and instructional design skills of the outstanding clinical laboratory faculty, this program has become the top distance learning program in the nation. Phyllis and her faculty have introduced other innovative changes to the curriculum and many of these ideas are federally funded.”
UNMC students are known for their readiness to work immediately upon graduation, Muellenberg said. They don’t need an additional year of training to become more competent because each student receives so much experience working with professionals during their education, she said.
In addition to clinical laboratory scientists, the program has sent a number of graduates into medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, major research departments, as well as such specialist areas as forensics, microbiology, hematology, clinical chemistry and toxicology. When UNMC’s liver transplant program started, clinical laboratory science graduates were involved in the development of new clinical laboratory procedures to support the care and treatment of those patients.
Muellenberg has been a key player in the evolution of clinical laboratory science into an important health care field. Students today receive extensive training in molecular diagnostics, genetics, immunology, management and automation.
In addition to the outstanding network of partnerships, UNMC’s clinical laboratory program has been blessed with outstanding faculty and grant support, Muellenberg said. Under the guidance and inspiration of Reba Benschoter, Ph.D., Muellenberg turned to grant writing in earnest in 1990.
Since then, she has accounted for $3.5 million in federal funding support. These grants were used to develop distance learning programs and cultural competency education for students and practitioners; enable working clinical laboratory scientists with associate degrees to earn bachelor’s degrees through distance learning programs; and enhance interdisciplinary bioterrorism/public health emergency preparedness curriculum.
Muellenberg said there is now a Web-based curriculum that provides support for on-site students. This curriculum is used to deliver education to distance-site students. It allows students with associate degrees the opportunity to complete requirements for a bachelor’s degree over a three to five-year period while still employed.
“While nationally, a number of clinical laboratory science programs are actually closing, we’re just getting stronger,” Muellenberg said.
In 2001, the program won the University of Nebraska Departmental Teaching Award. “To be named the best department in all four universities is such a testament to the hard work of our faculty,” Muellenberg said.
She also praised the leadership and support from campus officials. “That makes such a big difference,” she said. “The program’s new director, Linda Fell, has been with me for 14 years. I am leaving our program in very good hands.”
It was only fitting that Muellenberg’s tenure as director was crowned two months ago when the UNMC department of pathology and microbiology created the Phyllis Muellenberg Fellowship for Graduate Studies. This University of Nebraska Foundation registered fund helps practicing clinical laboratory scientists and faculty pursue advanced degrees.
“I am pleased that Phyllis will continue working part-time for the university and we will continue to benefit from her ideas,” Haven said. “We plan on her sharing her grant writing expertise with other allied health faculty. We thank her for the 22 years she served as an excellent teacher and program director. Phyllis already has created a wonderful legacy, but she’s not finished yet.”