Kevin McGuire, a student laboratory coordinator in UNMC’s College of Allied Health Professions, made a visit to St. Matthew’s School in Bellevue last week as part of the events being held in conjunction with this year’s Nebraska Science Festival.
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Student Claire Von Osterheldt is meticulous during Kevin McGuire’s in-class experiment. |
The young scientist held the interest of his audience with stories of laboratory tests he’d undergone himself, and how an early health scare convinced him he wanted a career helping others in a health care field. He talked to the children about the “behind-the-scenes” work of medical laboratory scientists, and how the lab work they perform plays an important part in keeping patients healthy or aiding their recovery.
McGuire said he enjoyed the chance to meet with the students, some of whom seemed quite interested in the possibility of a scientific career.
“The students were very interested in science,” McGuire said. “They had great questions and were attentive listeners. I enjoyed the opportunity to educate the students about the importance of medical laboratory scientists in quality patient care. The hands-on experiments were well received by the students. My goal was to show that science is fun and has a huge impact in medical decisions. Based on their reactions, I think my goal was accomplished.”
After discussing the different laboratory areas — hematology, chemistry, microbiology, immunohematology and urinalysis — McGuire led the students through two experiments, one designed to show how an infectious agent, such as influenza, might spread at a party, and the other to separate out the students’ DNA from their cheek cells.
Teacher MaryJo Holdcroft was impressed by McGuire’s performance.
“It was more hands-on than the presentation we saw last year, and I think it went over really well,” said Holdcroft. “I think it’s important to have the children exposed to the whole field of scientific careers, and to have experts come in and speak with them is exciting.”
Seventh-grade student Claire Von Osterheldt called McGuire’s presentation “way cool.”
She said she was interested in microbiology and enjoyed working with chemicals, so McGuire’s experiments were very interesting to her.
“It was awesome,” she said.
Very impressive!
Great work, Kevin! Getting the word out about how Medical Laboratory Science is a great career has been difficult, and your approach to getting young people interested in the field is awesome.
Thanks!
Kevin never ceases to amaze me. He does great work on behalf of MLS and CAHP exposing individuals of all ages to the fascinating world of the medical laboratory.
I like to think we helped him on his path at RC Hospital where he worked up here in the Sandhills for a summer.
Way to promote our profession Kevin!
letting your knowledge&profession shine so that our youth might ignite desires/goals for their future! That is admirable!!!! Way to go Kevin McGuire.