MLT毕业生成功成为旅行医学实验室科学家

Emilie Jenson, Public Information Office
12/5/2023

Bailey Esslinger knew when graduated from high school that she wanted to work in healthcare, but it wasn’t until she came to Iowa Central as a student that she discovered her niche in the field.

“I knew I wanted to do something in the healthcare field,” said Esslinger, a 2019 Iowa Central graduate. “I thought maybe nursing or paramedic, but as I learned more about the MLT program I thought it would be a good fit because there is so much more to it than just bedside care”

She dove into the MLT courses, which Esslinger said prepared her for the workforce, along with later obtaining her medical scientist bachelor’s degree from the University of Cincinnati

“We had a great class, everyone was fun to work with,” said Esslinger, a native of Bayard, Iowa. “Josh (Kraushaar, former MLT Program Coordinator) and Shawna (Schuler, current MLT Program Coordinator) were amazing instructors who prepared us for success in the field. Everything I learned at Iowa Central prepared me for the Medical Scientist Program at Cincinnati.”

毕业后，艾斯林格开始了她的职业生涯，在克雷斯顿的大区域健康中心担任医学实验室技术员，然后是大西洋的卡斯县纪念医院。 在大西洋工作期间，COVID-19大流行爆发，导致需要住院治疗的患者大量涌入，并且大量需要实验室技术人员来跟上全国各地的患者护理和COVID测试。 艾斯林格接了电话，开始了她现在的工作——旅行技术人员。

她的第一份旅行合同让她住在内布拉斯加州彭德的彭德社区医院。

在彭德的合同快到期时，艾斯林格和祖母一起看了一部电影，这激发了她的下一步行动。

“We were watching a Nicholas Sparks movie,” she said. “Most movies based on his books take place on the coast of the Carolinas, which I always loved. My grandma suggested ‘maybe you could try to get a contract somewhere in the Carolinas.’”

艾斯林格联系了一个旅行承包商，并得到了在南卡罗来纳州的工作安排，她现在在那里的海岸附近安家，过去三年一直作为一名旅行医学实验室技术员/科学家工作。

“Hospitals reach out to the traveling agencies when they need help, those contracts are 13 weeks up to a year,” said Esslinger, who has worked travel positions in Conway, Greenville and Georgetown, South Carolina.

艾斯林格说，她很感激自己作为一名旅行MLT的时间，因为她住在自己热爱的国家的一个地区，有很多机会追求自己的事业和爱好。

“I am doing something I never dreamed,” she said. “There is a great healthcare system here. 我喜欢打猎、钓鱼和乘船外出。 这是两全其美； 我可以在这里工作和做所有的事情。 When you put in the time you can really leap out into different opportunities.”

回顾她在爱荷华中央大学的时光，艾斯林格说，MLT项目让她走上了成功之路。

“The instructors are very driven toward teaching students what they need to know,” she said. “When it came time to take boards- you can’t work without them- I felt very confident going into them, the program prepared me for those exams. Hands down, if I could do it again, absolutely I would go back through the MLT program at Iowa Central.”