Her official title is medical laboratory technologist. But Lois Graves
could just as easily call herself an explorer of the microscopic world.
"I have an insatiable curiosity about what goes on under the lens of the
microscope. The microscope and I are on very close terms."
Graves specializes in the microbiology of tissue. She tests tissue samples,
searching for any abnormal behavior in the tissue.
If she finds an abnormality, she marks the slide for the pathologist. A
pathologist is a doctor who specializes in the study of disease. This specialist
will study the tissue even more closely to discover the nature of the abnormality.
Although she is absorbed in the science of her job, she is keenly aware
of what an abnormal tissue sample means to the patient.
"The tissue samples we analyze come from growths or tumors," says Graves.
"When I find an abnormal sample, it usually means the tumor is malignant --
cancerous."
Graves lives with the reality that her findings may be terrible news for
another human being. "It's difficult knowing my work may result in someone
learning they have cancer."
Yet there is treatment for many types of cancer. While she may uncover
evidence of a disease in a sample, that means the patient will get treatment
for the disease. Getting treatment is the best possible thing for a patient
who is sick. In other words, lab techs help protect the health of thousands
of people.
Hugh Price is a general medical lab technician for a walk-in laboratory
in Indiana. He deals with people in real life and in microscopic forms.
"Doctors send their patients here for everything from AIDS tests to urinalysis.
I'm responsible for conducting some of the tests and analyzing some of
the others," says Price.
Supervising and conducting tests on patients who actually walk into the
clinic reminds him of the human element behind the lab work he does. While
it may seem putting a face to an illness would make for a disturbing way to
spend a day, Price does his best to look at the glass as half full.
"The majority of time, the lab analysis or the tests I do end up being
negative. I try to focus on the fact that I'm responsible for people
getting good news from their test results."
In a laboratory setting, the word negative means that something is absent
from a test sample. Lab tests focus on finding evidence of disease. So not
finding that evidence means an absence of that evidence. In other words, a
negative is pretty positive!
Medical lab technology is an important a part of the whole health-care
system. This is a source of satisfaction for lab techs. Without qualified
techs, the tests would have to be done by pathologists and other physicians.
And the costs of this would be so high that neither the health-care system
nor most patients could afford to have laboratory tests done as often as needed.
Graves says her desire to help others has been a major factor in her interest
in medical lab technology. Still, that's not her main motivation. "It's
very interesting work for me. It fascinates me," says Graves.
Imagine taking a tiny sample of human tissue. Then magnify it 1,000 times
under a microscope. You can see everything so clearly! You can see individual
cells -- the building blocks of life. You can examine all of the messages
the cells are giving each other. And if you can imagine what you see happening
billions and billions of times over in your own body, it's like you can
see your own body working!
"I have the opportunity to be a daily witness to the wonders of the human
body," says Graves.
And that's a pretty great opportunity!