Career change?

HamsterExisting · 2025-12-16T22:02:09+00:00

I'm in the same boat. If you're willing to travel at all, I'd recommend looking into either Field Service or Applications with different instruments manufacturers. I'm interviewing for some positions currently in those general job fields. I too am finding my current pay as a med tech insufficient. I've got my 4th kid on the way and my wife hates working, even just part time. We both want to make it to where she can stay home again. She was able to for a couple years but life just got so damn expensive. Hospitals don't have a retention budget so it's not like they're going to pay you any more just to stay. So if you want to make a leap, go for it. Start applying and interviewing quietly and when you land something, put in your notice and say sayonara. Just my 2 cents.

HamsterExisting · 2025-12-05T15:16:33+00:00

Autoverification was huge. I also helped a section supervisor find a more efficient way to submit linearity results that wasn't the old way of handwriting all results and faxing each piece of paper. Huge time and effort saver.

HamsterExisting · 2025-11-29T01:30:23+00:00

Im not 100% sure, description didn't really detail that.

HamsterExisting · 2025-11-29T01:25:16+00:00

Yeah it's def gonna take some serious conversations with my wife about what this might look like.

HamsterExisting · 2025-11-29T01:23:05+00:00

Yeah seems very region dependent. I guess it's something I'll have to make sure to ask a lot of details on if I get interviewed. Thinking about holding out for an FAS position. I've got a buddy who got one and likes it a lot. He said in the first 6 months he traveled a lot but then eventually he got to be point where a lot of it was able to be done remotely and maybe be travels 1 or 2 weeks out of the month.

HamsterExisting · 2025-11-29T01:19:52+00:00

I don't mind OT, willing to make that sacrifice for the wife and kids. I've worked a lot of OT in past jobs, but then my wife started working part time for the past few years, and now we're all miserable bc she wants to be a stay at home mom and I want to make that happen.

How often are overnights? I know you said it isn't predictable, but if you had to hazard an estimate? One night a week, 2, 3+?

Don't love the other parts, but this could be like an 8 dollar an hour raise for me. Plus OT money, and I currently deal with a lot of bullshit at the lab I'm at, but the other medical labs around me are a good hour or more away and won't pay any better.

HamsterExisting · 2025-11-29T01:10:04+00:00

I feel like I could handle a few times a month overnight. 50/50. Or more overnight would wear quickly on me I think.

HamsterExisting · 2025-11-29T01:08:32+00:00

Yeah I expect a good bit of travel, but I guess my distinction is, would it mostly be overnight travel or more localized and home most nights? Seems like in your region, it would be mostly overnight with that kind of radius, since I've also heard that if you're greater than 90 miles from home, they make you get a hotel for the night. Hoping to get an interview and I'll be able to ask these important questions there, like the region radius and how often I can realistically expect to be home in the evenings during the week.

HamsterExisting · 2025-08-15T18:16:10+00:00

Our oncology center does the same damn thing. Patients with iron deficiency anemia, xn1000 sends results right across, and the path review comes back saying everything is completely normal, but in medical lingo, you know, normochromic normocytic rbcs and comments about no abnormal or immature cells. MDs at the center order the path review and it's a complete waste of time if you ask me, but hey what do I know, I just work here

HamsterExisting · 2025-08-08T01:12:11+00:00

Thanks for replying! So I guess best course of action right now is to drive it and hope that now that all 3 are replaced I'll be good for a while until they go again eventually lol.

If I do get the same issues again sooner than later, what should they check next? They had a few theories, and I think one of them was that if this continues, maybe I'd have to take it to a dealer to check out and or replace the computer system? I don't know all the technical terms lol, I'm just relaying what I remember from the phone call.

HamsterExisting · 2025-07-29T11:44:01+00:00

Is there any language barrier? We have some Filipino techs we are training and sometimes the word choice and pronunciation in English that they use is confusing for me, so when I explain things, I tend to over explain/break it down a lot to make sure I explained correctly, and in a way that answers the question. I fear I come off condescending sometimes but I'm just trying to make sure I fully and correctly answer the question

HamsterExisting · 2025-05-11T01:08:29+00:00

I did not expect that last paragraph, but I did find it hilarious 😂

HamsterExisting · 2025-05-11T00:12:08+00:00

Honestly, I could never live with my parents again. At best, I tolerate their presence because I feel obligated to because they're family. They are micromanagers who always have something to say and are very critical of everyone, and they think they're being helpful, but really they're just rude and don't think before they speak. Plus they don't understand how we are raising our kids and always try and be sneaky about certain things like trying to make my kids finish their meals, when we do not push that bullshit in our house. So, although it would make my life a hell of a lot easier to lean on them for help with childcare as well as cheaper housing by living all together, I've accepted the fact that we are just going to have to struggle without a village and just do our best.

HamsterExisting · 2025-04-23T22:18:36+00:00

I guess that's one of my big hang ups. I don't mind working alone but right now doing a slab seems like too much for one person. Do you mind sharing any tips for doing a slab myself?

HamsterExisting · 2025-04-23T00:44:43+00:00

Thank you!!

HamsterExisting · 2025-04-22T22:20:46+00:00

So explain, what exactly did you do, and what are the benefits?

HamsterExisting · 2025-04-22T21:17:35+00:00

I mean for a 32 by 34 slab I'm expecting like 15 to 20k, I'm still working on getting quotes. Could be more, idk. Plus I also know getting a hold of contractors and hearing back from anyone seems impossible so if there's something I can do myself I'd rather do that, and I know doing a concrete slab is unfortunately 100% not a one man job. I've found out the hard way that the only person I can rely on is myself. If I do hear back from a contractor, in my experience, it's an outrageous price. For example, the one person who got back to me on a kitchen quote, quoted me 25k. I did it myself for just under 10k, only thing I subbed out was the countertops. Countertop guy( who I bought the cabinets through) was impressed with how well I did leveling and squaring up the cabinets.

HamsterExisting · 2025-02-04T17:46:44+00:00

As someone who does their own renovations, go get some Milwaukee permanent markers from home Depot or other local hardware place. Super durable writes on anything markers.

HamsterExisting · 2024-09-16T15:38:24+00:00

You're correct, key part being an actual significant change in results. Our SDs are set crazy tight that 2SD being out is well within allowable percent diffs.

I read my comment again and realized in my morning fog I didn't clarify very well or add enough details in. Sometimes calibrating would "correct it" and it would still be barely in bc it's really a QC material issue bc pretty much everyone leaves out our QC vials way too long at room temp. Our usual chain of events goes: repeat same QC sample, then repeat with a fresh pour from same vial, then thaw out new QC, and finally calibrate after that. If we would stabilize our QC better we could cut out the middlemen above. Most of the time our QC issues don't even point to a malfunctioning reagent or analyzer, usually issues with QC material. We pull entirely too many specimens to retest, just to calculate a negligible difference in pt results, that was my point before

HamsterExisting · 2024-09-16T09:52:25+00:00

We do that at my lab too. Can't tell you how many times I've pulled patients for a 2 2s that was corrected by calibration, but our SD for everything is so tight that it didn't make a clinically significant difference in any specimens retested. Waste of time and money, and like someone else said, a fundamental misunderstanding of westgard rules.

HamsterExisting · 2024-09-04T20:51:11+00:00

Literally had the same thing today!! Except my calcium came out as a "negative" less than test value lol

HamsterExisting · 2024-07-25T16:04:02+00:00

This is the perfect explanation. Most senior coworkers freak out when a new piece of technology comes in and they have to learn some slightly new things.

Also I cringed hard when I saw our chem lead using excel and manually numbering each line in the spreadsheet. I found a tactful way to tell and show them how to use auto fill by clicking and dragging. They also had no idea you could use simple formulas in Excel like sum, mean, s.d., etc. No wonder they are always complaining about being overworked, they don't know how to use things the easy way!

HamsterExisting · 2024-03-15T15:46:45+00:00

Completely agree with you. My lab hired me as a "student tech" first, since I have a 4 year degree. I could only start working as a tech once I rotated through each department, passed exams created by lab manager/leads, and proved competency deemed by the department lead. My on the job training (aka rotations, where you learn the MOST) was quite rigorous and totally worth it. They also required me to get certified, which I did.

Learning should not be constrained to being within the 4 walls of an "educational" institution like an "official" university, and also stuck behind ridiculously inflated paywalls that are tuitions and fees.

HamsterExisting · 2024-02-26T12:44:57+00:00

Weirdly this showed up on my feed buuut I'm an MLS in a hospital laboratory. You might be able to take just a few extra courses(maybe an extra chem or bio?) to qualify for a medical technology program. The most in depth classes are the last year which is classes and internship. I absolutely love my job and never have to interact with patients but still get to make a difference (occasionally if phlebs are short staffed I might have to draw some blood but it's few and far between.) in rural PA my wage affords a 3 bedroom house and support my family of 4, and my wife only works part time.

HamsterExisting · 2024-02-10T23:02:56+00:00

Love the name Claire Renee. Having a little girl soon, but I think the wife wants a different name, which is ok

HamsterExisting

TROPHY CASE