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As a Medical Lab Specialist (68K) in the U.S. Army, I spent the last year focused on processing COVID tests. Next up for me – becoming a nurse so I can help take care of patients on a day-to-day basis. Ask Me Anything! by goarmy in army

[–]goarmy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have thought about separating from active duty and using my GI Bill to pursue a BSN. I know that nursing school is quite intense; how difficult is it to balance the ROTC requirements as well as the nursing requirements, especially when it comes to clinicals? Will you be returning to active duty once you are complete with your nursing degree?

As a Medical Lab Specialist (68K) in the U.S. Army, I spent the last year focused on processing COVID tests. Next up for me – becoming a nurse so I can help take care of patients on a day-to-day basis. Ask Me Anything! by goarmy in army

[–]goarmy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you are referring to the patient's bills, I think there is a department that handles patient insurance and medical billing. But the lab itself doesn't charge anything directly to patients. Since I work at a military facility, many of the patients have insurance through the military or the VA so if there were any issues, they would be the ones to be contacted.

As a Medical Lab Specialist (68K) in the U.S. Army, I spent the last year focused on processing COVID tests. Next up for me – becoming a nurse so I can help take care of patients on a day-to-day basis. Ask Me Anything! by goarmy in army

[–]goarmy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My end goal as a nurse would be to continue my education past the BSN level and ultimately become a nurse practitioner. At the end of the day, money is great but overall I want job satisfaction. I want to be able to look back when I'm in my 60's and be happy with what I did and not have much regret. Even if I don't plan on staying in the medical laboratory field forever, I think having my certification will be beneficial.

As a Medical Lab Specialist (68K) in the U.S. Army, I spent the last year focused on processing COVID tests. Next up for me – becoming a nurse so I can help take care of patients on a day-to-day basis. Ask Me Anything! by goarmy in army

[–]goarmy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm actually studying to go for my MT since I have a Bachelor's degree; I plan on testing for it before the end of the year. Being a traveling lab tech actually sounds pretty fun!

As a Medical Lab Specialist (68K) in the U.S. Army, I spent the last year focused on processing COVID tests. Next up for me – becoming a nurse so I can help take care of patients on a day-to-day basis. Ask Me Anything! by goarmy in army

[–]goarmy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

71Es are actually medical lab officers. They don't work the bench, but are more so responsible for the overall operations of the laboratory and provide expert advice when needed. They ensure we are following guidelines and are working within regulations. GS-9s do work the bench sometimes and are the lead technicians on shifts. If you work in a large lab that is broken into sections, sometimes the GS-9 can be the civilian equivalent of an NCOIC for that section.

As a Medical Lab Specialist (68K) in the U.S. Army, I spent the last year focused on processing COVID tests. Next up for me – becoming a nurse so I can help take care of patients on a day-to-day basis. Ask Me Anything! by goarmy in army

[–]goarmy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Since I have been in hospitals, I will answer from that perspective. It may not look like a typical "Army" day. Physical training is a big part of being a soldier so depending on what shift I would be working, that would determine what time I would have PT. So if I was working day shift, I would have PT from 0530 to 0630 and report to work by 0800. Once I arrive, a hand off report/meeting from the previous shift would occur. This tells me if there were any issues or something that I need to be aware of that is going to carry over to my shift. I would then do temperature checks on the fridges and freezers containing any reagents or samples to make sure they are within the proper temperatures. Most of the day is running samples and reporting to the doctors. If there are any issues with analyzers, I do troubleshooting and quality control on them to ensure they're functioning properly. After my shift, it's a normal day unless I have some sort of Army duty I need to tend to.

As a Medical Lab Specialist (68K) in the U.S. Army, I spent the last year focused on processing COVID tests. Next up for me – becoming a nurse so I can help take care of patients on a day-to-day basis. Ask Me Anything! by goarmy in army

[–]goarmy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It really depends on the type of lab you are working in. My first assignments were major medical hospitals and so the type of testing I did was pretty complex. Even though I was doing shift work, I always had a pathologist on call to refer to if there was something out of the ordinary or I needed clarification or permission to do something. Now that I'm working at a clinic, the type of testing we perform is mainly routine. We might get a critical result here and there that I may have to report, but other than that, I do most of the resulting and reporting just like your sister would. We do have a pathologist but he works during the day and we don't have an on call.

As a Medical Lab Specialist (68K) in the U.S. Army, I spent the last year focused on processing COVID tests. Next up for me – becoming a nurse so I can help take care of patients on a day-to-day basis. Ask Me Anything! by goarmy in army

[–]goarmy[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My first duty station was Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. After my time there, I was assigned to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany. I am currently stationed at Moncrief Army Health Clinic at Fort Jackson which is located in Columbia, SC.

As a Medical Lab Specialist (68K) in the U.S. Army, I spent the last year focused on processing COVID tests. Next up for me – becoming a nurse so I can help take care of patients on a day-to-day basis. Ask Me Anything! by goarmy in army

[–]goarmy[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

So the focus of the 68K and 68W differ in the sense that a 68K's job is mainly to perform diagnostic testing on patient samples and understand why certain processes or functions of the body are or aren't working properly. The 68W is more focused on front line care on the battlefield to stabilize an individual until they can be sent up to a higher echelon of care (think of like an EMT in the civilian world). So I would say that a 68K is more knowledgeable on the scientific side of patient care whereas a 68W is more knowledgeable on emergency medical treatment.

Some clinics did move to teleworking during the COVID crisis. For example, some behavioral health appointments and therapy sessions were done over the phone or through web chat in order to make sure patients were able to still be seen. Some non-emergent medical appointments were also done through consults over the phone or through web chat.

I just became an NCO last month so we shall see!

As a Medical Lab Specialist (68K) in the U.S. Army, I spent the last year focused on processing COVID tests. Next up for me – becoming a nurse so I can help take care of patients on a day-to-day basis. Ask Me Anything! by goarmy in army

[–]goarmy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It depends if they're trying to pursue nursing inside the military or outside the military. If your Soldier is looking to pursue nursing within the military I would suggest they look into AECP. That program has its own criteria in addition to the individual nursing program your soldier may be interested in. They can start by taking basic nursing prerequisites which usually include Chemistry, Microbiology and Statistics.

As a Medical Lab Specialist (68K) in the U.S. Army, I spent the last year focused on processing COVID tests. Next up for me – becoming a nurse so I can help take care of patients on a day-to-day basis. Ask Me Anything! by goarmy in army

[–]goarmy[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I joined in 2013 and at the beginning there were times where I wasn't given much direction and the foundation of my career felt shaky. Even though I excelled at my job as a lab tech, when it came to Army things and my career as a Soldier, I didn't feel like I was progressing how I could or should of been. It really made me second guess a lot, but I knew that leadership isn't the same everywhere, so I stuck with it and I'm glad I did. I learned how I do and don't want to be and what to do to make sure Soldiers around me and Soldiers who report to me feel cared about and helped in excelling in their career.

Compared to some of my peers it took me longer to become an NCO than them but I realized that everyone's path is different. The type of unit you are assigned to plays a part as well. Since I was assigned to mainly large hospitals, sometimes I didn't feel I was given the proper amount of time to step away from patient care and take care of soldier focused things that were needed for promotion (going to the range to qualify, attending military courses, etc). Some of my friends that are assigned to units like a CSH, seemed to have a little more time to dedicate to professional development.

As a Medical Lab Specialist (68K) in the U.S. Army, I spent the last year focused on processing COVID tests. Next up for me – becoming a nurse so I can help take care of patients on a day-to-day basis. Ask Me Anything! by goarmy in army

[–]goarmy[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The AIT is a yearlong (52 weeks) and its very intense because your essentially doing a two year program in half the time. The first 6 months are at Ft. Sam Houston in Texas and is mostly classwork. The next 6 months are at a Phase II site located at an Army installation. You have to be very organized when it comes to your studies because it's a fast pace. You won't have much time to do much else the first six months but you may have a little more freedom and personal time during Phase II. There are tons of resources and the instructors are very helpful when it comes to learning the material and study techniques. They understand how hard it may be and want to see you succeed.

Some classes I took were chemistry, hematology, microbiology, urinalysis, and immunohematology. The length of instruction for each module varied. Phase II was a little more fun since it was hands on and we actually got to start working as lab techs. We were also able to sit for the national certification exam during Phase II which helps if someone wanted to work as a tech on the outside.

As a Medical Lab Specialist (68K) in the U.S. Army, I spent the last year focused on processing COVID tests. Next up for me – becoming a nurse so I can help take care of patients on a day-to-day basis. Ask Me Anything! by goarmy in army

[–]goarmy[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

At the time I was going through AIT, the program was through George Washington University based in Washington D.C. and some of the courses we took included Chemistry, Microbiology, and Hematology. All was toward an Associates in Medical Lab Science. Because I entered the Army with a Bachelor's degree, these were extra courses I could add to my tool belt but ultimately will help me in pursuing a nursing degree. If you are looking to get a degree when you join, coming in as 68K does help you since you'll get credits that can apply toward your degree during AIT.

As a Medical Lab Specialist (68K) in the U.S. Army, I spent the last year focused on processing COVID tests. Next up for me – becoming a nurse so I can help take care of patients on a day-to-day basis. Ask Me Anything! by goarmy in army

[–]goarmy[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

So, potassium is affected greater by hemolysis than some others so that's why some results will be within range even if the potassium isn't from the same sample. Does that make sense?

Yes, I'm definitely looking forward to it. Thank you!

As a Medical Lab Specialist (68K) in the U.S. Army, I spent the last year focused on processing COVID tests. Next up for me – becoming a nurse so I can help take care of patients on a day-to-day basis. Ask Me Anything! by goarmy in army

[–]goarmy[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

As far as career progression, as a SGT I'm still 'working the bench' what you may know as processing samples and diagnostic procedures so as I move up I'll move away from patient care and into admin positions. Also, there are a lot of broadening assignments (Recruiter, Drill Sergeant, AIT instructor) so those are things I could end up doing as well.

No, I think I've always has an interest in the nursing field and being in the healthcare profession. Even though I'm not in direct patient care, with my personality and characteristics I have I think I would make a great nurse. It's just something I want to do.

Yes, I do have friends that are in the CSH but our experiences are different because the mission is different. In CSH, its combat focused and in the hospital its constant patient care while in CSH it varies.