Mayo Clinic is a great place to work. I like being part of an organization that is committed to excellence in patient care. Knowing that Mayo has such high standards reflects in the quality of its employees.

There is a lot of variety in my position. We provide lab coverage for Rochester Methodist and Saint Marys hospitals including the operating rooms. We collect venous and arterial blood samples from patients, perform tests in our lab, and we respond to medical emergencies and immediate lab requests. We also perform routine maintenance and quality control on all of our instruments. The turnaround time for many of our tests is 15 to 30 minutes. We collect the specimens and perform the tests as quickly as possible to help the doctor provide the best care for our patients.

We get to see a variety of patients when we collect specimens in different areas of the hospital. I enjoy the patient contact. There is a good balance between time out of the lab collecting samples and time in the lab performing tests. This work is done in a team atmosphere, so the ability to work as a team player and having good communication skills is a must in order to be successful in this role.

There are always opportunities to grow and improve in our department if you further your education, participate in committees, improve your work quality, become a trainer for new staff or participate in continuing education opportunities.