The following article is courtesy of https://www.bluffton.edu/news

This summer, Grant Klinger ’25, Medical Laboratory Major [at Bluffton University] Confirmed his career goals and gained practical experience in his field. Klinger worked as a full-time laboratory processor at Blanchard’s Valley Health System in Findlay, Ohio.

“Processing isn’t such a great job, but it’s nice to be in the lab and see what the technicians are doing,” Klinger said. ,It was really good.”

Klinger cannot run the tests himself until he is fully certified, but he has been able to interact with medical laboratory technicians in his spare days.

“If we had downtime, we would show the tests in action, explain why we were doing them, and discuss the difference between chemistry and hematology,” said Klinger of various parts of the lab. I’m here. “Some tests have crossovers and you go to both places. It was also great to experience microbiology and plating.”

Introduced two years ago, Medical Laboratory Science (MLS) is one of Bluffton’s new majors. The degree prepares students for careers as scientists who perform and read medical tests such as hematology, microbiology, and immunology. In his final year, students like Klinger will participate in coursework through the West Central Ohio Medical Laboratory Science (WCOMLS) program administered by Northern University, while the student will remain at Bluffton College. The WCOMLS program is the only program accredited by the National Accreditation Agency of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, run by a private university in Ohio.

Entering the second year of the class, Klinger plans to “get it done.”

“That’s my OChem [organic chemistry] years,” Klinger said. “It will be difficult for everyone, but I think we are well prepared.”

One way Klinger has set up is through student-run study tables in the Learning Resource Center. The study groups improved his critical thinking skills and helped him complete assignments and exams in anatomy and physiology taught by Assistant Biology Professor Sarah Lehman, and inorganic chemistry homework and exams taught by Professor of Chemistry Dr. Charles Dawes. I prepared for the exam.

“Professor Riemann was so wonderful to share anecdotes and help us in the lab,” Clinger said. “Professor Dawes always pissed me off. But they are both really great professors.”

During the Fall 2022 term, he will continue to work in the Blanchard Valley and participate more in Bluffton’s Science Club. He also participates in the Bluffton Tennis Club.

Having lived in the village of Bluffton all his life, Klinger chose his hometown college because the campus community “just fit.”

“There were a lot of really good options, but I felt Bluffton was the best option.”