Lab Matters Summer 2024 | Page 7

CAREER PATHWAYS

Lucy Wellso and mentor Tony Plourde . Photo : Jan Klawitter / WSLH

Jones was busy labeling the swabs and checking them in . She also helped with specimen receiving by getting samples prepared and sent to their proper department .

“ I think it ’ s a lot more attractive to the students because it ’ s not only working for the state laboratory , but you ’ re also associated with a nationwide organization for public health ,” Danielson said . “ I think it also is just the perception that it will look better on their resumes . I think all those factors , the association with APHL , the increase in pay and the added educational benefits , made it a much better pool .”

Laying the Foundation for Strong Next Steps

Danielson believes exposure to so many features of a public health laboratory provides interns with valuable insights into both environmental and clinical public health work , quality improvement , quality assurance practices and regulatory principles .

Jones is not sure about her next steps — she has been applying for jobs but has also thought about applying for the Public Health Laboratory Fellowship . Wellso also has some options after graduation .

“ I was looking at the fellowship as one of my options or there is a laboratory assistant position coming open in my current laboratory . I ’ m more interested in the Fellowship because I would get to go to conferences and become a more wellrounded laboratory scientist ,” Wellso said .

Jones added that the internship has been eye opening .

“ I ’ m just so thankful that I got this opportunity ,” she said . “ As a senior who is going into the workforce , it ’ s been helpful to me because I have seen the day-to-day work and the testing that the laboratories perform .” g

An Internship Program ’ s Humble Beginnings

The ability for WSLH to handle the large number of interns is because of the foundation the program was built upon .

Royce Riessen , a former inorganic chemist at WSLH and current APHL staff member , learned about APHL ’ s new internship initiative during his first meeting with his Emerging Leadership Program ( ELP ) cohort . Riessen found the potential benefits for the laboratory intriguing and brought the information to WSLH leadership .

WSLH had never hosted interns , so there was a bit of hesitation on the commitment . They have hired summer students before but on a much smaller scale . There were concerns about managing the program without an internship coordinator . Nevertheless , leadership was excited about this potential resource for the laboratory that also would help the students .

Riessen and Danielson scheduled a quick informational meeting with APHL ’ s internships team to find out how the program could benefit the future public health workforce and the laboratory ’ s immediate needs . The program was then proposed to WSLH Director James Schauer , PhD , PE , MBA who suggested a pilot program in the Environmental Health Division ( EHD ).

With their inaugural class of 17 interns across three divisions , organization was crucial . From day one , the laboratory knew it was important to allow the interns to get to know the various aspects of a public health laboratory and meet as many staff as possible . It all began on orientation day . The interns were invited to the main laboratory for an overview of the facility , a tour and pizza . Later in the summer , tours were coordinated for other facilities and included an important meet and greet with the laboratory director .

The required competency-based core curriculum modules were also used for interns to reflect in a group setting with laboratory subject matter experts facilitating discussions on safety , ethics , quality and other topics . Supervisors also encouraged the interns to reach out about areas of interest and then facilitated shadow opportunities for them in areas other than where they were working .

Danielson believes the internship program will have a long-lasting impact for WSLH and the public health laboratory workforce .