During Pandemic, ASCP Career Ambassador Takes Her Laboratory Career Presentations Online

Being an ASCP Career Ambassador gives Melody Nelson, MS, MLS(ASCP)^CM   the chance to talk about her passion—being a medical laboratory professional—to young people who never knew such careers existed. It’s a nice complement to her actual job as laboratory operations manager at Advent Health-Shawnee Mission, Kansas.

But in March, the rapid spread of the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent shelter in place mandate ended her in-person visits to universities and high schools to talk about careers in laboratory medicine.

Instead, Mrs. Nelson began giving her Career Ambassador presentations online.

The faculty she had worked with reached out and asked if she would be willing to give a virtual presentation. She already had power point presentation and said, “Sure!”

“With Zoom technology and BlackBoard Collaborate, it works really well to post the presentation. I talked with the faculty to find out what their students are learning,” she said.

The students’ response, overall, has been very positive to the new format of her presentations. Some students actually want to get a better understanding of the pandemic, so Mr. Nelson shifts her focus to answer their questions.

“A lot of students don’t understand the concepts of herd immunity” which means a majority of the U.S. population has been exposed to the virus, it develops an indirect immunity to the virus.

 One student asked why some regions of the country have a higher incidence of COVID-19 cases than other areas. “These are things that we, as scientists, often take for granted. The students hear things [in the media] and are piecing knowledge about this together as best they can. And, they are still learning science even when we pivot to this subject.”

Learn more about being a Career Ambassador at www.ascp.org/ambassadors.