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Osan celebrates Medical Laboratory Professionals Week

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Siuta B. Ika
  • 51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  The 51st Medical Support Squadron clinical laboratory opened its doors to the base populace during a series of tours to showcase the different departments in the lab April 25.

The tours were held in conjunction with Medical Laboratory Professionals Week, April 21-27, which honors more than 300,000 medical laboratory professionals who perform and interpret more than 10 billion lab tests every year.

"The lab tours give an inside look at what we do with blood and other samples after we collect them," said Master Sgt. Casey Morris, 51st MDSS clinical laboratory flight chief. "We showed what you can see under the microscope and also went over phlebotomy, urinalysis, hematology and chemistry."

One common misconception about the Osan lab techs, who see about 200 patients per week, is that their job responsibilities are limited to one section in the lab, said Tech. Sgt. Anisa Arana, 51st MDSS laboratory technician.

"A lot of times people only see us as phlebotomists, so I think it's important for them to be able to see what we do to understand how it impacts their care," she said. "We have a very good team here that understands how important their job is."

Although lab techs conduct urinalysis, blood and semen tests for a number of current diseases, most of the time tests are administered for pre-diagnostic purposes to treat any potential risks before they become bigger health problems.

"We are the hub to providing the providers with the proper diagnosis," Morris said. "In essence, every year doctors are getting results faster, which increases the overall quality of care our patients receive."