Yale Pathology Labs joins medical laboratories across the country in celebrating National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week, April 14 to 20.
The theme for Lab Week 2024 is The Future is Lab, acknowledging how lab professionals protect our future with their ability to deftly adapt to meet evolving patient needs through innovation and expertise. For us, this is a celebration of the dedicated people – laboratory professionals and pathologists – who perform vital and, in many instances, life-saving work every day in our pathology laboratories. Consistently, they show their commitment to patients and the community through their efforts.
Lab Week is also an opportunity to demonstrate that working in a Pathology Lab is a challenging and rewarding career, as evidenced by the lab professionals who have been with us for years and, in many instances, decades.
Kyle Preston, Reference Services Outreach Laboratory Program Coordinator, has worked in a variety of positions during his 21 years at Yale Pathology Labs before a promotion to his current role.
“It’s been a very interesting and sort of varied trail,” he said recently. He started working the Cytology Lab and then served as an administrative assistant before moving into Reference Services, initially called Outreach Services, where he focuses on logistics and has additional responsibilities.
Kyle said it’s his co-workers who motivate him to show up every day.
“We’re almost like a family around here,” he said. “The people here are very friendly, and if it wasn’t for that knowledge base you have from a variety of people, this place wouldn’t work.”
Will Platt, a Clinical Technologist 2, enjoys being involved in different aspects of medicine, diagnosis, and research support working at Yale Pathology Labs.
“I like the impact that I have, hopefully. I like helping people with their health, especially if there are barriers to that,” he said.
Will and Kyle are part of a team that staffs the Yale Pathology Labs (YPL) Mobile Lab-in-a-Van, bringing YPL’s diagnostic services into the community to serve vulnerable and other populations.