Louise Urick
Houston,TX
Summary
Experienced Medical Technologist with over 29 years of experience in the field of clinical laboratory and health care. Excellent reputation for resolving problems, able to master and adapt to new concepts quickly and easily, and driving overall operational improvements by reducing use of supplies by at least 25% and increasing final culture report output by up to 50% with expert knowledge of bacterial organisms and their characteristics that come with many years of experience.
Overview
27
27
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Medical Technologist, Microbiology
Houston Methodist Hospital
Houston, TX
02.2014 - 04.2020
- Executed as well as trained new medical technologists to perform, read, and interpret Microbiology aerobic/anaerobic cultures as well as read and interpret antibiotic drug sensitivities, Parasitology including direct smears and malaria, Molecular testing for Respiratory pathogen viruses and Gastrointestinal organisms, DNA Extraction via Probetec for GC and Chlamydia, Environmental Culture interpretations, blood culture workup and interpretation along with critical processing and reporting.
- Participated in essential quality improvement programs to maintain accurate and timely laboratory testing and meet customer needs.
- Maintained Quality Control of required laboratory supplies inventory, and verified viability of supplies and chemicals prior to use.
- Instrumentation operations: BioFire FilmArray, BioFire FilmArray Torch, MALDI-TOFF, BD Kiestra KLA (Barcodea, Innocula, Reada), Anaerobic chamber, Vitek, BD Bactec FX, Sofia, BD Phoenix M50, BD API, BD Max
- CAP proficient in all areas
Medical Technologist, Hematology
Houston Methodist Hospital
Houston, TX
12.2007 - 02.2014
- Conducted chemical analysis of body fluids to determine presence of normal and abnormal components.
- Manual CBC and Body fluid counts.
- Trained and oriented new medical technologists to perform and interpret various hematologic tests in Hematology, Urinalysis, Coagulation, and Body Fluids.
- Operated, calibrated and maintained sophisticated instruments and equipment to facilitate quality laboratory and patient care operations: Sysmex, Iris, Stago coagulation analyzer.
- Assisted with in-room Medical Hematology procedures, bone marrow specimen collection
- Employed microscopic techniques for hematologic testing to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of disease, conducted procedures related to the counting and identification of blood cells and verified accuracy of findings.
Medical Technologist, Microbiology
Houston Methodist Hospital
Houston, TX
01.1998 - 12.2007
- Executed as well as trained new medical technologists to perform, read, and interpret Microbiology aerobic/anaerobic cultures as well as antibiotic drug sensitivities, all Parasitology testing including direct smears, trichromes, malaria, and Sudan, Molecular and Virology testing including setting up and reading shell vials and Viral tubes, read and interpret Mycoplasma cultures, DNA Extraction via Probetec for GC and Chlamydia, setup, read, and interpret Clostidium Difficile cultures and Environmental Culture interpretations
- Maintained Quality Control of required laboratory supplies inventory, and verified viability of supplies and chemicals prior to use.
- AFB processing/concentrating
- Read and interpret AFB and Fungal smears
- Instrumentation operations: BioFire FilmArray, BioFire FilmArray Torch, MALDI-TOFF, ) Anaerobic chamber, Vitek, BD Phoenix M50, BD API, NFT strips
- CAP proficient in all areas
Medical Technologist, Microbiology
St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital
Houston, TX
08.1993 - 12.1997
- Member of the Lab Enhancement Team which including projects such as: Casual Day Policy, Stat Vs. ASAP projects, Welcoming of new employee brunch, Re-engineering project (cutting costs , adding work), Workload/Staffing committee
- Worked the Infectious Disease Bench and met in person daily each morning to give reports to all Infectious Disease doctors in attendance.
- Read and interpret approximately 120 various routine cultures and sensitivities
- Competent by CLIAA regulations and requirements yearly
- Performed all testing in Parasitology
- Performed Clostridium difficile assays
- Accurately documented all Quality Control and able to troubleshoot all occurrences.
- Work with Bac T-Alert blood culture instrument as well as performed all necessary positive blood culture workups.
- Setup, read, interpret API and NFT testing.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Medical Technology
Houston Methodist Hospital School of Medical Tech
Houston, TX08.1993
Bachelor of Science - Medical Technology/Chemistry
Sam Houston State University
Huntsville, TX08.1993
Skills
- Proficient at specimen analysis and processing
- Profound microorganism classification, interpretation, workup, and testing skills
- Molecular diagnostics and Virology
- Problem solver and independent resolution
- Instrumentation Testing and Calibration
- Organized and detail oriented
- Optimistic team player and team morale builder
- Professional and courteous to all inquiring healthcare professionals including working closely with Infectious Disease Physicians
- Quality Control /Quality Assurance knowledgeable and correlates proper documentation
Accomplishments
- 2011 Nominee for the prestigious "I Care Award" for exemplifying integrity, compassion, accountability, respect and excellence, Houston Methodist Hospital, TX
- Code Blue Team, Houston Methodist Hospital, TX
Certification
- American Society for Clinical Pathology, (ASCP) eligible
Timeline
Medical Technologist, Microbiology
Houston Methodist Hospital
02.2014 - 04.2020
Medical Technologist, Hematology
Houston Methodist Hospital
12.2007 - 02.2014
Medical Technologist, Microbiology
Houston Methodist Hospital
01.1998 - 12.2007
Medical Technologist, Microbiology
St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital
08.1993 - 12.1997
Bachelor of Science - Medical Technology
Houston Methodist Hospital School of Medical Tech
Bachelor of Science - Medical Technology/Chemistry
Sam Houston State University