Patricia McClarren

Describe the path you took to end up where you are now.

It is safe to say that I have always been interested in STEAM. As a kid I enjoyed doing puzzles, and to me math was just another type of puzzle. I also loved my pets, and like many kids, I wanted to be a veterinarian so I could spend my whole life helping them. In high school, I worked at a no-kill animal shelter, and in college I worked as a veterinary technician. I enjoyed the shelter work, but working as a veterinary technician brought the realization that the career path was not for me. I liked helping animals but was shy around people, and I had a hard time coping when there was no help available for the “patients." I did find that I loved working behind the scenes though, especially with the microscope in the lab.

I received my first bachelor’s degree from Florida State University in Biological Sciences in 2006 and quickly realized that, well, there’s not much you can do with a BS in biology. To figure out my next move, I turned to one of the many “What career suits you?” surveys on the Internet and found cytotechnology; this job was all microscope work (my favorite!) and required only one more year of college for certification. I found the nearest school and committed.

One year later, I earned my second bachelor’s degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and was recruited for my first “real job” at UFHealth Shands Hospital. I worked happily as a cytotechnologist for three years where I got to see all kinds of pathologies under the microscope: cancers, viral changes, fungi, and parasites.

Right around 2010, my supervisor indicated that she was ready to retire. (She was 72!) In 2013, I took her position with the support of my coworkers.

It didn’t take me long to realize that I didn’t find management very fun. I had given up the microscope work for paperwork and mediating disagreements within the lab. It was the only way to advance my career though. After a bit of introspection, I decided that maybe I just didn’t have the appropriate “tools” in my belt; I had studied science--but never business--and that’s what management was. So, I enrolled in an MBA program to see if I could learn to like my new job. I was promoted again shortly thereafter to a manager role that was responsible for all the “anatomic pathology” laboratories. These are the labs responsible for handling “tissue” types of specimens (think biopsies and autopsies) and included cytology, autopsy, the gross rooms, histology, and surgical pathology.

After three years of working as a manager, going to school at the same time, and raising 2 children, I finally earned my MBA from Johns Hopkins University. Unfortunately, I still didn’t like management, but I found other things that I did love; I especially enjoyed working with the Information Technology (IT) group. These “data analysts” spent their days solving the equivalent of what can only be described as “data puzzles.” They coded/built all the reports I needed to do my job and justify my actions as a manager.

What does a normal day in your current job look like? What are some cool things you work on in your job?

My current position as a manager is to oversee the operations of the anatomic pathology laboratories. There is no “routine” per se in this job, but my basic responsibilities are to make sure these labs have enough people, have the right equipment, are using everything efficiently, and are communicating such that our patients are taken care of.

The fun part of my job is witnessing what the labs do every day:

A symptom that many patients visit their doctor for is a mass or growth in their body. The mass can be something obvious and visible like on the neck, or not so obvious and internal like on the lungs. In either case, it’s important to know what it is before deciding what to do next. This is where cytology and cytotechnologists come in. We can provide a preliminary diagnosis without putting the patient through surgery.

Not all masses/growths are cancer, and surgery has its own risks. Cytotechnologists look at cellular changes in sample sizes so small that surgery is not needed to obtain them. A cytotechnologist’s interpretation of what they see in these samples guides future clinical decisions including whether to proceed with surgery to have it removed.

Cytology samples are obtained in several ways. The clinician can use a small stiff brush to slough cells off the area of interest or can stick a small needle into the mass and shave off just enough cells to fill the hub of the needle. For the masses that are internal, this needle is at the end of a long tube with an ultrasound probe. The tube is placed down the esophagus or trachea to reach the area of interest and the needle projected into it. This video is a good overview of this process.

What are your other interests and hobbies besides your field of study?

Outside of work and playing mom, I enjoy staying active and sketching birds. I do mud runs like Tough Mudder and Spartan whenever I can. I love being outside and frequently visit the many national parks and springs near me. (Yay Florida!) On the learning front, I am now trying to teach myself French.

What is one thing you think people don’t know or would be surprised to learn about your occupation?

Working in the lab does not require a four-year college degree. There are technologist level jobs that pay well and offer full benefits that only require an associates degree (histotechnologist for instance), and there are lab aid jobs that only require a high school degree!

Describe any challenges you had on your journey to where you are now. How did you overcome those challenges, and what influence did they have on you?

One of the hardest things for me was learning to speak up for myself. I think this is common for those of us who are entering the workforce for the first time and for women in general. Finding the confidence to speak highly of ourselves to those who we know are much more qualified or experienced is hard! (It can feel like the equivalent of trying to tell Stephen Hawking that you are smart…) And for women, humility is so ingrained that when we are faced with situations that require us to speak highly of ourselves or to speak boldly of an unpopular opinion, we often sell ourselves short. We are given the impression that to be opinionated is less attractive or appealing. Consider how this affects our ability to speak to why we deserve the job we have applied for, why we deserve that raise, or when we need to push for needed change.

I personally overcame this by ensuring that I have time to prepare for these tougher conversations. This means sometimes asking for time to think things through. (Know that people are almost always agreeable to this request!) With preparation, I can tailor messages to my audience while reconciling them with my image of myself. Preparation for me means typing out what I want to say and, in some cases recording myself delivering the message. Yes, it can feel a little ridiculous watching myself talk, but it sure works. After preparing like this, I am a thousand-fold more confident going into tough conversations.

What advice do you have for high school age girls who want to go into your field of study (or STEAM in general)? What skills were most beneficial to you on your path, and what do you wish you had known starting out?

I wish I knew sooner in life that there is so much more to the medical system than just doctors and nurses. There are literally thousands of ancillary jobs in the medical field that need people/applicants, offer real benefits, and require different skills. There are some that don’t even require you to be good at science! Whatever it is you like to do, there is a job for you here.

The best thing to do is figure out what you really like to do and find a job that matches it--and I mean what you really, really like. Understand that this may be different than what you think you are “good” at and know that it may take a lot of trial and error to find it. Don’t stop trying new things until you are happy. The time spent figuring this out is 1000 percent worth it. Finding the motivation to get up and go to a job you don’t like every day is extremely taxing. Life is too short.

What does it mean to you to use STEAM for positive change?

I view STEAM as the opportunity to shape the world for my children. Each problem that I solve today is one less that they will have to worry about tomorrow. Those who proceeded us did not toil so that we could sit idle. What better way to pay it forward than to use our talents to pay their hard work forward.