Krista McAndress

Just two months after graduation in May 2015, Krista McAndress has been hired as a medical technologist by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).

In an email to Dr. Sylvia Riviello, Krista described herself as “super excited” to get “a real big girl job with full time hours, benefits, and paid vacation” at the prestigious Philadelphia hospital.

As a medical laboratory scientist, she will perform diagnostic tests, report the results, and perform preventative maintenance on equipment. According to the CHOP job description, she is also expected to take initiative in problem solving and provide professional, courteous customer service.

Requirements of the position include the ability to work with computer programs and computer controlled equipment, good laboratory technique and safety practices, and good technical and organizational skills.

A Biology/Clinical Laboratory Science (CLS) major at Neumann, Krista has the background that hospitals and medical research firms seek. In 2014, she was selected for the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) at the Rowan University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in Stratford, NJ. The SURE program provides hands-on research experience for undergraduate students who are considering graduate education in the biomedical sciences. Each student in the program learns the basic skills necessary to contribute to a research effort.

As a junior, she was elected president of Neumann’s chapter of Sigma Zeta, the national honor society for science and math. In her senior year, she won the Sister Margaret Lewis, OSF Award for Excellence in Clinical Laboratory Science.

“Krista was an excellent student,” recalls Dr. Sandra Weiss, director of the CLS program. “She volunteered her time to assist students in the laboratory beyond the scheduled laboratory time. She was also resourceful, organized and dependable. I will truly miss her and her contributions to the clinical laboratory science program.”

Weiss added that Krista “was offered several employment opportunities in various clinical laboratories in Philadelphia and the surrounding area. She has been able to pick the clinical laboratory that she feels will further her career.”

Krista is a resident of Blackwood, NJ, and a graduate of Highland High School.