McNeese Senior Interns at Local Hospital 

Reagan West, senior medical laboratory science major at McNeese State University, is interning at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital.  

West, from Darrow, learned throughout her internship that she has a passion for assisting people in solving health issues.  

“I will continue to strive to give the best results and do everything accurately so there are no mistakes on the lab side of the hospital,” she expressed.  

West is appreciative for this internship because although not all labs are the same there are standard procedures. Learning to follow these rules has helped her to be better prepared for working in a lab on her own.  

West says, “I remembered what I’ve been taught in school and it helped me put the pieces together like a puzzle. It helped me understand what I was seeing in the lab.” 

She experienced some things throughout the internship that she had not yet faced. 

“I learned that some results come back faulty because of an issue with the machines. Therefore, we would have to do calculations on our own and use old methods,” she explained. 

After graduation, West plans to work in Baton Rouge and is hopeful to join one of the larger health centers when she gets her license.  

West originally wanted to major in biological science and chose McNeese because she felt the surrounding area would be good for studying. 

“I chose medical laboratory science because I enjoy working in a lab setting. I feel stress free when I do lab work and I get to see an up-close view of different things under a microscope,” she says.  

She advises students who are interning to take advantage of the helpful resources around them.  

“I’ve learned from some amazing lab techs and they were willing to help no matter how long it took to explain and for me to understand,” she expressed.