Benson is well prepared for the Medical Lab Science program at Mayo Clinic, which extends 10 and a half months and begins with coursework before branching into clinicals at Mayo labs. The program concludes with a certification exam, after which Benson hopes to work in lab at a midwest Mayo location, possibly focused on microbiology or genetics.
Medical lab technologists, Benson notes, “play a very critical role” in ensuring patients receive the best treatments available to them, and with her profession she “hopes to have an opportunity to serve those around me.”
Her last two semesters at Viterbo have been challenging due to the coronavirus, with classes conducted entirely online post Thanksgiving. The small classes at the university, Benson says, create a supportive atmosphere, and while she misses seeing classmates and instructors in person, she notes the school has done “very well” with both taking precautions and maintaining high quality instruction and a sense of connection.
Benson expresses appreciation for many of her professors, with Sadowski and Christopher Mayne, associate professor in biology, among them. Sadowski, she enthuses, has been “so kind and so influential,” while Mayne “really kick started my path. I definitely credit a lot of my success to Dr. Mayne.”
Mayne is effusive in his praise for Benson, saying, “Jessie has an uncanny dedication to helping others that is paired with a sense of determination and responsibility that make her a uniquely successful student, and simply a joy to work with.”
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