Doctors and nurses are often the ones who get the most attention in the complicated world of health care.
Modern medicine, on the other hand, relies greatly on the knowledge of scientists who work behind the scenes to make diagnoses.
Molecular Technologist Cheannie Calahatian, who works for Labcorp, is one of these professionals who is making a name for herself in this area.
Calahatian, who lives in Taguig, Philippines, has built a strong job path through some of the most important medical institutions in the country.
From being a student at Far Eastern University to a specialist at a global life sciences business, her story shows how hard and important it is to become a medical technology professional.
Early Life and Education
A good education was the first step for Cheannie Calahatian in her career in the medical studies.
She went to Far Eastern University (FEU), which is one of the best schools in the Philippines and is known for its health science and medicine programs.
She went to school for a Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology (also called Clinical Laboratory Science) from 2012 to 2016.
The goal of this tough four-year program is to give students the basic skills they need to do lab diagnostics.
It covers fields like clinical chemistry, microbiology, and hematology. Not only academic smarts are needed to graduate from such a program, but also a lot of accuracy and attention to detail, which would become important skills for her later work.
Career Beginnings: The Foundation Years
Calahatian didn’t waste any time getting a job after graduating from college. Her first job as a Medical Technologist at Medex Laboratories Services Inc. started in 2017.
It’s possible that this job, which she had from 2017 to 2020, helped her learn. Medical technicians work in diagnostic labs and do a wide range of tests, including biological, hematological, immunologic, microscopic, and bacteriological ones.
Doctors use the results of these tests to figure out what diseases people have and how to treat them.
During her time at Medex, she learned how to follow lab standards and make sure that patient data is correct.
Rising to the Challenge: RITM and the Pandemic Era
The most important part of Calahatian’s early work may have happened in 2020, a year that changed the world of healthcare.
She started working as a Medical Technologist at the Department of Health’s Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).
In the Philippines, the RITM is the National Reference Laboratory for Infectious Diseases. It is not just any building.
In 2020, RITM was the hub of the country’s reaction to COVID-19 testing. Even though the specifics of her daily tasks are private, the fact that she was working at this school during the height of the pandemic shows that she is very resilient and technically skilled.
Professionals in this setting had to handle huge numbers of samples while under a lot of stress, directly adding to the country’s public health data.
Transition to Molecular Analysis
Following her time at RITM, Calahatian moved on to a more focused job. She became a Molecular Analyst at Health Metrics Inc. in 2020.
She has moved from general medical technology to molecular analysis, which is a big change in her job path.
Molecular analysts use tools like Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) to find specific DNA or RNA patterns and use them to make genetic diagnoses.
This area of expertise is becoming more and more important in modern medicine. It is used for everything from finding contagious diseases to genetic advice and cancer. She did this job for a few years, which helped her get better at high-complexity tests.
Current Role and Global Impact
As of 2024, Cheannie Calahatian works at Labcorp as a Molecular Technologist. Labcorp is one of the biggest names in life sciences around the world, and its diagnostics and drug development skills are well known.
Moving to a big global company like Labcorp is a big step in your career. It connects her to a worldwide group of professionals whose goal is to make health and lives better through improved diagnostics.
In this role, she continues to use her advanced molecular biology knowledge to provide important health information.
Awards and Recognitions
Calahatian keeps her professional image focused on her work rather than her public praise, but the way her career has gone says a lot.
Moving from local diagnostic centers to a national reference laboratory and then to a Fortune 500 global healthcare company shows how much she has learned and grown as a professional.
In the field of medical technology, longevity and moving up to more specialized molecular jobs are often the best ways to show that you are good at what you do and get praise from your peers.
Personal Life and Interests
Cheannie Calahatian keeps her personal life separate from her work life, which is usual for healthcare professionals.
Her public life is mostly about her work accomplishments and connections in the National Capital Region (NCR) medical technology community.
Influence and Impact
A lot of the time, how important a worker is judged by how well they can make diagnoses. Every test that is run, every molecular analysis that is done, and every report that is checked helps make sure that the patient gets the right treatment.
She is an important part of the healthcare system that most people don’t see because she has worked in everything from frontline infectious disease response to specialized business diagnostics.
Her career path is an example for Filipinos who want to become medical engineers. It shows that hard work and a good education can lead to jobs with top global companies.
Future Projects and Aspirations
With her current job at Labcorp, Calahatian has a lot of options for the future. New discoveries in personalized medicine and genetics are moving the field of molecular technology forward very quickly.
People in her position are likely to do well in supervisory roles, quality assurance management, or specialized study in the life sciences field.
Summary
It’s easy to see how Cheannie Calahatian’s business has gone up and up. From her time at Far Eastern University to her important work at RITM during the pandemic to her current specialized job at Labcorp, she shows how dedicated people need to be in the medical sciences.
Molecular technologists play a key role in connecting science research with patient care, as shown by her work.
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