Patricia Clark is a librarian, make no mistake about that. But not for books. Clark, with one co-worker and some part-time volunteer staff, is responsible for filing new specimen slides, responding to internal and external requests for slides and sending them out—handling the constant flow of slides in and out of the library in the Medical Science Building on the UNMC campus.
Clark said hundreds of slides are brought to the library every day. That’s on top of the phone calls and emails they receive asking to check out slides or tissue blocks. Each slide has a bar code that is scanned whenever it enters or leaves the library.
Clark said she likes to stay busy, which is a good thing because there’s lots of work. “There are so many different things to do, I don’t get bored.”
Travis Rinehart, MS, PA (ASCP), anatomic pathology supervisor at Nebraska Medicine, said she is an invaluable member of the team. “Ms. Clark has been the backbone of our slide room operation for the past 16 years,” he said. “Nearly any time of weekday (or weekend) she can be found supporting individual physician block/slide requests, packaging PHI for external clients, or sleuthing pathologist offices for a missing diagnostic slide. We are blessed to have her on our interprofessional health care team!”
Clark is passionate about her work, agreed Ana Yuil-Valdes, MD, associate professor in UNMC’s Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology and medical director of the Cytopathology Division. “Patricia always goes above and beyond with her dedication,” she said. “Her warm smile and cheerful positivity light up the room, creating an inspiring and uplifting atmosphere for everyone around her.”
When she’s not working, Clark spends a lot of time with her son, 27, who has Down Syndrome, taking him to baseball, track, dancing, and other activities. She also sees plenty of her two older daughters, and she has a 14-month-old grandson she dotes on. “We’re a close-knit family,” she said.
She also enjoys watching TV when she gets the chance. “I like to watch anime or mysteries. Really, some of everything,” she said, “documentaries, doctor movies. Stuff like the Walking Dead—I’m into really gory movies. That and cartoons. My kids get on me about that. They say there’s something new, and I’ve already watched it.”