{"id":47068,"date":"2001-08-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2001-08-03T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2001\/08\/03\/unmc-graduate-serves-her-own-people\/"},"modified":"2022-08-29T10:51:56","modified_gmt":"2022-08-29T15:51:56","slug":"unmc-graduate-serves-her-own-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2001\/08\/03\/unmc-graduate-serves-her-own-people\/","title":{"rendered":"UNMC Graduate Serves Her Own People"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Cindy Jacobs often dreamed of visiting far-away lands growing up<\/p>\n

as the youngest of seven on the Pine Ridge Reservation.<\/p>\n

“I always thought I would join the Air Force because I wanted to go<\/p>\n

places,” said the young woman in a white lab coat. “I wanted to go to different<\/p>\n

countries.”<\/p>\n

But pulled by family ties to stay near her home among the gentle, rolling<\/p>\n

greenery of Pine Ridge, the Ogallala Sioux woman went to Chadron State<\/p>\n

College on an Indian Health Service (IHS) Science and Engineering scholarship.<\/p>\n

“I thought I’d go to school for a year and see if I liked it,” she said.<\/p>\n

“And then I never did stop going to school.”<\/p>\n

Not until she graduated in 1991 with a biology degree.  After graduation,<\/p>\n

Jacobs went to work at a water-testing laboratory in Rapid City for six<\/p>\n

months, then returned home to work as a pharmacy technician at Pine Ridge<\/p>\n

Hospital for about four years. During that time she became a single mom<\/p>\n

and saw the need for a better paying job and was ready for a challenge.<\/p>\n

Her co-workers were encouraging her to go back to school to become a<\/p>\n

pharmacist, but she had begun to work in the clinical laboratory. <\/p>\n

Jacobs said. “I liked it and thought what they were doing was really interesting.”<\/p>\n

With her science background, she was in good shape to enter the University<\/p>\n

of Nebraska Medical Center’s medical technology program. She only needed<\/p>\n

to take a few classes to meet the pre-requisites. And thanks to the UNMC<\/p>\n

distance learning program, Jacobs didn’t have to relocate to Omaha for<\/p>\n

school. She could stay closer to home while in Kearney for the three-month<\/p>\n

Student Laboratory and in North Platte at Great Plains Regional Medical<\/p>\n

Center where she spent nine months for clinical education.  Cindy<\/p>\n

graduated from UNMC with a B.S. in Medical Technology in 1999.<\/p>\n

Founded in 1931 as the second medical technology program in the United<\/p>\n

States, UNMC’s program has grown in many ways since then. In 1947, it became<\/p>\n

the first  program to offer a Bachelor of Science degree in Nebraska.<\/p>\n

And in 1991, it began a distance-learning program that has graduated a<\/p>\n

total of 87 students with sites in Grand Island, Hastings, Kearney and<\/p>\n

North Platte.<\/p>\n

The program consistently ranks in the top 20 percent nationally with<\/p>\n

a national certification pass rate of 99 percent, compared with the national<\/p>\n

average of 79 percent.<\/p>\n

“I thought the program was really good,’ Jacobs said. “No complaints.”<\/p>\n

But that doesnt mean the program was a breeze. With daily tests, classes,<\/p>\n

laboratory experience and  with a 4-year-old son to care for, “intense”<\/p>\n

was the word Jacobs kept repeating.<\/p>\n

That time stood out in other people’s minds as well.<\/p>\n

“That’s hard work,” said Jacobs’ mother, Carol Jacobs. “When I heard<\/p>\n

her studying some of those words in medical technology, I thought, ‘Why<\/p>\n

did she pick that field? It’s hard!’ But it appealed to her.”<\/p>\n

Besides the competitive pay and comfortable work hours, Jacobs finds<\/p>\n

many other aspects of medical technology appealing. Performing a full gamut<\/p>\n

of laboratory tests involving hematology, microbiology and immunology,<\/p>\n

it offers variety. Drawing blood from patients and consulting with other<\/p>\n

medical professionals, it offers the right amount of people contact. And<\/p>\n

with all the science she learned and the hands-on nature of the job, it<\/p>\n

offers a solid foundation if she wants to pursue other professions such<\/p>\n

as medicine or physician assistant.<\/p>\n

“I know a lot of doctors go through the med tech program before they<\/p>\n

go to medical school,” Jacobs said. “A lot of the students that I went<\/p>\n

to school with were pre-med.”<\/p>\n

But for now, Jacobs is happy as a medical technologist. Her job has<\/p>\n

given her the best of both worlds B the chance to stay close to family<\/p>\n

and make a good living on the reservation and the chance to travel to places<\/p>\n

like Sacramento and Philadelphia for new lab equipment training. <\/p>\n

Her journey in the profession also taught her more than science. During<\/p>\n

her time in Kearney and North Platte, places she never would have lived<\/p>\n

otherwise, she enjoyed novel experiences.<\/p>\n

“Kearney was the furthest I lived away from home… And the people were<\/p>\n

so friendly. That’s what I liked most.”<\/p>\n

Cindy highly recommends medical technology to Native Americans. Besides<\/p>\n

the fact that there aren’t many in the profession, she knows what a difference<\/p>\n

they can make.<\/p>\n

“I think it helps when Indians come in to the hospital,” she said. “I<\/p>\n

think they’re more open with you. They tell you more than they would to<\/p>\n

a non-Native hospital staff, and that often results in better patient outcomes.<\/p>\n

“IHS is always encouraging you to go on and scholarships are available,”<\/p>\n

Jacobs said. “They really want to help you.”<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cindy Jacobs often dreamed of visiting far-away lands growing up as the youngest of seven on the Pine Ridge Reservation. “I always thought I would join the Air Force because I wanted to go places,” said the young woman in a white lab coat. “I wanted to go to different countries.” But pulled by family […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","department-press-release"],"yoast_head":"\nUNMC Graduate Serves Her Own People<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cindy Jacobs often dreamed of visiting far-away lands growing up as the youngest of seven on the Pine Ridge Reservation. 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