I'd love to help you, but that means I'd have to listen to you

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I hate it when people don’t listen.

Some of you may know that I’m studying to be a medical lab technologist. I’m in my final year, completing my hospital internship, and it’s time for me to apply to write certification exams. With my boyfriend living in the USA (I’m in Canada, you see), I have a very strong desire to work in his area and be close to him, which means I need to write the American exam (ASCP).

Finding their website a little annoying to navigate, I called up the ASCP’s 800-number today to find out exactly what I need to do before I’ll be allowed to write the exam.

After being transferred to other extensions by 3 very bored and annoyed-sounding women, I finally reached the *right *bored annoyed-sounding woman. She answered with what sounded like a sigh, so I cheered up my voice a bit, hoping to make the conversation go easier.
Me: Hi, I want to apply to write the MT (medical technologist) exam this summer, but I’m graduating from a Canadian school and I need to know exactly what I need to send you.

Her: Is it a 4-year University program?

Me: This is a three year program at college, and I also have a Bachelor’s degree in Physiology from McGill University.

Her: Is it 3 years or 4?

Me: Well, 3, but…

Her: Has to be a 4 year program. 3 years isn’t good enough.

Me: (Quickly explains Quebec’s strange school system involving a 2-year college-type thing after high school, followed by 3 years of University to get a Bachelor’s degree. And on top of this, I’m completing a 3-year specialized college program in medical technology.)

Her: :rolleyes: (Really, I heard the eyes rolling) Well, if it’s not a 4-year program, you’re wasting your application fee, but you can try if you want.
Now, I know I’m not the first person to take this exam after graduating from my program. Many students have done this before. The director of my Medlab program has told me as much, but she doesn’t seem to have any more information than “it must be possible – students have done it in the past”.

Obviously, this woman doesn’t know that other students in my exact situation have written the exam and are now working happily in the USA, but I can’t hold that against her. She’s not psychic, and maybe she’s never encountered a Quebec student before. So, I change my tactic.

I tell her that others from my school have managed to qualify somehow, so there must be a way to have this program recognized. I ask her what sort of documents I would need to provide, as a student from anywhere in the world other than the USA, in order for someone to judge whether my program qualifies me to write the exam. Transcripts? Course outlines? Are there special forms I’d need to fill out?

Her answer: “You’ll have to call your University and ask them.”

:confused: I have to ask my school? But, how are they going to know what you need to see?

Her: You have to ask your school if it’s a 4-year degree.

ARGH!!!

No sign that she’s heard me at all or even tried to comprehend that I’m from a different country with a different system. I totally understand that schools from different countries aren’t necessarily equivalent, but I’m willing to make a huge effort to prove that my education qualifies me for this exam. Maybe it doesn’t; maybe my schools were crap and count for nothing in their eyes. But all this woman can do is repeat “4 year program” over and over, instead of helping me figure out what I can do.

Sigh.

After I told the Medlab director about my circular phone call, she agreed to call them back and try to work through the miscommunication and get back to me with some information. I’m not all that optimistic, though, because she tends to take forever to get things done. I’m going to put more time and energy into the website and see what I can figure out, and maybe try calling back tomorrow in case I reach someone else.

I’m a little disappointed by the roadblock. I know I’ll manage to get there eventually, but I get worried sometimes that it’ll take me much longer than I thought.

2

I think your thread title is misleading – the woman clearly wouldn’t love to help you – in fact, it’s obvious she’d rather give herself a hysterectomy than help you.

Sounds frustrating as hell – hope you can find the info you need. Could the alumni office at your school hook you up with a graduate who’s now in the U.S.? That person might be able to help you.

3

I’m trying that road as well, but they don’t really have an “alumni office” at my school. I asked the profs if they can get in touch with some students who’ve made the Canada/USA transition, and they said they’d try. But they’re busy and they don’t have an organized system to stay in touch with graduates, so I’m not too optimistic.

I know there are a few lab techs on this board - does anyone have a Canuck co-worker who moved there to work fairly recently?

4

Irritating isn’t it?

Another thing that irritates me even more is when the person on the phone doesn’t listen, but says they’ll call you back once they have sorted it and never do.

The with out a doubt most infuriating thing though, is when you’ve dealt with unhelpful people again and again trying to correct THEIR mistake, you phone up ready to give them an earful, but this time you are connected to such a lovely person that you couldn’t possibly be angry with.

Then they don’t call you back. graaahhhhh. this has been happening to me with one company since late October. sorry, that should read: oc-FRICKIN’-tober. I’m not really a confrontation person.

5

Is there any way that you could just go to the 4th year of your Canadian program and complete the degree before you try to pass yourself off here?

6

… ** head explodes**

:stuck_out_tongue:

See, I know you’re joking. But it’s annoying how many people actually think like this!

7

Call again and just say that it’s a four-year program just so you can get over that hump in the conversation. If lying like that torments your concience, confess the truth at the end of the call after you have the information you want.

8

Not sure what made me include that quote in my last post.

9

This is what to do. Say “yes, its’ a four-year degree.” If the person says, “Aren’t you the lady who called before and said 3-year?” hang up immediately and call back in the hope of reaching a different operator.

Also, your 3-year program is the equivalent to our four-year program. You just did it in three years. If you had gone through the American school system, you might have taken 18 credit hours per semester and 9 every summer, you’d complete a four year degree in just three years. It would still be a four-year program.

10

I don’t know anyone who’s done this transition recently, but about 15 years ago I knew a radiology tech who had a job waiting for her in the States and couldn’t go there because her work visa was taking forfrickin’ever (last I heard she had waited over a year, I believe it was). Have you looked into what it takes to get a work visa as well? The lab tech exams might be the least of your worries.

Another thought - have you checked with the CSMLS for this information? They might be a better source than the ASCP. Also, you might try calling a lab where you are thinking of working directly.

11

Tell the “helpful” lady that it’s just like dollars, only in reverse: US years are worth 75% as much as Canadian ones!

12

And then watch the helpful lady’s head explode, because she doesn’t know there’s another kind of dollars besides US dollars.

13

I’ll be trying CSMLS this week, although I’m not sure they can tell me all that much about the American exams besides giving me the phone number I need to call. And guess where that leads?

Right now, I’m working on a list of places I could work in the area I’m planning on moving to, and once that’s done I’ll be calling up the labs there to ask what qualifications they need and what sort of positions they’ve got available. Also, I think that one or two of the more recent graduates from my school who are currently working in other labs in my internship hospital actually took the American exam but chose to stay here. So I’ll be trying to hunt them down during my lunch break today.

As for lying to the ASCP woman and telling her it’s a 4-year program… I’m a bit hesitant to do that, because there are application fees to write the exam, and if I’m applying in a category I don’t qualify for, my money is wasted. I’d feel better if at least one person who’s written the exam (or someone at the ASCP who knows that Canada exists) could tell me that the programs *are *equivalent. I know they are… but I’m not the one approving my application.

14

Try this. If she asks if you’re the same person who called before, say “Um, no, she graduated from McGill. I graduated from U of T. In a four year program. Just like you want.” See if that makes her head asplode.

15

News bulletin - I guess Americans aren’t very much aware of this, but as of today, 1 Canadian dollar = 0.86 U.S. dollars and still heading upwards. Not that you’d know it from the hosing we’re still taking when we buy books, but there ya go.

16

A small setback: the people in the labs who’ve taken the exam didn’t even have bachelor’s degrees, so they took a different exam to be technicians, not technologists. Which I could do, and then take the MT exam after working for a couple of years… but I’m not giving up on this yet. I’ll call McGill and see if they can send something about what my B.Sc. counts for. But I don’t even know what to ask!

17

Not a news bulletin to me. I get calls daily from American companies asking about my clients’ coverages. Typical conversation:

American Company: Our regulations require that the company carries US$100,000 in coverage.
Me: They have CAD$500,000 in coverage.
American Company: (pause) So is that enough?
Me: :dubious:

I have this conversation at least once a day. My answers are getting snarkier…

18

That really blows, but is typical of bored clerks anymore. Customer service is an afterthought at best.

Call your director every couple days to keep the fire burning under her.

What is the difference between a lab technician and a lab technologist?

Good luck!

19

Oh, lord, I wish you were kidding. But enough of this hijack - think I’ll start a thread about it. :smiley:

20

Dang it, forgot to address the lab technician/technologist question - the difference is like the difference between a practical nurse and an RN - more education, more difficult qualifying exams, more responsibility, more depth of knowledge, and (usually) more pay.

  • featherlou, former registered medical laboratory technologist.