Medical Center welcomes intern

Thanks to the Montana Medical Laboratory Science Professional program, Cabinet Peaks Medical Center welcomed intern Benjamen French to its lab department in September.

The program, developed in 2008, helps fill the need for medical laboratory scientists in rural Montana and is supported by state grants and hospitals. Fifteen students are accepted annually to train in the Montana University System during the summer, then move to one of eight hospitals in the state for two semesters of clinical laboratory rotations.

French earned an associate’s degree from Flathead Valley Community College in 2013 and started toward his bachelor’s degree in microbiology from Montana State University — both prerequisites for the program. French was accepted in the fall of 2016 and began in May 2017.

Students can complete their education and training in four years, becoming eligible to take a national certification exam. Once certified, students can become licensed Medical Laboratory Scientists and work in labs throughout Montana.

Previously, French was a “student shadow,” logging more than 100 hours among three facilities until September 2017.

After his internship ends in February, French and his wife will move to Kalispell where he will finish his internship at Kalispell Regional Medical Center.