Dr. Linda Graves, a Medical Laboratory Technology Professor at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, has published her third book, Clinical Laboratory Chemistry, along with her co-author Robert Sunheimer of the State University of New York.
Dr. Graves, a faculty member since 1976, has been working on this book for the past five years. Clinical Laboratory Chemistry was published in July 2010 by Pearson; her first two books, published with Prentice Hall, were Outline Review of Medical Technology/ Clinical Laboratory Science and Case Studies in Clinical Laboratory Science.
According to Graves, this book is meant both for Medical Laboratory Technology (students in two-year programs) and Medical Technologist/Clinical Lab Scientist students (those in four-year programs). Graves’ main concerns with this new textbook are in engaging students who are studying medical lab technology and in providing them with ways in which to evaluate what they’ve learned.
In an effort to ensure students are grasping key concepts, each chapter details objectives for students, as well as presents one or two case studies, a “what’s ahead” summary, and checkpoints to see if students understand the main points of what they have read. Graves and Sunheimer also created Powerpoint presentations for each chapter, and an Instructor’s Manual that can be used by teachers.
“I’ve been saying for 30 years, I want a chemistry book that teaches what I want to teach. And this one has a very good balance. Many books out there on this subject are either at too low or too high a level. We really worked to hit that middle level with this book,” Graves said. “It’s something that I hope will be helpful in Clinical Lab Science education.”
Dr. Graves plans on using the book for her MLT 102 and 203 classes this year, and is interested to see how the students respond to the new material.
While most people would take a break after seeing through the publication of a third textbook, Graves is gearing up for yet another project: she’s already started preliminary work on a fourth textbook, which will be about urinalysis and body fluids.