OCC Professor first DCLS graduate in Illinois
O lney Central College Life Science Professor Dr. Sarah Bergbower has earned her Doctorate in Clinical Laboratory Sciences (DCLS) from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. While there are approximately 50 DCLS graduates in the United States, Bergbower is the first person from Illinois to earn this distinction. During the ceremony, she was named recipient of the Outstanding DCLS Student Award.
developed an evidence-based algorithm to guide urinal- ysis interpretation, culturing, and antibiotic steward- ship in asymptomatic patients presenting for routine obstetric visits.” Bergbower then implemented the algorithm with the providers of various clinic locations of the local health system and evaluated its use in a retrospective and prospective quasi-experimental study of over a thou - sand patient cases. “I found that error and deviation from my algorithm were significantly associated, but the parameters of interest improved after implementation,” Bergower said. “Surprisingly, I discovered that the failure to order urine cultures given a positive urinalysis was much more prevalent than expected and that many cases of asymptomatic bacteriuria were therefore likely going undiagnosed.” A poster presentation on part of Bergbower’s research tied for second place at a national meeting last year. Bergbower’s doctorate committee, which included an MD in Obstetrics, a PhD in Pathology, and a DCLS specializing in Microbiology and Immunology, advised her to publish the research in an obstetric journal. Over the years, Bergbower has received several scholarships, both from UTMB and external sources,
Last year, with friends, family and colleagues in attendance at OCC, Bergbower successfully and publicly defended her doctoral research titled, Implementation of an Algorithm for Testing, Diagnosis, and Antibiotic Stewardship of Asymptomatic Bacteriuria in Pregnancy. “My initial observation prompting the project was that providers tended to bypass urine culturing when an obstetric patient had leukocyte esterase (a white blood cell enzyme sometimes indicative of infection) present in the urinalysis, instead opting directly for antibiotic treatment,” Bergbower explained. She continued, “This is not proper antibiotic stew- ardship, as leukocyte esterase is a relatively common finding during pregnancy, arising from numerous possible sources, and this practice leads to overtreat- ment with possible harms of a vulnerable population. I
ABOVE: Olney Central College Life Science Professor Dr. Sarah Bergbower is pictured with her Committee Chair Dr. Rajkumar Rajendran during graduation ceremonies at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas.
20 OCC Annual Report
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