Have you ever felt as if you should switch your major? Well, this story is for you! We sat down with Zip Cassidy, a graduate of UConn’s Pathobiology program, to get the scoop on her career path.
Zip’s journey started out with a mission: to help others. She began her academic endeavors in the Veterinary field, but when she began her Pathobiology class, she realized Veterinary Medicine was not the path for her. Zip knew that she wanted to remain on a similar trajectory, and decided to switch her major to Human Medicine. She graduated from UConn with a Bachelor’s Degree in Pathobiology in 2015, and after leaving medical school due to health issues, she began her career as a Mohs Histotechnologist, managing 5 Mohs Laboratories for Skin Cancer Center of Fairfield County.
As a Mohs Histotechnologist, Zip arrives at her office at 6:30 AM to ensure that she has time to prepare her lab with the necessities for her daily tasks. She starts the Cryostat machine, a device used for freezing tissues to ensure precise, thin cuts, and readies her tools for the day. Within the next hour, a surgeon arrives and brings specimens for testing. The process takes about 10 minutes per specimen for each stage of testing (the average is 1.5 stages per case).
On an average day, Zip does about 120 minutes of work and spends her down time waiting for patients to arrive. She uses this down time to pursue her other passion: knitting; however, she cannot wear her creations to work due to the nature of her career, as the setting for this field is isolated to prevent contamination.
Zip shared that an independent study for one year on the effects of Trans-Cinnamaldehyde on S. enterica in layer hens and meat birds was the most important experience in relation to attaining her position, as it helped her with developing aseptic techniques, real-world skills, and scientific writing. Zip has published many impactful articles during her career. In A Hybrid Heat Sink and Glass Slide Method for Challenging Mohs Tissue Embedding, Zip shares a groundbreaking way in which tissue can be examined using the reverse slide method embedding technique and the advantages and disadvantages in its use. Zip expressed that the field itself is very niche, and learning on the job is the best course of action for success. She shared that in order to pursue this career, it would be helpful to earn an Associate’s or Bachelor’s in Laboratory Science, Biology, or Histotechnology; however, a college degree is not required at this time, and a High School degree may suffice.
One way in which Zip gives back is to have individuals shadow her on the job to experience a day as a Mohs Histotechnologist, as she feels that the only way one can discover their passion is by experiencing it firsthand. She reflects that what drew her to working in this field was how hands on and task oriented each day’s activities were, and she hopes to instill that same mindset in individuals with similar interests. When asked who inspired her to pursue this field, she smiled warmly and said with confidence that it was the late Dr. Michael Darre from Agricultural Sciences and head of the Poultry Sciences Unit at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Darre was one of Zip’s teachers who helped her discover her passion and influenced her switch to human medicine.
Despite Zip’s passion for her career, there are several challenges that she faces. Zip mentioned that she initiates each task on her own, and if she makes a mistake, she must face the consequences. However, Zip has turned these mistakes into learning experiences, a mindset that she acquired while part of the wrestling team at UConn. She expressed that even though she was part of a team, at the end of the day, the game only depends on you and your individual performance. She has incorporated this principal into her work, where the pressure helps her perform her job at the highest possible level each day. An example of this is her growth from the beginning of her career to the present day. When Zip first started at Mohs Laboratories, it took her an hour to process one patient, and now, she can complete processing in 10 minutes. Zip fondly spoke about being part of the UConn Wrestling club and how it paved the way for her to have a scholarship to attend the school. She reflected that it was some of the best times of her life and that it taught her discipline and to put in the hard work to excel not only in athletics, but academically as well.
Zip stated that the best piece of advice she has for students before they begin their career is this:
“If you enjoy your work, you will never work a day in your life.”
