MCSHSAA Board of Directors Q&A: Vice President Chelsy Copeland

Chelsy Copeland, MLS (ASCP), has long had a passion for helping others. Eventually, this passion led her to the medical field and, ultimately, Mayo Clinic. Copeland is the vice president of the Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences Alumni Association (MCSHSAA).

Copeland graduated from Jacksonville University in 2011 with a B.S. in chemistry, specializing in biochemistry. She then attended the Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences (MCSHS) in 2012 where she completed the Medical Laboratory Science Program. She is certified as a medical laboratory specialist (MLS) by the American Society of Clinical Pathology (ASCP).

She then began her career as an MLS at Mayo Clinic in Florida as in the Hospital Core Lab and as part of the hospital’s liver transplant lab staffing team. In 2018, she transitioned to the role of laboratory information system (LIS) technical specialist and was promoted to LIS technical specialist coordinator, where she remains today.

Learn more about Copeland’s interest in the healthcare field, what she loves about Mayo Clinic and more in the Q&A session below.

How did you become interested in healthcare?
When I was young, I had a childhood friend that passed away from a cancerous brain tumor. She went to St. Jude and I saw all the amazing things that hospital did for her and her family. I knew I wanted to help others from that day forward and learn more about the medical field. In college, my sorority’s philanthropy project was St. Jude, and I was also part of local philanthropy in Jacksonville where I volunteered at Wolfson Children’s hospital. I have always had a passion to help others, loved the medical field and wanted to understand more about the human body. While I attended Jacksonville University, MCSHS Assistant Professor of Medicine and Pathology Carleen VanSiclen, came and shared about Mayo Clinic’s Medical Laboratory Science Program. They only had two spots available to send students from Florida up to Rochester. I was chosen for one of those spots and thoroughly enjoyed the program through MCSHS.

What drew you to your profession?
Carleen VanSiclen explaining this program and all the aspects of what you could learn and can do within the profession.

What valuable lessons have you learned at Mayo Clinic?
To always go back to our Values, RICH TIES and putting the needs of the patient first. It has made me a better professional and person.

What advice do you have for MCSHS students?
Since joining the Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences Alumni Association, I have gained many great friends and colleagues all over the country from the networking alone! I love to give back to such an amazing program that has given me a great career.

What do you do in your spare time?
Gardening, hanging with my family (husband and soon to be four children) and enjoying the outdoors as much as possible.

What would people be surprised to know about you?
I wanted to be a chef back in high school and was in its culinary program. I still have a passion for food and cooking. I’m currently building a gourmet kitchen with a 48” range in our new house so I can still live out this dream of mine with my family.