It was love at first sight when Christine Cursio walked into the biochemistry laboratory at Toronto General Hospital.
A bachelor of science graduate from the University of Toronto and on a clinical placement in her second year at the Toronto Institute of Medical Technology (TIMT), she says it was at that moment all the years of theory "came to fruition" and she realized that was where she was meant to be.
"It really hit home what it is laboratories do for patient care within a hospital," Christine says. "All of the magic started coming to light and as a student, when I walked into the Department of Clinical Biochemistry, I knew I had found a home, knew that it was there that I wanted to work."
After completing the medical laboratory technologist program at TIMT, now the Michener Institute of Education at UHN, Christine joined the Laboratory Medicine Program (LMP) at Toronto General in 1984.
Four decades on, that passion and purpose remain.
"My adult children, who are both in the arts, always joke and tell people not to get me started talking about the lab because I'll go on forever," she says. "It's always been a very important part of who I am.
"It's a career, not a job, and always has been."
Now, after 40 years, that career is winding down. Christine, Senior Manager of Point of Care Testing in UHN's LMP, is retiring on Aug. 30, 2024.
"Throughout 40 years of committed service, Chris has amassed a sizeable legacy of contributions which have left an indelible mark on both our institution and the lives of countless patients across the country," says Christine Bruce, Senior Director of UHN's Laboratory Medicine Program.
"Chris's professionalism, expertise and unwavering commitment to providing exceptional care has certainly earned her the utmost of respect from her peers in LMP, but also the gratitude and admiration of those the LMP serves across UHN and beyond."
A medical laboratory technologist licensed in all five professional disciplines — biochemistry, hematology, histotechnology, microbiology and transfusion science — Christine Cursio began her career in the biochemistry lab carrying out a wide variety of tests on the blood and other sample types of patients.
"When you practice at a big teaching hospital like Toronto General you are surrounded by wonderful scientists and physicians," she says. "It's a very enriched environment where it's always challenging and you're always learning, but it's also very nurturing and supportive, which I've always loved.
"Even though not everyone knows it, labs contribute to patient care in a very great way."
For more than 20 years, Christine has led the implementation and expansion of point of care testing (POCT) — diagnostic testing that happens at the bedside, usually by nurses or other non-laboratory personnel. Blood glucose monitoring is among the most common POCT procedures, which have the advantage of producing rapid results that can lead to quicker clinical decision-making in the care for many patients.
In 2001, Christine was appointed to the position of Point of Care Testing Coordinator for Toronto General, Toronto Western Hospital and Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Since then, she has been integral to the expansion of the POCT program — from UHN's integrations with Toronto Rehab in 2011 and West Park Healthcare Centre earlier this year, to helping several dozen hospital partners in Northern Ontario implement their programs and ensure compliance with accreditation standards in laboratory testing.
"The number of patients Chris has supported through stewarding this network is immeasurable," says Christine Bruce. "UHN can boast the largest and most successful point of care testing program in Canada in large part due to Chris's blood sweat and tears."
For her part, Christine Cursio describes the journey with point of care testing as "absolutely fabulous" because after all those years as a medical lab technologist she was able to go into a clinical environment and see first-hand how nurses and other care providers were using laboratory tests at the bedside to facilitate patient care.
"It allowed me to get to know my clinical colleagues much better and that's been a great experience," she says. "It makes you appreciate how all the work you do has a truly beneficial impact to patients."
Pauline Diker, a longtime colleague in UHN's Laboratory Medicine Program, says Christine has "always been able to draw people together to focus on a common goal and make things happen.
"She's a tremendous relationship builder and has great empathy and compassion," says Pauline, Senior Medical Laboratory Technologist, Client Services and POCT, a colleague of Christine in the Toronto General biochemistry lab in the 1980s who since 2006 has worked with her on point of care testing expansion.
"She's never taken herself too seriously and has always set a great example for her team through the relationships she builds and being professional and knowledgeable in all that she does."
As she looks back on the past 40 years, Christine says "I've always taken a lot of pride in my work," from the lab bench, to point of care testing, leadership, mentoring and LMP student education.
And, she says, coming to work at Toronto General still has that same excitement it did four decades ago.
"I never felt the need to leave because I've always felt challenged here, always learning, knowing that I work for an organization with a very strong reputation," she says. "That doesn't mean it was rosy all the time, but we've kept our eyes on the horizon and in knowing that we are accomplishing something important.
"If you start at the top, why go anywhere else?"
