A year and a half ago, Michelle Briski, Medical Laboratory Technician Program director for Saint Paul College, called the shortage of laboratorians a "quiet crisis in healthcare." Today, according to Carol McCoy, Clinical Laboratory Scientist (CLS) Program director for Fairview Health Services, "The shortage is only getting worse."
"Laboratorian" is the umbrella term for a number of certified medical professionals. The medical technologist (MT) or clinical laboratory scientist (CLS) certification requires a four-year degree. The clinical laboratory technician (CLT) or medical laboratory technician (MLT) is a two-year program.
Medicine Can't Move Without Lab
Lack of awareness is one reason for the lack of laboratorians, McCoy says. Everyone knows that a shortage of doctors or nurses would have a serious impact on healthcare. Yet "without the lab, medicine could not move."
McCoy quotes a line often heard on TV commercials: "Is this medication right for you? Your doctor can perform a simple test to find out." First, she notes, it isn't the doctor who performs the test; it's the laboratorian. Second, while the test may seem easy to the patient, it takes a highly skilled laboratorian to select, administer, process and evaluate the results of the test.
The laboratorian's skills continue to grow as more and more diagnostic tests become available. Troponin tests now provide superior diagnostic information about heart damage after a myocardial infarction. B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) can help diagnose and provide a prognosis for patients with congestive heart failure. Molecular testing using DNA is opening up a new world of testing options.
Heavy Science Prerequisites
The innovations are challenging - and that may be another reason for the shortage of laboratorians, McCoy says. The Fairview program's prerequisites "are very heavy in science: biology, human physiology, genetics, immunology, microbiology, chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry and statistics." Still, McCoy notes, the MT or CLS certification is one of the few career options for a science major that does not require a graduate degree. The CLT and MLT, McCoy says, can lead to a "viable job" in two years, with no prerequisites, making it an excellent choice as a second career.
