Then an interesting feature became apparent

Then an interesting feature became apparent. causes of this shortage, and pose difficulties to our occupation as to how this IU1 problems can be averted. Visibility of this occupation must be a perfect focus of this effort in order for the population in general to be aware of the part Clinical Laboratory Scientists play IU1 in the health care consortium. This effort should begin early in the educational process, potentially as early as Middle School (junior high school), bringing awareness of the occupation not only to college students but to educators as well. == PERSPECTIVE == Think about going to your doctor for a routine checkup and the phlebotomist takes a few specimens for lab work. Nothing fancy just fundamental screening for things like glucose level, cholesterol and some additional blood work. Three days later on, the doctors office calls you and asks you to come back because they need to get a few specimens for screening. Thinking if something is definitely terribly wrong, you request why? since you already offered specimens just a few days ago. The person on the phone assures you that nothing is wrong. The medical laboratory that received your specimens did not have enough Medical Technologists to test your specimens upon introduction, and now they may Rabbit polyclonal to INSL4 be out of stability (too old to test). Does this sound incredible? This scenario may be a little melodramatic but across the U.S. in private hospitals, clinics, commercial laboratories and doctors offices, the medical laboratories are going through a severe shortage of Medical Technologists (MT), also referred to as Clinical Laboratory Scientists (CLS), and Medical Laboratory Technicians (MLT), also referred to as Clinical Laboratory Professionals (CLT). Laura Landro, in an article entitled Staff Shortages in Labs May Put Patients at Risk (May 13, 2009, The Informed Patient, Wall Street Journal), stated the swine flu outbreak focused a spotlight on a looming risk for private hospitals and their individuals ( a shortage of IU1 technicians to run critical lab tests). She cited an event at Vanderbilt University or college Hospitals lab where staffers were pulled from other parts of the hospital and technicians were asked IU1 to work double shifts to test incoming individuals for swine flu. She also quoted Dr. Michael Laposata, the chief pathologist, as saying that in the event of a major infectious disease outbreak, labs at smaller private hospitals around the country would by no means have enough experience or resources to mount a response. This is a major patient-safety issue, right behind taking out the wrong kidney or providing 10 occasions the dose of a drug. As of 2010, patient care is not in jeopardy, but who knows what the future might bring. We should begin by explaining who these laboratory professionals are. What is a MT/CLS (a med tech) or a MLT/CLT (a lab technician)? These laboratory professionals work in the pre-analytical, analytical and post-analytical phases of patient specimen screening. These phases are associated with the selection of specimens and checks, the transport of these specimens to the medical laboratory, the screening methods themselves and, ultimately, the interpreting and reporting of the screening results to the health care worker (HCW) (e.g., physicians, nurses, physician assistants). The screening disciplines include microbiology, chemistry, hematology, serology/immunology, molecular diagnostics and immunohematology (blood bank screening). The microbiology discipline IU1 can include bacteriology, mycology, mycobacteriology, virology and parasitology, depending on the medical laboratorys test menu. In addition to testing patient specimens, MTs/CLSs and MLTs/CLTs are taught to evaluate/interpret their findings and efficiently statement them.