Training Medical Technologists in the United States: Current State and Future Challenges

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1 Training Medical Technologists in the United States: Current State and Future Challenges Carol Farver, MD Vice-chair chair for Education Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Institute Cleveland Clinic, USA

2 Training Medical Technologists in the United States: Current State and Future Challenges Job description Job opportunities and salary Educational background requirements Program accreditation Cleveland Clinic Medical Technology Program Barriers to growth (and how to overcome them)

3 Medical Technologist Job Description Perform, develop, evaluate, correlate and assure accuracy and validity of laboratory information Direct and supervise clinical laboratory resources and operation Collaborate in the diagnosis and treatment of patients

4 At career entry: Medical Technologist Job Description Routine clinical laboratory tests Hematology Clinical chemistry Immunology Microbiology Coagulation Molecular and other emerging diagnostics. Information processing, training, and quality control monitoring

5 Medical Technologist Salary Medical technologists' medium annual wage was at $53,500. The salary of the middle 50% was between $44,560 and $63,420. The highest 10% received a salary of more than $74,680 while the lowest 10% received less than $36,180.

6 Average Hourly Wages Laboratory Workers

7 Medical Technologist Female 74% Male Gender 26%

8 Medical Technologist Job Opportunities 328,100 medical technologist jobs half are found in hospitals others employed in educational services, medical and diagnostic laboratories, and private offices of physicians

9 Current U.S. Medical Technologists Years Experience Less than 1 year 4% 1-44 years 29% 5-99 years 17% years 23% 20 years or more 27%

10 Medical Technologist Job Opportunities According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics job opportunities for medical technologists are expected to be excellent through 2016 rapid job growth of 14%

11 Medical Technologist Educational requirements Three years of college coursework Chemistry Organic chemistry Biochemistry Biology Microbiology Immunology Genetics Parasitology Mathematics Statistics

12 Medical Technologist Educational requirements One year of clinical rotations 4 th year in a degree program of a Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology (3+1) 5 th year after receiving Bachelor of Science in related field (4+1) Biology Chemistry Physiology Genetics

13 Medical Technology Programs in the United States Total= 229 University-based programs (Bachelor of Science of Medical Technology) 127 universities or college Arizona State University (67,082 students) Ohio State University (53,715 students) University of Minnesota (51,140 students) University of Central Florida (50,121 students) University Texas at Austin (49,984) 102 Hospital-based programs (one year internship)

14 Program Accrediting Bodies The National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS) Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP)

15 Program Requirements Program Director Administration Organization, administration, periodic review, planning, development, evaluation and general effectiveness of the program. Budget preparation and responsible for maintaining NAACLS approval of the program MT with a master s s or doctoral degree and three years of experience in Clinical Laboratory Science education

16 Program Requirements Administration Advisory committee composed of individuals from the community of interest Pathologists Physicians Scientific consultants Academic professions Input into any aspect of the program/curriculum

17 Faculty CLS/MT training Teaching courses Supervising applied laboratory learning experiences Evaluating student achievement, Curriculum development Formulating policy and procedure Evaluation of program effectiveness

18 Curriculum Methodologies for all major areas currently practiced by a modern clinical laboratory, including problem solving and troubleshooting techniques Collecting, processing, and analyzing biological specimens and other substances Laboratory result use in diagnosis and treatment

19 Certifying Examination Board of Registry of the American Society for Clinical Pathology: MT (ASCP) Pass/Fail Subject % of total exam Blood Bank 17 Urinalysis 8 Chemistry 21 Hematology 20 Microbiology 20 Immunology 8 Laboratory Operations 6

20 Cleveland Clinic School of Re-started in 2007 Medical Technology Program Director: Julia Sutch, MEd, MT (ASCP) Medical Program Director: Geraldine Hall, PhD

21 Cleveland Clinic School of Class size: 2007: : : : 12 Goal: 24 students by Medical Technology

22 Cleveland Clinic School of Medical Technology Students come from 12 academic affiliations 3+1 and 4+1 programs 100% pass rate for ASCP (MT) Board of Certification

23 Cleveland Clinic School of Medical Technology Pre-requisites requisites 16 semester hours biology (including microbiology and immunology) min GPA semester hours chemistry (including organic or biochemistry) min GPA 2.5 One upper level math course (preferably statistics) Min GPA 2.5 Overall min GPA 2.5

24 Cleveland Clinic School of Medical Technology Program Details One year commitment 52 weeks July 1 June 30 Full time: 7:30 am-4:00 pm

25 Cleveland Clinic School of Medical Technology Admissions Applications/year Personal interviews conducted December and January Class selection before February 1

26 Cleveland Clinic School of Medical Technology Integrated learning Clinical Rotations Didactic (book work and lectures) and clinical experience (lab work) are done concurrently

27 Molecular Diagnostics

28 Molecular Diagnostics

29 Cytogenetics

30 Transfusion Services

31 Laboratory Automation - Hematology

32 Laboratory Automation - Chemistry

33 Microbiology

34 Manual Chemistry

35 Manual Hematology

36 Laboratory Information Services

37 Phlebotomy

38 Barriers to Developing Medical Technology Workforce Lack of awareness of career Medical Technologist Medical Laboratory Technologist Cytotechnologist Phlebotomist Pathology Assistant Financial barriers in obtaining education Formal training for career advancement

39 Medical Technologist Outreach to academic partners Expand pool of academic partners Publicity of medical technology career Marketing brochures at science fairs Short film on Cleveland Clinic Medical Technology School

40 Medical Technologist Financial aid support to students Tuition reimbursement for three years of employment at the Cleveland Clinic After 90 days of work at Cleveland Clinic, they are eligible to receive annual tuition benefit: $5,000/year for undergraduate courses $7,500/year for graduate courses

41 Medical Technologist Financial aid support to students Cleveland Clinic gives over $15 million dollars/year in education benefits to employees Top 1% of health care organizations

42 Medical Technologist Opportunities for Advanced Degrees Masters of Science in Medical Technology Very few and most support advanced science training Masters of Science in Medical Laboratory Administration Cleveland Clinic and John Carroll University Two year program B.S. in MT or other sciences Laboratory administration/leadership jobs in hospitals, private laboratories, biotechnology industry, research

43 Medical Technologist in the U.S. Summary Excellent salaries Abundant job opportunities (now and the next 10 years) Many MT programs Lack of awareness of career and financing education are major barriers to growth Tuition reimbursement and establishment of career advancement tracts (Masters programs) may draw more people into field.

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