Clinical Laboratory Professionals Are Key Members of Today's Health Care Team

Contact: Robby Channell, 601-968-5135 rchannell@mbhs.org

April 5, 2004 - April 18-24 has been designated as National Medical Laboratory Week to raise awareness of the clinical laboratory profession. Since medical laboratory professionals often work "behind the scenes," few people know much about the critically important testing that lab personnel perform every day.

"This week is also an excellent opportunity to promote medical laboratory professions, to recruit students to the field, to thank technologists and technicians, build morale, and gain visibility for the laboratory throughout the institution and the community," said David Hathorne, a medical technologist with Baptist Medical Center in Jackson, Miss.

According to the American Society of Clinical Pathology , approximately 80 percent of all medical diagnostic and treatment decisions are based on lab results provided by laboratory personnel. Laboratory personnel commonly test blood, urine, body fluids and tissue cells to look for diseases such as anemia, cancer, heart attacks, diabetes and infections. Lab tests are important because physical exams, X-rays and other tests provide only a portion of the information doctors need to diagnose and treat illnesses.

"Changes in blood or tissue cells can indicate a disease, often in time for preventative action," said Hathorne. "In addition to helping diagnose a disease, lab tests also help monitor the effectiveness of the treatment or to detect possible side effects of that treatment. Lab tests are also used as screening tools to check for increased risk of certain diseases so that prevention can be started before the disease worsens."

It is estimated that 13,200 new laboratory personnel will be needed yearly through 2010 to replace retiring workers and meet future needs. Physicians, nurses, other health care personnel and patients look to the clinical laboratory to aid in diagnosing the absence, presence or extent of disease, along with monitoring therapy. If there is a shortage of qualified laboratory personnel, delays in diagnosis and treatment will arise.

"Without this precise and valuable information, medicine would simply become guess work." Hathorne added. "We are using this week to educate the public on how important this occupation is for the health care industry."

Lab professionals are a varied group of individuals ranging from baccalaureate degreed medical technologists/clinical laboratory scientists, cytotechnologists and histotechnologists to associate degreed medical Lab technicians/clinical lab technicians and histotechnicians to non-degreed technical, non-technical assistants and phlebotomists .

For more information on careers in lab medicine, visit the School of Medical Technology on Baptist's website at www.mbhs.org or call the Baptist Health Line at 1-800-948-6262 or 948-6262. The Health Careers Center at the Mississippi Hospital Association has educational and salary information on their website at www.mshealthcareers.com.

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