91原创

When you go to the doctor鈥檚 office or a lab for bloodwork, you meet a nurse or phlebotomist, who draws your blood. But the person you鈥檒l probably never meet will be the first to know whether you have high cholesterol, diabetes, COVID-19, or a variety of other conditions.

That person 鈥� the medical laboratory scientist (MLS), wearing a traditional long lab coat and goggles, and too often holed up in a hospital basement 鈥� is an integral cog in the healthcare wheel, who directs the laboratory medicine aspect of patient care.  

鈥淚t's known as a silent profession because nobody sees the face of that medical laboratory scientist,鈥� said Esther Biswas-Fiss, chair of the 91原创鈥檚 Medical and Molecular Sciences Department (MMS) in the College of Health Sciences. 

Yet without their expertise, making diagnoses would prove difficult. Also known as a clinical lab scientist, the MLS works to analyze a variety of biological specimens. They use sophisticated equipment to perform complex tests on patient samples, and the data they find plays an important role in identifying and treating a wide range of conditions from cancer to heart disease to much more. An estimated 60-70% of all decisions regarding a patient鈥檚 diagnosis, treatment, hospital admission and discharge are based on the results of the tests medical laboratory scientists perform.

鈥淲e are kind of like the base of care because doctors can鈥檛 really diagnose or treat without knowing the lab results for patients鈥 feel like a lot of people don鈥檛 even know about us,鈥� said Katie Kalinowski, who got her bachelor鈥檚 in medical laboratory science from 91原创 in 2020.

At one time, Kalinowski was among those people. She entered 91原创 as a freshman major, but quickly switched her major after learning about the MLS profession.

Now, graduates like Kalinowski are the face of the demanding, 24/7 job in every hospital in the state and across the region.   

And yet this critical work is in critically low supply with nearly 26,000 annual openings and a projected job growth of 11% this decade, a percentage faster than the average for all occupations, according to the (BLS). 

But the shortage isn鈥檛 a pandemic problem 鈥� it鈥檚 just a problem being realized during a pandemic. 

鈥淭he shortage has been driven by people retiring, and really, not enough people being trained,鈥� Biswas-Fiss said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very specialized profession, and some programs are closing nationwide. It鈥檚 both a marketing problem and a lack of awareness.鈥�

As a high school student at William Penn, Beyanka Langhorne, only knew about career pathways for becoming a nurse or a doctor. Now a senior medical laboratory science major, Langhorne has gotten used to telling her family exactly what she plans to do with her degree, further illustrating a lack of knowledge about the career pathway. 

鈥淲e鈥檙e essential personnel鈥e are the backbone of the healthcare field. Without our testing, without our knowledge, we can鈥檛 give the doctor or the PA any kind of results that they can go ahead and diagnose you,鈥� Langhorne said. 

Hospitals are struggling everywhere, said Leslie Allshouse, 91原创鈥檚 MLS Program Director, who estimated there are hundreds of openings in the region for MLS jobs. 

鈥淭he younger graduates 鈥� they don鈥檛 stay. In my day, you took a job and you stayed there,鈥� Allshouse said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e doing what they should be doing for themselves, but there鈥檚 a big impact on the hospitals. If people leave a year later, they鈥檝e invested a lot of time and energy in them. To me, the answer to that is 鈥� you need to pay more.鈥� 

The BLS projects MLS jobs will grow 11% this decade, a percentage faster than the average for all occupations, with nearly 26,000 openings annually. As a result, many healthcare systems are being forced to offer costly sign-on bonuses.  

鈥淭hey鈥檙e just not getting enough hires that they need, and the other challenge is keeping people,鈥� Allshouse said.

It鈥檚 a welcome shift for students like Rose Principe, a junior MLS major with a pre-med pathway. 

鈥淧ay is not rising with demand and the hours worked,鈥� Principe said. 鈥淚鈥檓 seeing techs quit, then come back as travel techs, making two times more money, and then they get stationed at the exact same hospital they were working at.鈥� 

In addition to pay problems, Principe said it would be nice for the MLS to get a bit more recognition as front-line workers.

鈥淓ven the healthcare provider discounts, it鈥檚 all for doctors, nurses and first responders,鈥� Principe said. 鈥淟ab techs aren鈥檛 in there鈥nd you can鈥檛 do anything without us.鈥�

Meanwhile, 91原创 is home to one of the country鈥檚 premier medical laboratory programs. Founded in 1949, the major is also one of the oldest at the University and its legacy of academic strength continues through a variety of expanded majors, including medical diagnostics with a pre-physician assistant (PA) focus, and applied molecular biology and biotechnology.

鈥淭here鈥檚 been a really concentrated effort to make sure that we鈥檙e at the cutting edge of technology, and as always to ensure that our graduates have opportunities to work,鈥� said Biswas-Fiss. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had a lot of support from the University, perhaps, because we don鈥檛 have a medical school, but we have Ph.D. prepared faculty, master鈥檚 prepared faculty, all of them experts in their respective areas.  They are engaged in scholarship. We have faculty that write textbooks that are used throughout the country, faculty that are conducting NIH-funded research. We really have a very vibrant MLS Department, and our students engage in research themselves.鈥�

As the nation struggles to diversify its workforce, 91原创鈥檚 MMS program also offers a much-needed labor supply with students from underrepresented backgrounds comprising 40% of the undergraduate population and 60% at the graduate level.

Allshouse prides the department on anticipating change and ensuring those changes are reflected in curriculum.

鈥淥ur department is good at keeping up with the instrumentation changes that are happening in hospitals,鈥� Allshouse said. 鈥淲e try to stay very connected to what's happening out in the 鈥榬eal world鈥� and try to mimic that as much as possible in what we鈥檙e teaching them.鈥� 

Because of that, there will never be a shortage of work. Principe recalled what Allshouse told students during orientation: 鈥溾�極ur graduates get jobs. If you have this major, you will never be short of work.鈥� So that is very comforting.鈥�

Kalinowski got her first job offer before she even graduated while working a rotation at . In January, she started a new job in the lab at . She enjoys the behind-the-scenes aspect of the work that merges healthcare and science together.

鈥淚 wanted to be involved in the treatment of patients, but I didn鈥檛 necessarily want to see patients every day, so I knew I didn鈥檛 want to be a nurse,鈥� Kalinowski said. 鈥淎ll of the classes and the labs at 91原创 are fantastic 鈥� specifically, hematology鈥 literally do it every day for my job.鈥�

Langhorne, who worked during her senior year at the blood bank laboratory at Nemours, has accepted a full-time job as a medical technologist there following her graduation in May.

鈥淚 love what I do,鈥� Langhorne said. 鈥淭hose specific laboratories challenge me overall. There's always something to learn, and you can always go farther. You're not stagnant鈥 like the fact that I know the how, the when, the why, and not just: 鈥極h, you have the flu,鈥� or 鈥極h, you have COVID,鈥� or 鈥極h, you have strep throat.鈥� I like that I can tell you: 鈥楾his causes that.鈥欌��

Another guarantee Allshouse gives her students is that MLS careers will always be evolving 鈥� and that鈥檚 the exciting part. 

鈥淚鈥檝e seen the changes just on the transfusion medicine side,鈥� Allshouse said. 鈥淲hen I graduated, we had whole blood, red blood cells, a couple other products, that was it. Now there鈥檚 all kinds of products. Surgical procedures change, new bugs are identified, it鈥檚 always changing.鈥� 

She points to blood banking, where MLS grads are also needed.

鈥淭hey've been working for many years trying to get artificial blood products that really work and that will be feasible for patients. I鈥檓 probably not going to see it in my working life, but the students probably will,鈥� Allshouse said. 

Most importantly, MMS provides the education that will serve health and humanity long after the pandemic is in the rearview mirror. 

鈥淎s long as there is a need to prevent, diagnose and treat disease, there will always be a demand,鈥� Biswas-Fiss said.