Building the Medical Laboratory Workforce of the Future One Step at a Time

Often, young children dream of becoming a physician or nurse, a pilot, a famous athlete, or a teacher—people they see in their daily lives or on TV.  

“People who work in the medical laboratory are not as visible as the work of physicians and nurses,” says Dana Powell Baker, EdD, MBA, MS, MLS(ASCP)^CM, an ASCP member and president of the Society for Black Pathology. “That’s why, as professionals, we need to actively promote careers in laboratory medicine to students in our communities. You can never start too young when introducing children to careers.” 

Dr. Baker and ASCP volunteer Sean Tucker, MBA, MLS(ASCP)^CM, are both ASCP Career Ambassadors who attended the American School Counselor Association Annual (ASCA) Convention recently to raise the visibility of the medical laboratory to school counselors who talk to students about career pathways.   

The convention took place in Kansas City, MO, and Dr. Baker and Mr. Tucker, who both live in Missouri, volunteered to help staff the ASCP booth in the convention’s exhibition hall to promote careers in pathology and laboratory medicine. Attendees came from all over the United States and included counselors for students in kindergarten through 12th grade, graduate students, college professors, and school counseling supervisors. 

ASCP Senior Director of Scientific Engagement and Research Edna Garcia, MPH, also helped staff the booth and talk to visitors about the Society and careers in laboratory medicine. COLA, Inc., partnered with ASCP to share the booth. Resources provided by ASCP included a What’s My Next Booklet, a Laboratory Career Roadmap flyer, information about ASCP’s Dr. Alvin Ring Empowerment Scholarship, Lab Drawers™ classroom kits, and informational flyers on laboratory medicine provided by COLA.  

Dr. Baker and Mr. Tucker brought with them a microscope and showed visitors samples of peripheral smears, and what sickle cell anemia looks like through a microscope. 

“We showed what a normal red blood cell should look like and what a sickle cell looks like, a crescent shape, and described the impact that it has on the red blood cells’ oxygen-carrying capacity,” explains Dr. Baker. 

Being able to explain, as well as illustrate that concept helped convention goers to connect the dots. Dr. Baker said it was fun to see the visitors to their booth have an “ah-ha!” moment when they began to grasp the concepts that were being illustrated. 

Mr. Tucker brought a tissue block which included a stained slide with a stomach tissue sample from a patient and talked with visitors about the field of histology. “We focused primarily on explaining the different career pathways in laboratory medicine along with the varying levels of education that is required,” he says. 

They also brought Lab Drawer™ classroom kits, which each contain a specific science experiment and a corresponding lesson. The kits are designed specifically to explain to young students how the science experiments illustrate the work that laboratory professionals perform as part of the patient care team. (Lab Drawer is a stand-alone, education-technology monthly subscription web-based resource, to which ASCP Career Ambassadors have access.)  

“We collected a lot of information. Well over 100 counselors are interested in having an ASCP Career Ambassador visit their schools, and they want to acquire more resources about laboratory medicine to share with their students,” Dr. Baker says.  

“We developed a lot of great contacts,” Ms. Garcia adds. “Many school counselors asked us to follow up and see if we have ASCP members near their communities who would be willing to visit their schools and give science presentations and talk about laboratory careers.”  

ASCP is also exploring inviting a member of ASCA to speak to the Medicine and Public Health Laboratory Workforce Coalition to provide input on how best to reach out to young people. 

Attending the ASCA Convention is just one example of the ways ASCP is working to develop the medical laboratory workforce of the future. The Society has developed innovative solutions to help mitigate the critical shortage of workers that hospitals and laboratories are experiencing. In April 2022, for example, ASCP established a Workforce Steering Committee to strategically address workforce pathway issues and leverage the Blueprint for Action and the 12 potential workforce initiatives ASCP can work on.  

Outreach, like attending ASCA, are central to the strategy, and ASCP Career and Pathology Ambassadors are a vital piece of that. Hands-on activities and engagement help people understand and appreciate the medical laboratory’s role in patient care and inspire them to pursue a career in the medical laboratory while cultivating relationships in their community.  

Dr. Baker, who has volunteered as an ASCP Career Ambassador for nearly 10 years, never fails to get excited when given the opportunity to spread the word about the laboratory profession. 

“It is very meaningful when you see others get excited about the work that we do and appreciate the impact of our contributions to patient care,” she says.