A shortage of clinical laboratory scientists, the behind-the-scenes medical professionals who perform and interpret laboratory tests, is so severe that it could compromise the quality of the U.S. healthcare system - particularly in the event of an attack involving biological or chemical weapons.
So says Peggy Edwards, chair of the clinical laboratory science department at Saint Louis University's Edward and Margaret Doisy School of Allied Health Professions.
In the event of a scare involving possible biological or chemical weapons, it will be the people in clinical, public health and research labs who will be asked to identify the specimen and confirm whether it's a biological or chemical pathogen.
"Approximately 80 percent of all diagnostic and treatment decisions are based on laboratory results produced by clinical laboratory scientists," Edwards said. "Without these results, physicians and other primary care practitioners would be severely hampered in their ability to accurately diagnose and treat patients. It's clear to see why this shortage is of great concern to us."
Many laboratories have a hard and near impossible time staffing their labs now, Edwards said, and a biological or chemical attack would only worsen the situation.
"If there is an event, the labs will be overwhelmed because of staffing problems they already have, " Edwards said.
Edwards says that additional biodefense funding should be focused to support the education of the professionals who will be on the front line in dealing with any bioterrorism event.
"The Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Response Act [H.R. 3448] signed into law had a clause for educational assistance, but was not funded at the appropriation level, " said Mary Lou Vehige, vice chair of clinical laboratory science at Saint Louis University. "The education part got slashed. "
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 9,000 such scientists will be needed each year for the next 10 years, but the nation's clinical laboratory science educational programs are graduating half that number.
Clinical laboratory scientists perform a full range of tests - from blood smears for the detection of anemia to highly complex procedures used to diagnose and monitor the status of patients suffering from various forms of cancer.
"It's absolutely mandatory that we address these issues and replenish the dwindling number of professionals in the field if we are to sustain the current quality of health care in America," Edwards said.
Compounding the problem is the lack of educational programs for clinical laboratory scientists and technicians. Nationally, these programs dropped from 617 in 1995 to 464 in 2003. The clinical laboratory science program at Saint Louis University is one of only 243 baccalaureate degree level programs in the country. It has been educating clinical laboratory professionals for more than 70 years.
Long a leader in health professions education, Saint Louis University began its first allied health baccalaureate degree program in 1929. Today the Edward and Margaret Doisy School of Allied Health Professions offers degrees in clinical laboratory sciences, health information management, nuclear medicine technology, nutrition and dietetics, occupational therapy, physical therapy and physician assistant education.
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