News from the AMA Health Professions E-Letter June 2003

The Medical Laboratory Personnel Shortage Act of 2001 (HR 1948), recently introduced to the US House of Representatives, addresses the approaching shortage of medical laboratory personnel nationwide. The bill’s sponsors and cosponsors worked with the American Society of Clinical Pathologists (ASCP) to explore solutions to this wide-ranging issue.

The bill would:

• Expand the National Health Service Corps Scholarship and Loan Repayment Program to medical technologists and medical laboratory technicians
• Increase funding for the Allied Health Project Grants program, which helps attract laboratory professionals to the field, especially minorities and individuals in rural and underserved communities
  

ASCP data show that 20% of cytotechnology and histotechnology positions nationwide are currently unfilled. "This is a cause for immediate concern as some laboratories will not have the appropriate personnel available to evaluate Pap smears or prepare biopsies," said Ira D. Godwin, MD, ASCP president. "Given the aging population, the number and complexity of biopsy specimens and molecular techniques are likely to increase, [and] the laboratory workforce will need to be able to react to these concerns with sufficient numbers of trained and educated personnel."