Just like all areas of healthcare, lab medicine is experiencing shortages of qualified personnel. Imagine waiting weeks to get your test results and living with the suspense of not knowing what is wrong with you. That’s an extreme scenario, but it is a possibility, given that the United States currently has just half the number of technicians and scientists that will be needed to meet demand in the near future.
There are 4.5 billion lab tests performed in the United States every year, and these tests are the highest-volume medical activity. Physicians can’t diagnose many issues definitively without the help of lab testing. In fact, 70% of a doctor’s decisions are influenced by these test results. A shortage of qualified personnel would significantly decrease the quality of care patients would receive.
As new tests are being developed to improve diagnoses and monitoring, we need to think about the future of lab medicine. It’s important that we encourage those with an interest in medicine to pursue careers in laboratory testing. Learn more about the field’s average salaries, education requirements, and growth potential in this infographic by the University of Cincinnati’s Bachelor of Science in Medical Laboratory Science Online program.
