Twenty-three members of the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) have been selected to serve as ASCP Ambassadors, making presentations to pre-college students to create awareness about medical laboratory science as a career. Sponsored by Roche, the Ambassador Program is a collaborative effort to address the looming laboratory science workforce shortage by putting newly certified members into classrooms across the country to create awareness and discuss the benefits of the profession to pre-college students.
The competitive application process includes the submission of academic and professional performance materials. Applicants also submitted video essays that answered the question, “Why did you become a laboratory professional?” Many applicants explained that they, too, were unaware of the profession until later in their college years and were excited at the opportunity to provide information to high school students.
The 2011 “Top 200 Jobs Rated” survey by CareerCast.com ranked medical laboratory technician at 35th and medical technologist at 30th based on the job’s environment, income, and career outlook. The Ambassador Program allows pre-college students to learn about laboratory careers that are secure and pay well. The 2010 ASCP Wage Survey shows that the national average salary for staff level MT/MLS/CLS is almost $55,000 per year and supervisors make more than $65,000 on average.
The 2010 ASCP Vacancy Survey reports that “unfamiliarity with the profession due to lack of visibility and the closure of laboratory science programs has been a contributing factor to the workforce shortage.”
Source: American Society for Clinical Pathology
