Laboratory Personnel

LABORATORY PROFESSIONALS

 Laboratory professionals pay a critical role in quality health care.

 The test results they generate improve patient care by providing information to the
physician that cannot be discovered in any other way.
 Even though many processes in the laboratory have become automated, it is important for
those performing the testing procedures to have adequate background knowledge for
appropriate interpretation of the test results.
 It is also imperative that laboratory employees are knowledgeable about the procedures
necessary to ensure quality testing methods in the laboratory, laws and regulations
governing laboratory processes, and how all the laboratory departments work together.
Personnel in the Laboratory Setting

 The personnel involved in laboratory testing are classified according to their education
and credentials.
 Table provides a list of the laboratory professionals that may play a role in laboratory
testing, including their credentials and education. The basic classifications include the
following:
• Pathologists: These are board-certified physicians who have specialized training in disease
and laboratory interpretation.
A pathologist may function as the laboratory director for sites that perform all levels of
laboratory testing, and is generally affiliated with hospital and reference laboratories.
• Physicians: A physician without any laboratory specialty training may function as the
laboratory director of a physician office laboratory. Dentists may also serve as laboratory
directors if they perform laboratory testing in their clinics. Physicians may not serve as
directors for hospital or reference laboratories unless they have additional credentials
specifically qualifying them for this setting.
 Nurse-practitioners or physician assistants: These are known as midlevel health-care
providers, and they may function as directors of physician office laboratories.
 Nurse-practitioners have at least 6 years of education; physician assistants generally
possess at least a 4-year degree, as well as additional focused medical education.
 These midlevel providers are not usually employed in a reference or hospital laboratory.
 Medical laboratory scientists: Personnel with this title often work in a reference or
hospital laboratory as testing personnel or as supervisors.
 They must have at least a 4-year degree in laboratory medicine, and are credentialed by
the American Society for Clinical Pathology.
 Those qualified with a 4-year degree may also be known as medical technologists if they
received their certification through the American Medical Technologists.
 Medical laboratory technicians: These employees usually perform testing procedures
in a hospital or reference laboratory. They may also be employed in physician office
laboratories.
 Medical laboratory technicians must have completed at least an associate degree in
laboratory medicine, and are nationally certified through the American Society of Clinical
Pathology or through the American Medical Technologists.
• Medical assistants: Medical assistants may work in a physician office laboratory, but they
can also be employed in a reference or hospital laboratory if the
 Medical assistants: Medical assistants may work in a physician office laboratory, but
they can also be employed in a reference or hospital laboratory if the tasks they perform
are within their lawful scope of practice. Medical assistants have completed a medical
assisting program that included at least an introduction to laboratory procedures.
 Medical assistants are not required to be certified to work in a laboratory, but if they
choose to pursue a certification, they may test through the American Association of
Medical Assistants to become a certified medical assistant (CMA), or through the
American Medical Technologists to become a registered medical assistant (RMA).
 Phlebotomists: A phlebotomist may be a medical assistant, but there are also
phlebotomists trained in short-term programs, either at technical colleges or on the job,
specifically to draw blood and process laboratory specimens.
 Phlebotomists are primarily employed in physician office laboratories and hospital
laboratories. Phlebotomists must have at least a high school
 diploma (or general equivalency diploma [GED]) and
 have documented training to draw blood. They may become certified nationally, and some
states require additional state certification as well.