SALT LAKE CITY — ARUP Laboratories and the University of Utah’s Division of Medical Laboratory Sciences (MLS) will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Advanced Practice Clinical Laboratory Training Center (APL). This new lab bolsters educational opportunities for MLS students and helps address a critical need for highly trained laboratory professionals nationwide.
ARUP and the U secured $3 million in federal funding to build the training center and equip it with state-of-the-art instrumentation in 2023. The first-of-its-kind collaboration enables students to gain valuable experience in specialized testing in clinical chemistry, hematology, hemostasis, immunohematology, microbiology, immunology, and body fluids analysis.
The APL is a mini hospital laboratory with the core elements and instruments that any individual working in a hospital lab will use. Students will rotate through it as required curriculum in the MLS program, conduct labs tests, and receive instruction in a dedicated classroom. There is also a phlebotomy room and faculty office.
Medical laboratory scientists and technicians are often called the “hidden heroes of healthcare” because they work behind the scenes using sophisticated equipment and techniques to provide essential data that inform up to 70% of all patient diagnosis and treatment decisions. The United States is facing a shortage of these professionals due to an aging workforce, fewer training programs, and increased demand for laboratory services.
“One of the limitations to growing the [MLS] program at the U was availability of sufficient Biosafety Level 2 laboratory space for students,” said Diana Wilkins, PhD, MS, MLS(ASCP), division chief, Medical Laboratory Sciences, and C. Scott and Dorothy E. Watkins Endowed Professor of Pathology, Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah. Collaborating with ARUP gives students the space and experience they need to be successful in the workforce, Wilkins explained.
The training center, which is located inside ARUP’s Building 4 at University of Utah Research Park, will enable the U to reach its goal of doubling the number of annual graduates to 80.
“For the past several years we’ve had a 100% employment rate with students having offers of employment before they graduate,” said Wilkins. “Many of them work in clinical laboratories across the Salt Lake Valley.”
“This is a novel way to increase the number of medical laboratory scientists, and eventually, we want to replicate the program in other parts of the country,” said Tracy George, ARUP chief scientific officer and Innovation Business Unit president.
Learn more about the APL here.
About ARUP Laboratories
Founded in 1984, ARUP Laboratories is a leading national reference laboratory and a nonprofit enterprise of the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah and its Department of Pathology. ARUP offers more than 3,000 tests and test combinations, ranging from routine screening tests to esoteric molecular and genetic assays. In addition, ARUP is a worldwide leader in innovative laboratory research and development, led by the efforts of the ARUP Institute for Research and Innovation in Diagnostic and Precision Medicine™. ARUP is ISO 15189 and CAP accredited.
About University of Utah Health
University of Utah Health is the state’s only academic healthcare system, providing leading-edge and compassionate care for a referral area that encompasses 10% of the U.S., including Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, and much of Nevada. A hub for health sciences research and education in the region, U of U Health has a $458 million research enterprise and trains the majority of Utah’s physicians, including more than 1,460 healthcare providers each year at its Colleges of Health, Nursing, and Pharmacy and Schools of Dentistry and Medicine. With more than 20,000 employees, the system includes 12 community clinics and five hospitals: University Hospital, Huntsman Mental Health Institute, Huntsman Cancer Hospital, University Orthopaedic Center, and the Craig H. Neilsen Rehabilitation Hospital. For 13 straight years, U of U Health has ranked among the top 10 U.S. academic medical centers in the rigorous Vizient Quality and Accountability Study.