In this episode of Laboratory Equipment's LabChat podcast, Michelle Taylor speaks with Melissa Miller about how the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted a critical need for medical laboratory professionals in the workforce.
Miller, the director of the Clinical Molecular Microbiology Laboratory and of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory at the UNC Medical Center, trained as a medical laboratory scientist. During the pandemic last year, she spearheaded the development of one of the first COVID-19 tests in the United States. Miller said her medical laboratory science degree provided a broad-based training that has benefitted her throughout her career, even as she came to specialize in medical microbiology and infectious diseases as a postdoctoral fellow at UNC-Chapel Hill.
According to workforce projections from the Health Resources and Services Administration, the medical lab industry is set to experience a 19% increase in demand nationally between 2016 and 2030. Even with demand rising, there is a shortage in the workforce, currently, and the COVID-19 pandemic only served to exacorbated the problem. Many medical lab educational programs are small and have limited capacity in their class sizes due to the specialized training that is required for program completion. Additionally, programs face difficulties recruiting students due to limited visibility of the profession.
I recently spoke to Miller about her work on developing one of the first COVID-19 tests and how the medical lab professional industry can capitalize on the unexpected spotlight brought about by COVID-19.