MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY

Medical Technology



Abstract

The quest for more effective means of determining Medical Technology (MT) Certification Examination outcomes is a challenge that continues to intrigue educators in the clinical laboratory science profession. After decades of unproductive experimentation and research to discover what makes an effective laboratory program and scientist, educational leaders still continue to search for the optimal variable(s) that will effectively prepare students and help to determine whether or not they will pass or fail the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) National Certification Examination for Medical Technology. The emergence of Medical Technology programs all over the United States has progressed from its beginnings as on-the-job training in the 1920s to the structured curriculum of the 21st Century university baccalaureate program. Recently, due to the rapid increase of scientific and technological knowledge, and the perceived need to better prepare medical technology students for professional learning, a large number of university-type and/or health science centre Medical Technology programs are being developed.

Medical Laboratory Technology

Background of Medical Laboratory Technology

The rapid increase of scientific and technological knowledge, along with the need to better prepare students for the profession, has initiated modifications in some Medical Technology educational programs. The traditional hospital-oriented Medical Technology training program was the 3+1 and 4+1 medical technology curriculum in which the first three or four years were spent taking academic prerequisites followed by one year of clinical education in a hospital laboratory Medical Technology program. This curriculum has since been modified to allow the university or health science centers to assume the major teaching responsibilities in institutions of higher education. One major form of modification resulted in the formation of the 2+2 university or college based curriculum plan. This curriculum plan constitutes two years of pre professional college-level course requirements, plus two years of professional (didactic and clinical) education. During the twenty-four months of professional training, medical technology courses with student laboratories are generally offered on the campus of the academic institution or health science centre with practical clinical experiences received in affiliating hospital facilities (Doig, 2000).

Historical Development of Medical Technology Curriculum

The history of medical technology dates far back as 1500 B.C. when intestinal parasites such as Taenia and Ascaris were discovered in the laboratory and mentioned in writings by physicians. It was during that century that an important Italian physician at the University of Bologna hired Alessandra Giliana, who would be considered today, as a laboratory technician. Medical laboratories had their beginning during the 1920s in the United States, according to Southern (1999). Prior to 1920, pathologists performed most laboratory tests, and trained laboratory technicians or aides on the job (OJT). After World War I, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals required hospitals to have clinical laboratory services on-site for accreditation of hospitals. Pennsylvania was the first state in 1916, to make clinical laboratories mandatory in all hospitals in the United States (Guiles, 2006). As increasing demands were placed on medical laboratory testing, pathologists began establishing schools and training laboratory ...