8 November 2023IN MY OPINIONMeeting the Technical Staffing Shortagein the Clinical LaboratoryBy Michael Baron, Executive Director of Clinical Laboratory Operations, Wisconsin Diagnostic LaboratoriesThe clinical laboratory is plagued with staffing shortages, and most labs are challenged with finding certified technical team members. I started in the clinical laboratory through the less than traditional route. In 1991, after leaving the active U.S. Army, I had a biology/chemistry bachelor's degree and was uncertain what work opportunities were available. Rockford Memorial Hospital Laboratory offered me a position in their chemistry department. Since I met CLIA 88 requirements to work in a clinical laboratory, they put me to work learning how to run chemistry testing in the clinical laboratory. At the same time, I was given the opportunity for classroom instruction with the chemistry medical director. I had excelled on the bench and in the classroom, and I effortlessly passed the ASCP Clinical Chemistry Certification Examination. Moving forward thirty years, I am now the executive director of laboratory operations at Wisconsin Diagnostic Laboratories, and I am faced with extreme shortages of technical team members. The greatest shortages are on the off shifts and within the core laboratory, which includes chemistry, hematology, coagulation, and urinalysis. I went back to my beginnings in the laboratory and believed I could recreate the non-certified tech approach I had undergone thirty years ago. In the fall of 2021, I created a clinical trainer role to develop classroom instruction for a group of non-certified tech team members that we were actively recruiting for hire. The plan was to recruit the best candidates who had science degrees (biology, chemistry, etc.), met the CLIA educational requirements, and their transcripts presented the appropriate coursework. We had many applicants from the advertisement for the non-certified tech to work within our core laboratory. We hired
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