Volume 68 - Winter 1998	Download

The impact of teaching on productivity in the clinical laboratory A call for collaboration and a forum for discussion by William N. Bigler, PhD, and Mary Ellen Hermann, MS, MT(ASCP)

To a large extent, the decline in accredited programs in clinical laboratory science has been the result of severely restricted budgets within the laboratory. If the benefits of conducting an educational program could be documented and shown to exceed the costs, such cuts might not occur.

In order for educational programs to be maintained, administrators must be convinced that the positive factors or opinions, shown below as f-k, outweigh the negative factors or opinions, shown below as a-e. If it were possible to produce data related to these factors, administrative decisions could be based on fact rather than opinion. As a consequence, educational programs might be saved and increasing opportunities made available for students. The authors understand that the statements shown are merely opinions but believe that quantitative data should be generated to either support or reject them.

Negative Opinions

1. Teaching decreases productivity of the teaching professionals.
   
2. Teaching is expensive for the laboratory.
   
3. Students do no useful work in the laboratory during training.
   
4. Laboratories can save money by eliminating educational programs.
   
5. Automation is eliminating the need for laboratory professionals.
   

Positive Opinions

6. Students accept jobs at the laboratories where they have trained.
   
7. Hiring their own graduates saves laboratories heavy recruitment costs.
   
8. The presence of students stimulates staff to stay "sharp. "
   
9. Turnover of teaching staff is less than for non-teaching staff.
   
10. All of the work gets done whether or not staff are teaching.
    
11. Toward the end of training, students may increase productivity.
    

A study of these opinions and how they influence educational decisions would be of great interest to program directors of accredited programs who are struggling to justify their educational activities, staff assignments and even student stipends. It could also influence changes in curriculum as the productivity of student workers becomes more evident.

A pilot study has been initiated at San Francisco State University to examine these opinions. Data from SFSU alone will not be sufficient to influence administrative decisions for other programs. Consequently, we are encouraging other institutions to collaborate. A discussion of the proposed project has been scheduled at the Clinical Laboratory Educators Conference in Minneapolis. It will be held on Thursday, February 26, 1998 from 8:30 - 9:00pm. Please watch for signs with the meeting location.

Laboratory educators are invited to collaborate on the collection and publication of data, whether or not they are able to attend the discussion. Contact the authors at: wbigler@sfsu. edu.

Dr. Bigler and Ms. Hermann are faculty at the Center for Biomedical Laboratory Science - San Francisco State University.

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