LOVE FOR THE LAB

COLSA’s medical laboratory science degree program is answering an urgent call

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, medical laboratory professionals perform an estimated 14 billion laboratory tests in the U.S. each year — tests that healthcare providers rely on to accurately diagnose their patients. With a shortfall of qualified lab personnel and faster-than-average industry growth through 2030 predicted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the country needs expert medical laboratory scientists now more than ever.

Svetlana (Lana) Gerace ’22, who first worked in healthcare as a hospital administrative assistant in Russia before she emigrated to the United States in 2012, graduated from UNH in December 2022 with a medical laboratory science degree. She spent her final semester at an internship at Concord Hospital in Concord, New Hampshire.

“It is said that 70 percent of medical decisions are based on lab values, without which physicians would be playing a guessing game,” says Gerace. “We do not simply perform the testing, we also review results, which requires knowledge of pathophysiology and disease processes. Our work contributes significantly to patient care, from diagnosis to treatment choices.”

Based on solid foundational and advanced courses in chemistry and the biological sciences, the MLS program, which is the only four-year MLS program in New Hampshire accredited by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences, has a strong record of successfully preparing students for fulfilling careers in the biomedical sciences, including as a certified medical laboratory scientist.

“Throughout the state of New Hampshire, whether it’s a hospital medical laboratory, the state public health laboratory or the state crime laboratory, it would be hard to find a lab that doesn’t employ a UNH MLS graduate,” says Michelle Labbe, clinical assistant professor in the department of molecular, cellular and biomedical sciences. “Employers know that our graduates are well prepared to enter the workforce immediately after graduation.”

Concord Hospital certainly does: They offered Gerace a full-time position before she graduated.