UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 26, Page 1
April 9, 1992
Advisory panel at work to support med tech program

     An advisory panel of alumni and friends from the health-care
community has begun working to build a scholarship fund, increase
summer internships and recruit more majors for the University's
Medical Technology Program.
     The program was one closely examined by the University during
this period of fiscal constraint, and it had been considered for
elimination because of its high cost and low enrollment.
     Expressing concern over the shortage of qualified health care
professionals, a group of alumni and medical community representatives
sought and received a postponement of a decision on the program's
future.
     Although the program still must be reevaluated each year to
assess progress toward  larger enrollments and reduced costs, R. Byron
Pipes, provost and vice president for academic affairs, told the
advisory panel that the University is committed to graduating the med
tech students who will be admitted next fall and that the program will
go forward "one freshman class" at a time.
     Members of the advisory panel include representatives from the
Association of Delaware Hospitals; the Medical Center of Delaware; the
Du Pont Co.; the Veteran's Administration Regional and Medical Center;
Medlab Clinical Testing Inc.; and five nearby hospitals, including
Taylor Hospital in Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore
and  St. Francis, Milford Memorial and Kent General hospitals in
Delaware. About half the panel are alumni of the Delaware program,
which was established in 1949.
     According to program director Anna Ciulla, letters requesting
donations for a scholarship fund have been sent to more than 500
alumni and 1,200 physicians, as well as to regional hospitals and
private laboratories. Ciulla said that incentive scholarships, which
are repaid with work commitments, also are offered by 43 area
hospitals and private clinical laboratories, and more are expected to
be added.
     Summer internships already have been added for medical technology
students. In addition to two ongoing internships at Medlab, three to
five positions have been designated for the University's med tech
students at the Medical Center of Delaware. According to Cheryl Katz,
a 1972 Delaware graduate who is assistant administrative director of
pathology, these new summer positions may continue on one day a week
during the school year.
     Recruitment efforts are focusing on both prospective students and
uncommitted arts and science students. Alumni of the program and other
members of the health care community will speak to these groups and
offer tours of nearby laboratories. "We also offer science teachers in
a four-state region a video describing the field and, for those
schools within a 100-mile radius, we can provide a scientific
demonstration," Ciulla said.
     Graduates of the Medical Technology Program can expect careers in
hospitals, private clinical laboratories, pharmaceutical companies,
public health agencies or research laboratories in academia and
industry. "Because this is not a vocational program, our students take
a hard-core science curriculum. There's even a pre-med option, and
graduates can go on to study clinical chemistry, microbiology or
management in graduate school," Ciulla said.
     According to Ciulla, there is a shortage of medical technologists
in the region and across the country. Some 57,000 job vacancies are
expected by the year 2000, she said. Entry-level salaries are
competitive and range from $26,000 to $35,000.
     "Although it's true that much of today's lab work is automated,
many tests are not and there are always new tests being developed,"
Ciulla said. "What we are doing is critical and requires trained
judgment."
     The University's program has openings for 26 senior and 26 junior
students per year.  Freshmen and sophomores who declare an interest in
medical technology are advised to take basic science courses in
biology and chemistry. Admitted in their junior years, medical
technology students take such advanced science courses as
immunohematology and clinical microbiology. During the senior year,
students are involved in clinical rotations in 13 hospital and private
clinical laboratory affiliates. Each student will experience clinical
rotations in three of the affiliates for 20 weeks.
     -Cornelia Weil