RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Medical Laboratory Science Undergraduate Management Curriculum Development Using Practitioner Reported Job Tasks
JF American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science
JO Clin Lab Sci
FD American Society of Chemistry and Laboratory Science
SP ascls.120.002238
DO 10.29074/ascls.120.002238
A1 Susanne Bishop
A1 Karen Honeycutt
YR 2020
UL http://hwmaint.clsjournal.ascls.org/content/early/2020/01/20/ascls.120.002238.abstract
AB A Midwestern medical laboratory science program (MLS) conducted an online survey, as part of a larger national study, to assess what specific management skills staff-level MLS practitioners were performing as part of their job. The survey provided data that helped guide management-related curriculum development. Participants self-reported how often (i.e., often, sometimes, never) they had been asked, as part of their staff-level job, to perform a list of 30 managerial tasks. Frequently performed tasks (i.e., percentages represent both the often and sometimes responses) included train laboratory staff (88%); perform or participate in equipment/method validation (82%); prepare for/participate in laboratory inspection/assessment (82%); ensure compliance of regulations/standards (76%); monitor quality via quality indicators (64%); investigate standard operating procedure (SOP)/policy deviations (65%); analyze/review inventory data (65%); plan, measure, and evaluate process improvement projects (61%); develop competency assessment materials (61%), revise or write policies and procedures (61%); and participate in interdisciplinary teams (61%). Least performed tasks identified included: hire new employees (2%), prepare a laboratory/department budget (3%), perform a SWOT analysis (5%), negotiate vendor contracts (8%), write job descriptions (8%), determine productivity (11%), and perform a cost analysis (14%). The reported descriptive statistics helped distinguish between frequently and infrequently performed tasks, and develop managerial curriculum for an undergraduate and graduate MLS program. The staff-level practitioner rarely performed financial and human resource (HR) so these tasks became the focus of the graduate-level management curriculum.