Building a Medical Laboratory Technician (MLT) Program from the Ground Up Presentation at the Consortium for Healthcare Education Online Faculty Professional Development Workshop May 15, 2015 MP4 Video

In 1970 there were 791 medical technician programs in the US. By 2003, 70% had closed. 30% of individual laboratorian respondents plan to leave the workforce within 4 years, and 25% of laboratory workers are older than 55 years. With a great need to provide medical technicians and the demographics of the area that Otero Junior College serves – 33% of population is Hispanic, 38% live below the poverty level, and unemployment rate is higher than the state rate with below average high school graduates – this program offers an opportunity to get students out of poverty into viable careers where they can support their families. Information was shared about the two programs offered – phlebotomy certificate and medical lab technician associate of applied science degree. Information on the type of equipment used in the classroom along with tasks performed by a medical laboratory technician and the equipment used by them to generate lab reports is shared. As 80% of physicians’ decisions are made from lab and x-ray reports, medical laboratory technicians provide a valuable contribution to society, and this program is an opportunity for students to get into the healthcare field. Angela Tarrant, faculty, Medical Laboratory Technician Program, Otero Junior College (CO), presented this information to faculty working on the Consortium for Healthcare Education Online project at the CHEO Discipline Panel Faculty Professional Development Workshop – By Design: Taking ALL Allied Health Students Across the Finish Line, on May 15, 2015. The event was hosted by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) and was held at its SHEPC Learning Center in Boulder, CO. The CHEO project is funded by a U.S. Department of Labor Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant. See www.wiche.edu/nanslo/CHEO-faculty-professional-development for more information about this workshop.