FEATURE
months. Bradke views the policy as
a logical extension of cross-training
and said, it promotes “public health
laboratory loyalty, while still allowing
for change and growth in individuals.”
Even the PHL supervisor whose chemist
moved to Bradke’s team had a positive
view of the process, saying, “While it’s
sad to lose someone, I would much
rather keep our good folks in house!”
To help satisfy younger workers’ desire
for upward mobility, Tran is building
an official career ladder for bench-level
scientists. In addition to union-negotiated
pay raises, individuals will have the
possibility of “jumping grades,” based
on performance, and receiving an extra
salary boost, averaging about $6,000/year
between grades.
“We were waiting for something
like this”
T
raining and continuing
education have always been
integral to PHL practice, and
are even more important
today, given the next
generations’ interest in skills-building and
advancement.
With limited funding for off-site training,
innovative thinkers have come up with
a range of new options. Becker suggests
connecting young professionals with
in-house mentors via one-on-one
sessions, group programs, leadership
panels or “speed mentoring” (modeled
on speed dating, but with subject matter
experts instead of prospective dates). The
Texas Department of State Health Services
Laboratory extends the concept one step
further with a “job shadowing” program.
Salerno said the Division of Laboratory
Systems is investigating new e-learning
options, including virtual reality programs
to create the illusion of working at the
bench (see, for example, Labster.com)
and other “gamification” techniques to
make learning more fun for those who
grew up with video games and other
interactive media.
PublicHealthLabs
@APHL
Perhaps the most notable recent
development in PHL education is the
University of South Florida’s (USF’s) DrPH
program in public health and clinical
laboratory science and practice, which
supplies a crucial credential for aspiring
public health laboratory scientists: in
order to qualify as a high-complexity
clinical laboratory director, federal CLIA
regulations require candidates to hold
an earned doctoral-level degree from an
accredited institution, with an approved
major. In fact, candidates cannot even
sit for a CLIA-required board certification
exam without an approved doctoral-level
degree.
Needless to say, this is a hurdle for full
time professionals, some of whom may
even be serving as de facto laboratory
managers under the direction of an
off-site CLIA-qualified director.
The USF program’s head, Janice Zgibor,
PhD, said, “One of the reasons people
leave the lab is because there’s nowhere to
go. We’ve created the someplace to go.”
The DrPH program launched in fall 2017
with seven students ranging in age
from 34 to 52. Aside from being the only
doctoral program for PHL managers in
the nation, it has the distinction of being
delivered largely online; students come to
the Tampa campus three times over the
course of two years for multi-day, in-class
“intensives.”
By and large, “[students] don’t have to
leave their laboratory, they don’t have to
leave their jobs,” said Jill Roberts, PhD,
MPH, one of the program’s instructors.
director of the Florida BPHL-Tampa, and a
champion of the USF DrPH in laboratory
practice. People like Tran, who initiated
internship programs at the DC PHL for
high school, undergraduate and post-doc
students to help fill the pipeline for future
laboratory scientists. And people like
Trammell and Salerno, who are thinking
about how to empower PHL scientists and
better articulate the value of PHL practice.
“There’s this perception that laboratories
are unique, stand-alone environments
and that the output of the work of the
laboratory is the test result ... and I don’t
think that’s a good definition of value,”
said Salerno. “I think we have to do a
much better job of linking PHL testing
to public health surveillance and public
health outcomes. In my opinion, people
are going to do laboratory science not just
for the science or the salary; they will do
it because they believe in the mission and
the importance of public health.” n
In my opinion, people are going
to do laboratory science not just for
the science or the salary; they will do
it because they believe in the mission
and the importance of public health.”
Ren Salerno, PhD
With an emphasis on PHL leadership and
management, and practice-based projects
that have often been implemented
immediately in the field, the DrPH
program is tailored to the interests and
academic needs of working scientists.
Trammell, who is in the program’s
inaugural class, said, “Everyone who is in
the program is just stoked about it. We
were waiting for something like this.”
Ultimately, the future of the PHL
workforce will be determined by the
actions of visionary leaders today.
People like Philip Amuso, PhD, a former
APHL.org
Fall 2018 LAB MATTERS
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