Introduction
The medical technician job title requires the job holder to be very skillful and versatile. New hires have differing backgrounds and hence, it can be a very challenging task to assign them suitable job tasks. This document proposes the an adequate program structure that details the tasks to be performed by the supervisors and the team leaders with the newly hired people to provide sufficient training to them in different departments so that they may not end up breaking the workload routine. Each employee would be provided with a list of tasks that she would be responsible to check and to finish during her training process.
Description of Laboratory Technician and Technologist Positions and their Duties
The basic new hire positions will fall under two main categories based upon education and experience which are Technician and Technologist. Although Technicians and Technologists are responsible for all the exclusive tasks of testing and analyzing the results, the lab technologists perform additional tasks and monitor calibration and perform quality control as required by the quality assurance department. The Technologist will address monthly special maintenance of all the analyzers and laboratory equipment. Although some special tasks will be performed by on-duty personnel regardless of their designation, such as instrument calibration and running lot-to-lot parallel checks and comparisons. All testing personnel are required to perform and participate in CAP (College of American Pathologists) surveys which may include a combination of tests, like analyzing CAP specimens with current laboratory protocols or analyzing images and written problems and providing answer responses to them in timely order.
The minimum educational requirement for Technicians is an Associate Degree or Technical education in the field of laboratory and a minimum of five years of field related experience. The educational requirements for Technologists are at least a Bachelor degree in Chemistry or Biological sciences and a minimum of five years of field related experience. Those candidates who possess professional certification such as ASCP or ASCLS will be given priority.
Learning Objectives
The new hires will be assigned to training with either the team leader on that particular lab bench or a full time technician working there. She will start the training by reading the SOP (Standard Operating Procedures) and first reviewing and performing the technical aspects under the supervision of the technician. The learning objectives will begin with the introduction to laboratory safety protocols and getting acquainted with the laboratory departments and its team. There will be a walk through spot and identification of various fire safety procedures and identification of fire alarms, fire exit doors and designated meeting area in case of emergencies and knowledge of locations of MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets). It would also include various occupational hazard awareness, and basic lab information system training and getting acquainted with different functions of LCLS, LCWS, PROC and SIS systems. Then, the trainee will be able to understand the specimen requirements and rejection criteria and reporting of the abnormal and critical results.
Mode of Training
Most of the training will occur on-the-job but some of the training is acquired through computer and intranet. The instrumentation and its basics will be taught in practical manner by understanding the pre-analytical procedures of the specimen and instrument basics on-hands with the trainer, while some of the principles of instrumentation and basic troubleshooting will be understood by taking online lessons through instrument’s manufacturer’s website or by attending webinars in the conference rooms at work. Traditional power point presentations are not too often performed for training employees except for basic orientation and safety introduction. However, video conferences and webinars and interactive CD-ROMs are preferred modes for continuing education and training of current and new hire employees.
