Written by: Kevin Storr
Media contact: Adam Pope, arpope@uab.edu
The University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Health Professions recently gained approval by the University of Alabama Board of Trustees to launch a new Master of Science in Clinical Pathologist Assistant program. The new program, offered totally online, welcomes the first cohort of students in the 2018 fall semester.
The program is open to professionals with a degree in medical laboratory sciences (MLS) who are certified by the American Society for Clinical Pathology and have at least two years of experience in the MLS field.
The degree, designed to strengthen skills in communication, tests utilization algorithms, team building, quality, relationships, consultations, advanced laboratory procedures and clinical application and prepares students to make an impact on the ever-changing dynamics of health care.
“Laboratory medicine is undergoing rapid changes driven by new technologies such as molecular and genomic testing,” said Floyd Josephat, Ed.D., program director and associate professor of Clinical Laboratory Science and the Clinical Pathologist Assistant program. “As new tests develop and become more complex, it will be imperative that we prepare graduates to address issues that may be encountered as a result of these changes. The bottom line is that the introduction of a new member of the health care team — a clinical pathologist assistant — to help assist the pathologist should have a positive impact on the quality of patient care.”
The goal of the UAB Clinical Pathologist Assistant program is to train highly qualified clinical laboratory scientists to serve under the direct supervision of a board-certified pathologist and to provide clinical pathology services — including the analysis of medical and laboratory data associated with pathology.
“More than 7 billion clinical lab tests are performed in the U.S. each year, providing critical data that saves time, money and lives by enabling early detection and prevention of disease,” said Peter G. Anderson, Ph.D., interim chair of the Department of Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences and professor of pathology. “We will prepare our students to serve as resources for clinicians and hospital staff so they can choose wisely when ordering tests and interpreting the results. This will become especially important as more and more new tests become available.”
The program, which can be completed full time online in only four semesters, has begun taking applications for this fall cohort. The spring 2019 class application deadline is Oct. 1, and the fall 2019 class application deadline is May 1. For more information, please call 205-934-3209 or email AskCDS@uab.edu.