Laboratory Operations
 Laboratories cannot function solely with experts in science
and technology. Healthcare is a highly regulated environment in
which successful outcomes for the patients are critical and the
safety and health of medical personnel is assured.
Further, healthcare is also a business, and medical
laboratory scientists need to understand various aspects of
human resource management, sound fiscal policy, safety protocols
and quality assurance.
Every organization needs leaders who can effectively manage
human, physical and monetary resources and can create an
environment in which top quality science can be practiced in a
fiscally responsible way. Regulation of health care is
continuous at all levels. Changes in the way health care is
being delivered and the ways in which services are determined as
medically necessary and eligible for insurance reimbursement
must be monitored by vigilant lab managers everywhere. In
addition, as technology expands, lab managers must become expert
in computer technology which not only increases laboratory
efficiency but which also provides real-time links with many
institutional departments and with health care providers in the
community. The Electronic Medical Record is a now a national
goal, and in the near future patient records will be accessible
anytime, anywhere by computer. Therefore, the curriculum
continually provides students with education in many of the
relevant issues in clinical laboratory management.
 Scientific laboratories are filled with amazing things to see
and do - microorganisms to grow, DNA to analyze, drugs to
measure, blood to type, etc. However, it is essential that
medical lab scientists know how to handle viruses without
becoming infected, chemicals without becoming sick, radiation
without becoming exposed, and so on. An essential component of
the curriculum, therefore, is safety and quality laboratory
protocols. Students in Salisbury's program learn how to perform
laboratory testing with high quality and accuracy, but they also
can manage a laboratory such that hazards are minimized and
emergency response is appropriate. As a result Salisbury
graduates are well able to develop the essential work practices
needed for skillful but safe laboratory work.
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