ARUP & UofU’s Medical Laboratory Sciences open training center

The University of Utah’s Division of Medical Laboratory Sciences (MLS) and ARUP Laboratories, a nonprofit, academic reference laboratory based on the university’s campus, have partnered to open the Practice Clinical Laboratory Training Center (APL). 

This new lab bolsters educational opportunities for MLS students and helps address a critical need for highly trained laboratory professionals nationwide, ARUP said in its announcement.

In 2023, ARUP and the UofU secured $3 million in federal funding to build the training center and equip it with state-of-the-art instrumentation. The collaboration enables students to gain experience in specialized testing in clinical chemistry, hematology, hemostasis, immunohematology, microbiology, immunology and body fluids analysis.

The APL is a small hospital laboratory with the core elements and instruments that any individual working in a hospital lab will use. Students will rotate through it as required curriculum in the MLS program, conduct lab tests and receive instruction in a dedicated classroom. There is also a phlebotomy room and faculty office.

“Medical laboratory scientists and technicians are often called the ‘hidden heroes of health care’ because they work behind the scenes using sophisticated equipment and techniques to provide essential data that inform up to 70 percent of all patient diagnosis and treatment decisions,” read a statement from ARUP. “The United States is facing a shortage of these professionals due to an aging workforce, fewer training programs and increased demand for laboratory services.”

“One of the limitations to growing the [MLS] program at the U was availability of sufficient Biosafety Level 2 laboratory space for students,” said Diana Wilkins, division chief of Medical Laboratory Sciences and C. Scott and Dorothy E. Watkins Endowed Professor of Pathology at the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the UofU. “Collaborating with ARUP gives students the space and experience they need to be successful in the workforce.”

The training center, which is located inside ARUP’s Building 4 at University of Utah Research Park, will enable the university to reach its goal of doubling the number of annual graduates to 80.

“For the past several years, we’ve had a 100 percent employment rate with students having offers of employment before they graduate,” said Wilkins. “Many of them work in clinical laboratories across the Salt Lake Valley.”

“This is a novel way to increase the number of medical laboratory scientists, and eventually, we want to replicate the program in other parts of the country,” said Tracy George, ARUP chief scientific officer and Innovation Business Unit president.

Founded in 1984, ARUP offers more than 3,000 tests and test combinations, ranging from routine screening tests to molecular and genetic assays.