Volume 40 Number 5 | October 2026
Summary
In this commentary, Jesse Day challenges the “pay your dues” mentality that can foster exclusion, self-doubt, and burnout in laboratory workplaces. He argues that professional growth should come through mentorship, support, and shared knowledge rather than unnecessary hardship, emphasizing that creating a culture of belonging strengthens both workforce wellbeing and the future of the profession.
Jesse Day, MHA, MLS(ASCP)CM, CHT(ACHI), ASCLS Director
“Pay your dues.” It is a phrase most of us have heard at some point in our careers. Sometimes it is said directly. More often, it is woven into workplace culture. New employees are expected to struggle, figure things out on their own, and wait their turn before they are trusted or included. Questions are met with, “You’ll learn eventually.”
Opportunities are reserved for those who have “earned” them. Somewhere along the way, paying your dues became less about developing professionally and more about enduring unnecessary hardship.
Clinical laboratories are demanding environments. The work is complex, the stakes are high, and experience matters. No one expects expertise to develop overnight. Experience is earned over time, and confidence comes from repetition. But there is a difference between learning through experience and learning through exclusion. When knowledge is withheld instead of shared, and when mentorship is replaced by gatekeeping, we unintentionally create environments where people begin to question not only what they know, but whether they belong.
“Every laboratorian who takes the time to teach, mentor, and encourage a colleague strengthens not only that individual but the profession itself.”
That is where mental health enters the conversation. Rarely is it one interaction or one difficult day that leaves someone feeling overwhelmed. It is the accumulation of small moments: hesitating to ask a question because you don’t want to appear incapable, second-guessing yourself after every decision, or worrying that one mistake will define how others see you. Over time, confidence gives way to self-doubt, enthusiasm turns into anxiety, and work that once felt meaningful simply becomes exhausting. We often attribute burnout to staffing shortages and increasing workloads, but laboratory culture deserves just as much attention because it shapes how people experience those challenges every day.
Fortunately, culture is something we can change. Every time we choose to teach instead of withhold knowledge, invite someone into a conversation, or answer a question with patience instead of frustration, we reinforce a simple but powerful message: you belong here. Those moments may seem small, but they build psychological safety, strengthen teams, and remind people that they do not have to navigate this profession alone.
Perhaps it is time for our profession to redefine what paying your dues really means.
It should mean committing to the profession, accepting responsibility, learning from mistakes, and continuously growing in knowledge and skill. Just as importantly, it should mean helping the person behind you. Every laboratorian who takes the time to teach, mentor, and encourage a colleague strengthens not only that individual but the profession itself.
The laboratory has never needed gatekeepers. It has always needed mentors.
If we want to improve the mental well-being of our workforce, we must stop confusing unnecessary struggle with professional growth. Our legacy should not be measured by how difficult we made the journey for the next generation. It should be measured by how many people we helped succeed.
Jesse Day is Assistant Professor of Allied Health Sciences at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville Tennessee.