Volume 38 Number 2 | April 2024
Alexandra Adams, MLS(ASCP), ASCLS Today Volunteer Contributor
When I was a kid, I wanted to be a doctor because I loved my science classes and thought the only career available was through medical school. I was wrong and had a family member introduce me to the laboratory. I decided to spend my high school senior year English project shadowing her. I still remember the first time I stepped foot in a laboratory. I was a bit overwhelmed but intrigued at all the beeping, the colored tubes, large expensive instruments, and those weird squishy blood bags. I knew from that moment the laboratory was meant for me.
I was lucky enough to have someone close to me in the lab, but most of my colleagues didn’t have that same early exposure. I believe if more students were aware that a career in the laboratory existed, we could grow our workforce. This raises the question: How do we influence students to pursue a career as a medical laboratory scientist? There are a few ways we could.
The first is going to high schools in surrounding areas and speaking to juniors and seniors and explaining what the lab is. You could also print flyers about the program and hand them out at local college orientations or give them to various clubs on campus. Finally, and potentially the furthest reaching is to connect through social media. With Instagram having around two billion monthly active users and Tik Tok amassing 1.8 billion monthly users, it is safe to say social media plays a huge role in young adults’ lives.
“Next time you have some free time at work, think about filming a short video about the different cells you might see in an acute myeloid leukemia patient or how to perform a sickle cell screen.”
Being able to share medical laboratory sciences through social media is a new tool we should use to our advantage. We can use apps like Instagram to share photos of interesting cells we find in hematology, or share an antibody panel for our followers to practice with. Instagram rolled out a feature called reels, which emphasizes short videos of up to 90 seconds used to collaborate with your community. This is a perfect opportunity for us to share what a day in our life might look like. We can share clips of how-to gram stain, what E. coli looks like when plated on different agars, or even what SpongeBob SquarePants meme your coworkers would be. Most students don’t pursue the laboratory because they have no idea what happens in the lab. What a great way to showcase our knowledge and skill than sharing informational and fun videos about the lab.
Making content while in the lab is as easy as snapping a quick photo under a microscope, but if done wrong, the consequences can be monumental. Posting on social media, while fun and a great way to share information about our field, should be handled with care and always with patient safety in mind. As we all know, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) prevents us from sharing protected health information which could include medical record numbers, specimen IDs, and most notably patient results. Posting while in the laboratory on social media walks a grey line. There are laws, like HIPAA, which blatantly protect health information from being posted, while most hospital systems don’t have a specific policy about posting social media content while at work. This blurred line can lead to photos and videos that could potentially result in legal trouble or even a suspended license. Sharing medical laboratory sciences to younger generations must include posting on social media leading to policies in place to monitor this.
Using social media to connect with a younger generation can seem overwhelming and too hard at times, but by using these platforms we can grow our profession. Whether Instagram, Tik Tok, or one of the many other social sites, no matter what you use you will be making a difference. If we all consult with our peers and create a social media policy, we can better structure using social media in the lab. Next time you have some free time at work, think about filming a short video about the different cells you might see in an acute myeloid leukemia patient or how to perform a sickle cell screen. Sharing this content can expose younger students to the lab as early as possible and help steer them towards the path to becoming a medical laboratory scientist.
Alexandra Adams is a Medical Laboratory Scientist II at Orlando Health in Orlando, Florida.