Launching a Medical Laboratory Science (MLS) program is an enormous undertaking. A recent grant from ASCP offered a huge boost to the new MLS program at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, enabling it to buy laboratory equipment for classrooms.
“The impact of this ASCP grant is huge,” says John Bennett, PhD, JD, CHPS, academic director of UW-Parkside’s MLS program. “We are so grateful that this Medical Laboratory Science Program Directors grant was available. We were able to buy the equipment we needed for our blood banking laboratory, including centrifuges, antibodies, and agglutination viewers.”
ASCP’s Medical Laboratory Science Program Directors grant is one example of how ASCP is investing in its members and in the future of the medical laboratory workforce. Over the past three years, ASCP has been able to provide more than $2 million in grants and scholarships that are awarded to members and program directors.
Other ASCP financial awards include:
• ASCP Leadership Institute Scholarship
• Annual Meeting Travel Grants
• Garza & Becan-McBride Endowed Phlebotomy Student Scholarships
• ASCP Foundation Laboratory Student Scholarships
• Resident Subspecialty Grants
“The field of medical laboratory sciences is resource intensive, and I would encourage any MLS program to apply for medical laboratory science program directors grant,” Dr. Bennett says.
The University of Wisconsin-Parkside MLS program addresses the needs of southeastern Wisconsin, where hospitals have had a hard time recruiting laboratory professionals in recent years. That personnel shortage led to a discussion among area hospital administrators about starting an MLS program based at the UW-Parkside campus. Most of its MLS students are from nearby Racine and Kenosha, and plan to remain in the area after graduating, according to Dr. Bennett. He noted that MLS professionals are in such demand in the region that all of Parkside’s MLS graduates receive job offers by February of the year they graduate.
“Our MLS programs fills a niche,” he says, adding, “We have a great success story because every one of our students gets hired!”
Learn about the many grants and scholarships that ASCP offers to support the future of pathology and the medical laboratory profession. ASCP is currently accepting applications for this year’s grant cycle. The deadline to submit applications is May 1, 2023. Click
here to learn more or to apply.
