ICYMI: ASCP’s Pathology Clinic Certificate Program Empowers Patients and Pathologists 

ASCP’s new certificate program now offers a step-by-step roadmap for any institution to build patient-facing clinics that deepen understanding, strengthen communication, and transform the role of pathologists. With powerful patient stories, practical guidance, and a vision for more meaningful provider–patient connections, this emerging model is reshaping how pathology supports patient-centric care. Read more. 

ICYMI: Urge Congress to Oppose the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act  

ASCP is urging pathologists and laboratory professionals to contact federal legislators to oppose PERA, which would overturn Supreme Court precedent from the AMP v. Myriad Genetics case that prohibited patents on naturally occurring DNA segments. The legislation would allow patents on all biomarkers, including DNA and their health associations, potentially undermining patient care, monopolizing medical innovations, and stifling competition. Read more.  

• ASCP Recommends its Physician Members Join the AMA 

ASCP, a proud partner of the American Medical Association (AMA), is encouraging its physician members to join the AMA as well. ASCP has a storied history of working in concert with the AMA on issues facing patient care and physician practices. Indeed, ASCP long time member Ed Donoghue, MD, MASCP, was recently honored by the AMA’s Pathology Section Council for his tenure as Vice Chair and his 25 years of service as an ASCP AMA delegate. 

As part of our encouragement to join AMA, ASCP notes that the AMA has just opened registration for its 2026 National Advocacy Conference, which will be held Feb. 23-25 at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C. The event will bring hundreds of physician advocates together for the purpose of enhancing organized medicine’s advocacy voice on critical healthcare issues affecting physicians and patients. You can view highlights from last year’s meeting and see the preliminary agenda for this year’s meeting, here and here, respectively. If you do join AMA, please note your ASCP membership in your AMA application. 

• Updated cervical cancer screening guidelines emphasize self-collection and increased access 

• ASCP advocates for shared decision-making and choice in cervical cancer screening methods 

The U.S. Health Research and Services Administration (HRSA), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, released updated cervical cancer screening guidelines in early January 2026. These updates, developed through the Women’s Preventive Services Initiative, aim to increase screening rates and decrease barriers to access to care. Key updates in HRSA’s screening guidelines include the introduction of self-collection for HPV testing for women at average risk, hrHPV being identified as the “preferred” method (as opposed to U.S. Preventive Services Task Force guidelines listing three equivalent screening options [hrHPV only, cytology only, or co-testing]), and importantly, a requirement that most private health insurance plans cover these updated services—including self-collection and necessary follow-up tests—without patient cost-sharing starting January 1, 2027. Additionally, the guidelines now explicitly include coverage for additional follow-up diagnostic testing (e.g., colposcopy, biopsy, or extended genotyping) required to complete the screening process following an initial abnormal result. For more detailed information, you can view the full HRSA Women's Preventive Services Guidelines or the Federal Register Notice.  

ASCP has long advocated for patient-centric cervical cancer screening guidelines that emphasize shared decision-making and promote broad access. Please see the following link for recent ASCP advocacy efforts in this area.  

• The House of Representatives recently held an important hearing on the RESULTS Act 

• Congressional action needed ASAP to prevent further cuts to laboratory reimbursement 

ASCP is calling on all its members to tell Congress to pass the Reforming and Enhancing Sustainable Updates to Laboratory Testing Services Act, or the RESULTS Act, which is critical to stabilizing reimbursement for laboratory services. 

The House Energy and Commerce Committee just held a hearing on a series of Medicare and healthcare-related bills, including the RESULTS Act. This legislation is critically important to the pathology and laboratory community as it aims to reform Medicare laboratory payment rates. When CMS last revamped the CLFS in 2016, it cut overall laboratory spending by billions of dollars, for more than originally expected by Congress and the Congressional Budget Office. 

As legislative provisions shielding the Medicare CLFS from even more cuts expires on January 30, 2026, ASCP is urging all pathologists, laboratory professionals and their colleagues to contact their federal legislators and urge them to enact this important legislation as soon as possible. You can contact your legislators via the following link for the Stop Lab Cuts grassroots advocacy site, here. 

• Congress has returned to Washington, DC, with the key task of extending federal spending authority past its current January 30 end date 

• Important policy goals for pathology and laboratory medicine include reforming Medicare payment, blocking efforts to undermine patent laws,  

Now back from the holidays, members of Congress have returned to Washington, DC, with a host of issues to contend with. One of the most pressing issues right now is extending federal spending authority. Last November’s budget deal funded the government through January 30, 2026. So far, legislators have been signaling their desire to avoid another government shutdown. In addition, Congress is expected to deal with several key Medicare proposals and legislation intended to address increasing healthcare costs. 

As Congress renews its attention on legislative business, there are several issues of critical importance to pathology and laboratory medicine. First, the Reforming and Enhancing Sustainable Updates to Laboratory Testing Services (RESULTS) Act. This ASCP-endorsed legislation would reform the Medicare Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule and was the subject of a recent congressional hearing. Another concern is the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS), which did not receive a full annual update from Congress last year and has lost significant ground to inflation. ASCP strongly supports providing an annual update for the PFS equal to the full Medical Economic Index (see here), a measure of healthcare inflation. ASCP sees both of these issues as critical to the long-term stability of pathology practices and clinical laboratories as well as their highly skilled workforces. Another issue before Congress is the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act (see here), to which ASCP is strongly opposed. The measure would undermine current patent laws prohibiting the patenting of genes and could effectively create monopolies on certain genetic tests—to the detriment of patient care. 

One CLIA-related issue of concern for pathologists and laboratory professionals is the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently updated memorandum of the remote review of digital cytology images. ASCP is concerned that the agency’s new policy (see here) will interfere with quality patient care and could impact the adoption of digital pathology. ASCP will be urging the agency to reverse its position.  

Another priority issue for ASCP is workforce development. Several congressional initiatives last year sought to roll back the federal government’s role in developing the healthcare workforce, by cutting funding for the Health Resources and Services Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which together manage most federal healthcare workforce development programs. The initiative most likely to garner congressional support is the ASCP-supported Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act (see here), which would add 14,000 Medicare GME positions over seven years. In addition, the Medical Laboratory Personnel Shortage Relief Act (see here) aims to address the supply of qualified medical laboratory scientists and medical laboratory technicians through loan repayment and grants to assist allied health school grants. A strong supporter of workforce legislation, ASCP will be working with other like-minded medical societies to seek Congress’s support of these initiatives this year. 

ASCP will be working throughout the year to advocate for policies supporting quality patient care and our members. 

ASCP urged USCIS not to move forward with a proposed salary-weighted H-1B visa selection system, warning it would disadvantage early-career pathologists and laboratory professionals. Prioritizing higher salaries would worsen existing workforce shortages and undermine Congress’s intent for the H-1B program to support high-skill fields facing labor gaps. ASCP emphasized that the proposal could ultimately harm patient care by limiting the ability of qualified professionals to work in the United States. Read more.  

Data-Driven Strategies to Build, Sustain, and Advance the Laboratory Workforce 

A new report from ASCP reveals that Medical and Public Health Laboratory Workforce Coalition members have made substantial progress on workforce development recommendations from the 2021 "Blueprint for Action," particularly in supporting education programs, clinical training, and increasing career visibility. Moving forward, the Coalition will prioritize federal advocacy, financial support for laboratory education, standardized job nomenclature, and investments in retention and workforce diversity to ensure long-term sustainability of the laboratory medicine profession. Read more.   

Medical Student Engagement Special Session Debuts at ASCP 2025    

ASCP's 2025 Annual Meeting featured a new session called "Pathologists and Patients: A Career Exploration for Medical Students," led by Dr. Vihar Patel. The two-day session combined real-world patient perspectives from four Patient Champions with pathologist-led case studies that demonstrated the diagnostic process and interdisciplinary collaboration. This initiative reflects ASCP's commitment to strengthening the pathology workforce by increasing recognition of patient participation in diagnosis and treatment while deepening understanding of pathology's impact on patient care. Read more.  

Urge Congress to Oppose the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act 

ASCP is urging pathologists and laboratory professionals to contact federal legislators to oppose PERA, which would overturn Supreme Court precedent from the AMP v. Myriad Genetics case that prohibited patents on naturally occurring DNA segments. The legislation would allow patents on all biomarkers, including DNA and their health associations, potentially undermining patient care, monopolizing medical innovations, and stifling competition. Read more.  

The ASCP and ASCP Board of Certification offices will be closed for the holidays Dec. 22, 2025, through Jan. 2, 2026. However, you can still reach ASCP Customer Relations by calling 1.800.267.2727 Dec. 29 and Dec. 30, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CT. Purchasing transactions can be conducted via our online store during the closure. 

Click here to learn more about ASCP BOC services available during the closure.  

Thank you for your continued support of ASCP and for keeping the Society and the pathology and laboratory medicine fields STRONGERTOGETHER. We wish you and your family a joyous holiday season filled with health, happiness, and peace. 

ASCP has launched an Internship Academy designed to expand young people’s awareness about careers in the clinical laboratory. It enhances the Society’s already significant offerings to cultivate a new generation of laboratory professionals.   

The ASCP Internship Academy will serve as a comprehensive resource for the ASCP community to encourage, educate, and facilitate laboratory professionals to develop and maintain a STEM-based internship program to expose students to careers in the clinical laboratory industry.   

The Internship Academy program is available for purchase in the ASCP Store and provides video teaching sessions on everything from how to start an internship program and how to calculate your own laboratory staff vacancy rate, to how to convince hospital executives to allow the laboratory department to use unspent personnel funds to establish the internship program.     

“The program takes the heavy lifting out of establishing an internship academy on your own,” explains John Baci, MBA, director of the Internship Academy, who played a key role in developing the ASCP program. Mr. Baci is the senior director of the Pathology Foundation Financial Operations and Strategic Planning and chief operating officer of Children’s Hospital Pathology Foundation, Inc., part of Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH), in Boston, MA.  

The Internship Academy is directed toward high school juniors and seniors, students in STEM programs, as well as college students. The inspiration for the academy came, in part, from the career internship program Mr. Baci established in 2010 at Boston Children’s Hospital.   

The impetus for the Boston Children’s internship program came from Mr. Baci’s frustration about the lack of employers in his rural community (a nearly 40-mile commute from Boston) to offer high school students, including his own children, internship or job opportunities. That contrasted with the plethora of opportunities available to students at the many healthcare institutions in Boston.   

One day, he called his daughter’s high school science teacher and asked if he could visit a classroom and talk about careers in the laboratory. The teacher responded enthusiastically. Two weeks later, Mr. Baci arrived at the school to talk about anatomic pathology, autopsies, specimens, and other topics. Students from the entire science division showed up for his presentation in the school auditorium.   

“I was surprised at how engaged the students and teachers were,” he recalls.  

From there, his outreach efforts in his community took off, as did the internship program he created at Boston Children’s Hospital. One person he mentored was Erika Figueroa, a high school friend of his daughter.  

“One time, I was at their house, and he asked me what I was interested in for a career,” she says. “I was a biology major in college, but I did not have a direction. I mentioned something about working in a medical examiner’s office. He told me about his laboratory and the job opportunities there and asked if I wanted to work as an intern in his department that summer.”    

For a month, she shadowed a variety of laboratory staff at Boston Children’s. She was most intrigued by the intricate work of a pathologists’ assistant. That prompted her to change her career focus to train as a pathologists’ assistant. Ms. Figueroa is currently certified as a pathologists’ assistant and works at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. 

“I think of my profession as the middleman between the surgeon and the clinician. With each specimen, I am reminded that it represents a patient,” she says.  

Several years ago, ASCP staff learned about Mr. Baci’s outreach activities and invited him to help with the Society’s recruitment initiatives. Through that invitation Mr. Baci has now become acquainted with other ASCP colleagues involved in workforce development initiatives.   

Mr. Baci also expressed much gratitude to Boston Children’s Hospital Pathology Executive Director Latisha Rider, who has been instrumental in not only providing support to their program but also for modernizing interns’ laboratory experience to include state-of-the-art laboratory operations. Mr. Baci also shared that over the years many BCH administrative and technical staff have served as outstanding mentors to the internship program.    

“ASCP has been delightful to work with, as we create a program that is sustainable and will help us to grow the next generation of laboratory professionals,” he says.    

Learn more about the ASCP Leadership Academy here.  

Almost 10 years ago, Lija Joseph, MD, FASCP, FACP, chief of pathology at Lowell General Hospital in Lowell, MA, read a news story about a lung cancer patient who wanted to see what her cancer looked like under a microscope but didn’t know where to go. Joseph says this patient, who lived in Lowell, turned to social media for recommendations and drove 20 miles away to Newton, MA, to meet with a pathologist. 

“When I read this story, I said, ‘I'm here, patient is here! If the patient needs access to their pathology report or they want to just discuss what pathology is about, they should just come to Lowell. We should provide the care in the community,” Dr. Joseph says. 

Reading about that patient’s journey prompted Dr. Joseph to conceptualize the pathology clinic program in her own organization—a place where patients can come sit at a microscope, visualize their disease, and ask an expert the questions that help them feel more in control of their situation. In 2017, the clinic Dr. Joseph helped launch saw its first patient, and she has seen, firsthand, the powerful role pathologists can play in the treatment of a serious illness. 

“For example, some patients want to take a photograph of the biopsy that they can keep next to their medication. When they take their medication, they imagine the tumor melting away. There are many reasons why they come, but the consistent story from every single one of them is that knowledge is power,” Dr. Joseph says. 

A roadmap for pathology clinic expansion 
Now, Dr. Joseph is helping other organizations launch clinics like hers through her work on ASCP’s on-demand, seven-module certificate program that teaches others how to establish and integrate patient-facing clinics. This program, Pathology Clinics: Design, Delivery & Impact, which launched in 2025, provides practical guidance, case examples, and patient testimonials to demonstrate how pathology clinics enhance communication, improve outcomes, and give patients a better understanding of their diagnoses. Participants earn 11 CME credits and a certificate of completion while learning a complete step-by-step process for implementing pathology clinics at their own institutions.  

Dr. Joseph recognizes the prospect of opening a pathology clinic can be daunting, but ASCP’s certificate program provides a roadmap for every step of opening a clinic, from how to greet patients when they walk into a clinic, how to pitch the concept to the C-suite, which CPT and E&M codes to use for billing, and how to have difficult—often emotional—conversations with patients. 

Pathology clinics fulfill clinical, professional, and emotional needs 
While these clinics are undeniably beneficial to the patients they serve, they also help elevate the pathology profession. Dr. Joseph says while pathologists have done “curbside” consultations with patients and family members for years, their work isn’t always visible. What’s more, establishing clinics enables pathologists to engage with patients in meaningful ways. According to Dr. Joseph, research has found that 85 percent of pathologists want more interaction with patients. She’s found that spending time with patients in the clinic setting has an enormous professional and emotional impact on the pathologists she works with. In her practice, 95 percent of a pathologists’ time is spent on typical tasks, while 5 percent of their time is spent consulting with patients who’ve made clinic appointments. 

“But it's a 5 percent of quality time that we wouldn't trade for anything else,” Dr. Joseph says “It helps us find meaning in the work that we do. We directly encounter the people that we are touching every day, and it really prevents burnout.” 

For Jonathan Genzen, MD, PhD, MBA, FASCP, chief medical officer and senior director of government affairs at ARUP Laboratories, the completion of a new Advanced Practice Clinical Laboratory Training Center (APL) with the University of Utah’s Division of Medical Laboratory Sciences was a full-circle career moment. 
 
Dr. Genzen, an ASCP board member, says the project brought together his interest in education, as a faculty member at the University of Utah, his role as a medical director, and his passion for regulatory affairs. The first-of-its-kind advanced practice lab (APL) was built using $3 million in federal funding that was included in the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Division of the Consolidated Appropriations Act approved by Congress and signed by President Biden in 2022 with the help of Chris Stewart, a former Utah U.S. Representative. It officially opened on September 30, 2025. 

Dr. Genzen’s clinical, academic, and business background gave him an appreciation for the massive effort required to design, build, staff, and fund such an important project. Beyond the federal funds, the Department of Pathology’s Medical Laboratory Sciences Division provides support for faculty and staff to develop and implement curricula and to provide instruction and assessment. The program has also secured a grant for a laboratory information system to be used in the training center, according to an ARUP Laboratories press release. 

“I don't think most programs have thought about this potential approach for funding. It's a little bit atypical,” says Dr. Genzen, of the process of securing funds appropriated by Congress to build a training facility of this scale. “This seemed like a really novel approach, but it was a long shot. There was absolutely no guarantee we would be successful, but we were pleasantly surprised. People understood at each step along the way what we were trying to do and why we thought it would have a positive impact for our community.” 
 
A model for bridging education and practice 
Dr. Genzen believes the new APL could serve as a potential model for enhancing medical laboratory science (MLS) training across the country. The training center, which sits on the ARUP campus at University of Utah Research Park in Salt Lake City, is essentially a mock hospital lab that has the same set up, equipment, and instrumentation that you would expect to see in a hospital setting.  

Typically, MLS trainee rotations are integrated into the workflow of an operational clinical lab that’s doing patient testing, which can be challenging because staff are already managing clinical work while also trying to contribute to the student educational experience. 

“There are certainly smaller simulated labs in existing training programs, but this is pretty unique in its scale and instrumentation dedicated for educational purposes,” Dr. Genzen says. 

He’s hopeful that the creation of this training facility will help contribute to addressing the longstanding MLS shortage that Utah and the rest of the country are facing. ARUP and university officials say the training center will enable the University of Utah to double the annual number of graduates to 80. 

The opportunity to play a role in addressing the MLS shortage and supporting the University of Utah as an attractive place for MLS students to train is exciting for Dr. Genzen. Pathology and laboratory sciences are under-recognized fields, but they’re incredibly important and rewarding. 

“If you work in a clinical laboratory, the work you do is providing absolutely critical and essential information for patients, often at a very important time in their healthcare journey,” says Dr. Genzen. “A patient sees their doctor, they see their nurse. They typically don't see laboratory scientists working in the lab, and that's why we're trying to enhance recognition of this important profession.” 

For program director and ASCP board member Cheryl Germain, MHS, MASCP, PA(ASCP)^CM, it’s hard to top the sight of her students at their white coat ceremonies. 

“It’s my favorite event because I can see a visible change in their posture when we put that white coat on them,” Ms. Germain says. “They hold themselves differently, they speak differently. And then in the second year when they come back for their monthly exam when they are in clinical rotations, they have a totally different outlook. They're turning into real professionals. They speak the language of pathology and medicine without realizing it.” 

Although she’s focused on education now, Ms. Germain has worn many hats as a pathologists’ assistant (PA) including working in clinical labs, training residents and PA students, launching new PA programs and curriculums, and mentoring students. She is grateful to be working as an educator because she gets to watch students grow through the program, become confident as professionals and successful in their fields. 
 
Ms. Germain has developed and directed three pathologists’ assistant (PA) programs, including the West Virginia University School of Medicine, the Loma Linda University School of Medicine, and the new University of Jamestown-Phoenix programs and has been involved with accreditation activities with NAACLS, the accrediting agency for clinical laboratory science educational programs.  

Guiding the next generation of diagnostic innovators 
At the new University of Jamestown Health Sciences and Graduate Center in Phoenix, where Ms. Germain works currently, multiple niche programs will be opening.  

“Creating new programs brings new workers into the profession,” she says. “There are great opportunities for people in the lab sciences—steady jobs and good income. Recruiting needs to occur at the high school and undergraduate levels, but that takes time and is difficult with a shortage of staff.” 

Ms. Germain finds opening these new programs to be rewarding but acknowledges challenges. Due to lab staffing shortages, it can be hard to find labs willing to take on students for clinical rotations.  

“I can’t tell you how many pathologists I've worked with only reluctantly took on students but now won’t work without them. Hosting students for clinical rotations increases a lab’s pool of potential employees and helps evaluate if a student is a good culture fit and a good work ethic,” Ms. Germain says.  

Ms. Germain is excited about the future laboratory science students have before them.  She says programs and program directors need to keep up with the coming changes and trends, but opportunities for innovation are numerous. She thinks corporate sponsorship as a means of funding may become necessary, and this can help create a pool of well-educated laboratory employees for industry partners.   

Developments in molecular diagnostics, liquid biopsies, cancer biomarkers, pharmacogenetic treatments, and advances in surgery and radiology give pathology professionals an opportunity to be involved with improved diagnosis at earlier stages. With earlier diagnosis comes more effective, less toxic treatments, according to Ms. Germain. Graduates of laboratory science programs will be instrumental in advancing these new diagnostics, and Ms. Germain is hopeful about the difference their efforts will make. 

“Students inspire me constantly,” Ms. Germain says. “They're curious. They want to grow and learn. They want to be good at their jobs, and their trust in me certainly drives me to be better myself. I'm certainly excited about and hopeful for the future.” 

In early November ASCP Director of the Center for Global Health Kenneth Landgraf, MS, traveled to Hammamet, Tunisia, to speak at the 2025 conference of the African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC), a biannual meeting that brings together leaders from across the cancer care continuum. 

ASCP sponsored a session this year focused on pathology to help bring attention to the critical need for improved diagnostic systems in Africa. 

“One takeaway from just about every session I attended is that diagnostic access is a key barrier to improved health outcomes. Regardless of the topic, diagnostics just kept coming up as a critical missing piece that we need to strengthen. Another theme was the importance of implementation research in oncology,” Mr. Landgraf says. 

Like many parts of the world, many African countries are facing a severe shortage of pathologists. This has devastating downstream impacts on treatment and survival rates. According to Mr. Landgraf, the U.S. and UK, for example, have one pathologist per 20,000 people. But many low- and middle-income countries (including countries in Africa) have as few as one pathologist per million people. In addition to fewer pathologists, there are also fewer training programs and hardly any subspecialty training.  

This shortage is emerging as cancer is on the rise across Africa. As people live longer, cancer rates are projected to more than double over the next 15 years. Disparities in diagnosis rates and treatment also lead to poor health outcomes. According to Mr. Landgraf, the five-year survival rate for breast cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa is 40 percent, compared to high-income countries like the U.S. where the five-year survival rate is over 90 percent. 

Scaling AI and telepathology to improve diagnosis 
Across the African continent, pathology services in public healthcare systems remain chronically underfunded; however, the practice is evolving rapidly as laboratories and academic centers embrace digital technologies to strengthen diagnostic capacity.  

In his presentation at AORTIC, “Transforming Diagnostics: Digital Pathology and AI Partnerships in Africa,” which Mr. Landgraf co-presented with Dr. Shaheen Sayed, from Aga Khan University in Kenya and Dr. Alex Mremi, from Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center in Tanzania, he shared lessons learned from establishing and scaling ASCP’s telepathology network across Africa. 

In 2015, ASCP launched the Partners for Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Initiative, a program conceived to expand access to cancer diagnostics in low and lower-middle income countries (LMICs). ASCP has worked with laboratories in 28 countries, conducting site assessments, hands-on training for laboratory staff, and virtual training and mentorship programs. Where feasible, ASCP also deployed telepathology platforms (i.e. whole slide imaging systems) to facilitate remote consultation by ASCP member volunteers. 

Now, building upon the digital pathology infrastructure they built, ASCP is working with Massachusetts General Hospital and collaborators across Africa to create a diverse and representative data set of breast cancer cases across eight or nine countries. This dataset will be used to train a deep learning model to accurately predict patient response to ER and HER2-directed therapies based on a standard hematoxylin and eosin slide. The team hypothesizes that the diversity within their training data set will contribute to an algorithm that generalizes better for patients of African descent. 

Mr. Landgraf is optimistic about the potential digital pathology and AI hold to improve diagnosis and treatment in the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa and other LMICs. 

“Studies have shown how different AI tools can decrease the amount of time it takes for a pathologist to review a case. However, an algorithm is only as equitable as the data it learns from. Without diverse, representative datasets, AI in pathology will work best for the patients who already have the most access—and that’s exactly what we are trying to change.” Mr. Landgraf says. 

For almost 40 years, the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) has used its annual vacancy survey to assess the scope and distribution of workforce shortages in medical laboratories across the United States. The 2024 survey painted a somewhat familiar picture: stubborn staffing shortages, long hiring timelines, and a supply of new professionals that still falls short of demand. But this year’s survey also covered new ground. For the first time, it asked laboratories how artificial intelligence (AI) tools are showing up in their workplaces and what that might mean for staffing. 

AI can complement, not replace laboratory professionals 
ASCP Senior Director of Scientific Engagement and Research, Edna Garcia, MPH, says it was important for ASCP to get a read on the emergence of AI in laboratories currently. “We thought it was especially important to look into the current implementation of AI, plans for implementing AI, challenges implementing AI, attitudes towards AI,” says Ms. Garcia. “Finally, AI is relevant to the vacancy report because it affects staffing recruitment and retention.” 

Only 17.4% of respondents reported using AI in their laboratories, with most adoption clustered in LIS and QA/PI workflows and anatomic pathology. For labs that have explored AI, the most common hurdles were adaptation and training. Respondents cited limited IT resources, lengthy validation timelines, and resistance to change. Despite these challenges, very few labs viewed job loss as a major concern. 

In fact, most laboratories said they had not seen any staffing changes tied to AI. Among the those that had, the most common shifts involved training existing staff and hiring people with some familiarity with AI tools. Even then, nearly three-quarters said they did not expect AI adoption to change qualification requirements for future hires. 

 “There is this perception that AI is going to take away jobs from people,” Ms. Garcia says. “But we’ve been using AI even before the topic became prominent in other industries. I think there will be a greater need for lab professionals who understand AI. But that does not mean the need for laboratory professionals will decrease.” 

Vacancy rates and slow hiring persist 
Core workforce findings remained urgent in 2024. Vacancy rates appear lower than in 2022; Ms. Garcia warned against viewing this as an improvement. “During the pandemic, vacancy rates became higher because of early retirement and people leaving or changing careers. If you look at the vacancy rates from 2018, which is before the pandemic, you can see that the 2024 data is still higher.”  

The gap between supply and demand is clear. More than 24,000 positions are projected to open each year, yet training programs graduate only about 8,800 students, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics 

Respondents noted hiring timelines lag. Many departments need three months to a year to fill staff positions, and even longer to fill supervisory roles. Respondents repeatedly pointed to salary limits, too few training programs, and weak retention pipelines as barriers. 

For Denver Health School of Medical Laboratory Science students, a $2,000 grant from ASCP will help ensure that their training environment more accurately mimics the experience of professional laboratories they’ll encounter when they graduate.  

Bailey Hicks, MEd, MLS(ASCP)^CM, program director for the Schools of Medical Laboratory Science and Phlebotomy, who stepped into her role nearly a year ago, inherited both the programs and the grant application from her predecessor.  

Prior to obtaining the grant, her lab was relying on two 12+ year-old residential-grade refrigerators that fluctuated in temperature throughout the day. According to Ms. Hicks, that problem was more than an inconvenience. It directly affected the quality of the lab’s reagents and specimens. 

“With residential fridges, you get normal temperature swings as they cycle,” Ms. Hicks says. “When refrigerators fluctuate in temperature, reagents and specimens that are sensitive can degrade, leading to inconsistent or unexplainable lab results. This makes it difficult for us to know whether errors are due to student technique or simply improper storage conditions.” 

That uncertainty made it harder for instructors to teach and harder for students to learn. In some cases, it even risked the integrity of expensive reagents, stock organisms, and preserved specimens used in the program’s student labs.  
 
“Any day one of those old fridges could have gone down. If that happened overnight, we could have lost a lot of money,” Ms. Hicks says. 

The commercial refrigerator Denver Health purchased with ASCP’s support cost about $4,500, so the program contributed additional funds to complete the purchase. The new unit is taller than a standard residential refrigerator, holds more supplies, and keeps a steady, precise temperature throughout the day. That stability will help instructors pinpoint true technique errors and help students build confidence before entering clinical rotations. 

“We’re hopeful we’ll see a lot less variability in results,” Ms. Hicks says. “It gives students a more realistic and controlled experience that mirrors what they’ll see in an actual clinical laboratory.” 

For Ms. Hicks, the upgrade provides peace of mind on both the scientific and operational sides of the program. “This really helps us maintain the level of quality we expect from our students. Getting this grant from ASCP has given us the opportunity to enhance what we’re doing and better prepare students before they step foot in the clinical lab.”