Laboratory professionals with four years of higher education do earn comparable compensation when compared to other professions requiring a four-year degree

Never say that readers of Dark Daily are not ready to express opinions and speak out! On Monday, we published an e-briefing that reported on the inclusion of “Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians” on a list of the “Most-Educated and Least-Paid Professions” that was compiled by a reporter at 24/7 Wall St.

Essentially, using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment Statistics Database, this reporter had ranked “Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians” as number three of seven professions which were most-educated and least paid. (See Dark Daily, Bad News for Clinical Pathology Laboratories: Med Techs Rank Number 3 on List of Most-Educated and Least-Paid Professions,” December 19, 2011.)

Clinical Laboratory Professionals Notified 24/7 Wall Street

Within hours of the publication of this Dark Daily e-briefing, 24/7 Wall Street had heard directly from a number of you. Among those who contacted 24/7 Wall Street was Marcia Armstrong, who is a Past President of the American Society of Clinical Laboratory Science.

In response to this feedback from clinical laboratory professionals, 24/7 Wall Street removed “Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians” from the archived copy of the story and published the following correction:

Correction: A previous version of this article included Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians in error. Only 28% of Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians jobs require a bachelor’s degree or more. Unlike Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians, 71% of Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologist jobs require at least a bachelor’s degree and have a median salary of $56,130.

In response to the inclusion of “Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians” on a list of seven “Most-Educated and Least-Paid Profession” published on November 15 by 24/7 Wall Street, the President of the American Society of Clinical Laboratory Sciences sent a letter to point out that it is not appropriate to lump together the compensation packages of medical laboratory technicians (MLT)—with a two-year associate degree—with the compensation packages of medical technologists (MT) and clinical laboratory scientists (CLS), who have a four-year bachelor’s degree.

We have asked the American Society of Clinical Laboratory Science for permission to reproduce Marcia Armstrong’s letter to 24/7 Wall Street. It is reproduced here:

Dear Mr. McIntyre,

I am writing to you in order to correct errors in the article about “The Seven Jobs That Require the Most Education, but Pay the Least” by Michael B. Sauter posted on November 15, 2011. I am commenting on the section concerning Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians. It is important to understand that there are different levels of laboratory testing personnel in the medical laboratory that require different levels of education. The article in 24/7 Wall Street cites the BLS statistics for the technician level, which requires an associate degree and not a bachelor’s degree.

3. Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians

• Median income: $36,280
• Bottom-tier income: $24,210
• Number employed: 156,480
• Pct. with at least bachelor’s degree: 71% ????
• Projected change in jobs (2008 – 2018): +12%

The bachelor’s degree personnel statistics are very different – see the link below:

http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes292011.htm

Percentile  10%  Annual Wage $38,810Percentile  25%  Annual Wage $47,130
Percentile  50% (Median) Annual Wage $56,130
Percentile  75%  Annual Wage $66,370
Percentile  90%  Annual Wage $76,780

Mr. Sauter has confused the two levels of personnel in the description below:

“According to the BLS, ‘laboratory testing plays a crucial role in the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of disease… medical technicians or medical laboratory technicians, perform most of these tests.’ Because of increased use of computers in lab analysis, technicians are required to be proficient in digital analysis rather than hands-on testing. Most technologists need to have at least a bachelor’s degree in a medical field, with 11% having a master’s degree. The median income for these positions is just $36,280, and the lowest tier makes less than $25,000 each year.”

In addition to the confusion of the BLS statistics between the two levels of testing personnel, there is misinformation in the description “Because of increased use of computers in lab analysis, technicians are required to be proficient in digital analysis rather than hands-on testing” is very different from the BLS statement below:

With increasing automation and the use of computer technology, the work of technologists and technicians has become less hands-on and more analytical. The complexity of tests performed, the level of judgment needed, and the amount of responsibility workers assume depend largely on the amount of education and experience they have. Clinical laboratory technologists usually do more complex tasks than clinical laboratory technicians do.

Also, according to the BLS, “Employment of clinical laboratory workers is expected to grow by 14 percent between 2008 and 2018.”

While everyone in the profession would love to see higher salaries being paid to highly educated and skilled medical technicians and technologists, this article misrepresents the profession in ways that can only do more harm than good. The medical laboratory profession is essential to the health and well being of everyone, and disparaging article only work to discourage more people from entering the field.

I respectfully request that you correct this article to assure that it is accurate in data and description, and I will be happy to assist you in the endeavor.

Sincerely,

Marcia A. Armstrong, MS, CLS

Past President – American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science

It is a positive development that the executives at 24/7 Wall Street were willing to respond quickly to correct the story that was published under the title of “The Seven Jobs That Require the Most Education, but Pay the Least.” However, it is likely that other Internet sites picked up this story and put this content on their own website. Thus, that original, uncorrected story is likely to be found somewhere on the Internet for some time into the future. This shows one of characteristics of the Internet which is less than desirable.

At Dark Daily, we have corrected and updated our archive copy of our e-briefing on the “most-educated, least-paid” story published by 24/7 Wall Street. That way, visitors brought to our web page by different Internet search engines will see the correction. They can also read how the original 24/7 Wall Street story had described the profession described as “Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians.”

Internet is Dynamic and Changes in Real Time

All of this is in keeping with one attribute of the Internet: it is dynamic. It changes in real time. Consequently, almost any story you read on the Internet can be updated minute-by-minute as events unfold or new details become available.

As a final note, this story also demonstrates the new power that the Internet gives readers. Our Dark Daily e-briefings go out regularly to more than 16,000 recipients in as many as 186 different nations. That alone is a remarkable fact. But you can rest assured that, if any facts within an e-briefing are inaccurate, at least one eagle-eyed reader will spot them and bring those inaccuracies to our attention. We enjoy this feedback and, for those children who came of age in the 1960s (present party included), maybe the Internet has helped make the old rallying cry of “power to the people” more a reality than it was in the past!

Your Dark Daily Editor,

Robert L. Michel

Send your comments to: rmichel@darkreport.com

Related Information:

Bad News for Clinical Pathology Laboratories: Med Techs Rank Number 3 on List of Most-Educated and Least-Paid Professions

The Seven Jobs That Require the Most Education, but Pay the Least