Pathology Act expected to spur demand for qualified MLT personnel. Learn more through the Frequently Asked Questions on Medical Lab Technology and the Pathology Act 2007

Pathology Act to increase demand for MLTs
Nilai UC's head of Medical Laboratory Technology, Samsudin Bahari Bin Abd Rani, answers some pertinent questions regarding the course as well as the implications of the recently passed Pathology Act.

Nilai International University College (Nilai UC) is a leading private education provider and among its many and varied programmes is the Diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology (MLT). Being at the forefront of this line means Nilai UC is particularly keen to educate the public on the importance of MLT and how the recently passed Pathology Act 2007 will impact on the industry. It has thus taken a proactive stance by jointly organising a Conference in Regulatory Issues in Laboratory Medicine to be held on 16 Jan 2008 at the Petaling Jaya Hilton. The Conference will feature a number of key speakers including Prof Looi Lai Meng who led the drafting of the Pathology Act.

In the meantime, Samsudin Bahari Bin Abd Rani, NUC's head of the MLT department takes the time to answer the many frequently asked questions relating to the profession and what impact the Pathology Act will have on the booming healthcare industry.

Kindly explain what is the purpose of the recently passed Pathology Act 2007 (the Act hereafter).
The main purpose of this Act is to protect the public as well as the profession. With regards to the former, the Act seeks to ensure the public gets reliable and quality-assured lab testing to enable the medical practitioner to make a correct diagnosis. The Act also prohibits the advertising of pathology labs so as not to mislead the public on the class and speciality of the pathology lab. With regards to the latter, it will ensure only qualified persons such as MLTs or scientific officers are employed to conduct tests.

Was there an urgent need for this Act to be passed?
Yes, it was very necessary to have greater control on the pathology lab services in the country and to make sure that only qualified medical practitioners are given the licence or approval to supervise medical lab testing facilities.

If so, why did it take so long for Parliament to pass an Act to regulate medical lab services?
The Act involves many aspects of pathology practice. Detailed studies had to be conducted and discussions held with all stakeholders before it could be adopted.

Briefly explain what impact the Act will have on MLT personnel.
The implementation of the Act will help safeguard the professionalism of the trained medical personnel that include MLT workers. Only properly trained personnel will be allowed to conduct diagnostic tests.

Is there a great demand for such personnel in today's job market?
Definitely. The Act ensures that only qualified laboratory technicians will be employed to conduct tests. Pathologists or scientists in turn will supervise them. Under the Act, annual quality control will be done and all labs will require accreditation certificates from the Standard Accreditation Board of the Ministry of Science and Technology. Such scrutiny will eliminate unqualified workers and thus increase the demand for qualified MLT personnel.

Highlight some examples of practices that will no longer be allowed under the Act.
The Act will spell the end of what I term 'supermarket doctors'. The days of the ad hoc stall manned by unqualified staff conducting tests on blood pressure and blood sugar levels will be a thing of the past. Such interpretations of test results are not accurate as they are not done by persons with no medical training and hence a danger to consumers. This is unethical and the Act will put an end to this. Even traditional medical practitioners such as bomohs and sinsehs will not be allowed to request for tests since they are not in a position to properly interpret the results. The Act ensures that a qualified medical doctor will always be consulted.

Are there any statistics highlighting the growing demand for MLT personnel?
The number of hospitals has grown from 336 hospitals in 1999 to 345 hospitals in 2002. While public hospitals have shown a marginal growth, private hospitals have grown at a very rapid rate. The proliferation of private hospitals has led to a 800-fold increase in the number of beds. Such an increase inevitably leads to a greater demand for MLT personnel along with other allied health services such as nursing.

Can you explain some of the normal duties of MLT personnel and how the Act will impact on the way they carry out their work.
MLT personnel are in charge of a great many things. These include:

	Collecting test samples from patients
	Preparing and identifying specimens
	Culturing micro-organisms to determine their identity and susceptibility to antibiotics
	Conducting full blood counts on patient samples
	Grouping, typing and cross matching blood for transfusion to patients
	Assuming administrative functions related to reporting and recording results of tests conducted in the laboratory, maintaining accurate clinical records, and doing other related tasks that the laboratory supervisor assigns.

Thus you can see that MLT personnel are an important link in the healthcare chain. Their work is imperative to help doctors diagnose patient¡¯s illnesses. The Act will ensure that all lab testing in these areas are only done by qualified staff which means a bigger demand for MLT personnel.

What are the career prospects of MLTs?
Firstly, with a Nilai UC Diploma in MLT they can work in any of the medical laboratories and research institutes such as Gribbles Pathology (which Nilai UC has a signed MoU for students to do their internship).

Secondly, Nilai UC diploma holders can further their studies in other fields such as a degrees in biomedical science, applied sciences, pharmacology and sports sciences in foreign universities. In this respect, Nilai UC has signed a MoU with six overseas universities whereby diploma holders can pursue a degree by joining the final year programme at that tertiary institute (University of Glasgow, UK, University of Aberdeen, UK, University of Westminster, UK, Greenwich University, UK, University of Sunderland, UK, and RMIT University, Australia).

For further information on Nilai UC, kindly go to www.nilai.edu.my or call 06-8502 338. If you wish to participate in the Conference in Regulatory Issues in Laboratory Medicine, please register by contacting En Samsudin at the number above.