Title: Explain the evolving roles of laboratory technology in medicine.
Course: Medical Laboratory Technology I (14102-I) > Section: Exploring Foundations in Medical Laboratory Technology

Explanation may include

- important figures in the history of laboratory testing (e.g., Hippocrates, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, James Watson, Francis Crick) and the contributions of each
- manual vs. automated methods of laboratory testing in recent medical laboratory practice
- the growing role of laboratory testing in diagnosis and treatment
- the increasing number of job opportunities
- the increasing usage of molecular diagnostics
- the departmentalization of a clinical laboratory
- the structures of a healthcare organization
- the various categories of personnel in the clinical laboratory
- the uses of various sites for laboratory testing (e.g., central laboratory, point of care, physician's office, reference laboratory)
- the cause and effect on healthcare system change based on the influence of technology, epidemiology, bioethics, socio-economics, and various forms of complementary (non-traditional) medicine.

Process/Skill Questions:

- What roles did the early pioneers of science play in the development of laboratory technology? To what extent do the contributions of each pioneer still influence the medical laboratory technology field?
- How are manual and automated laboratory methods similar? How are they different? Is there a place for both methods in today's laboratory?
- How does the addition of molecular diagnostics contribute to the medical laboratory field?