Messenger - Vol. 1, No. 3, Page 15
Spring 1992
Alumni and friends assist Medical Technology Program

     An advisory panel of alumni and friends from the health-care
community has begun working to build a scholarship fund, increase
summer internships and recruit more majors for the University's
Medical Technology Program.
     The program was one closely examined by the University during
this period of fiscal constraint, and it had been considered for
elimination because of its expense and under-enrollment.
     Expressing concern over the shortage of qualified health care
professionals, a group of alumni and medical community representatives
sought and received a postponement of a decision on the program's
future.
     Although the program still must be reevaluated each year to
assess progress toward larger enrollments and reduced costs, R. Byron
Pipes, provost and vice president for academic affairs, told the
advisory panel that the University is committed to graduating the med
tech students who will be admitted next fall and that the program will
go forward "one freshman class" at a time.
     Members of the advisory panel include representatives from the
Association of Delaware Hospitals; the Medical Center of Delaware; the
Du Pont Co.; the Veteran's Administration Regional and Medical Center;
Medlab Clinical Testing Inc.; and five nearby hospitals, including
Taylor Hospital in Pennsylvania,  Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore
and St. Francis, Milford Memorial and Kent General hospitals in
Delaware. About half the panel are alumni of the Delaware program,
which was established in 1949.
     According to program director Anna Ciulla, letters requesting
donations for a scholarship fund have been sent to more than 500
alumni and 1,200 physicians, as well as to regional hospitals and
private laboratories. Summer internships already have been added for
medical technology students. In addition to two ongoing internships at
Medlab, three to five positions have been designated for the
University's med tech students at the Medical Center of Delaware.
     Graduates of the Medical Technology Program can expect careers in
hospitals, private clinical laboratories, pharmaceutical companies,
public health agencies or research laboratories in academia and
industry. According to Ciulla, there is a shortage of medical
technologists in the region and across the country. Some 57,000 job
vacancies are expected by the year 2000, she said. Entry-level
salaries range from $26,000 to $35,000.
     The University's program has openings for 26 senior and 26 junior
students per year.  Freshmen and sophomores who declare an interest in
medical technology are advised to take basic science courses in
biology and chemistry.