Medical technologists: silent shortage causing network delays

MONTREAL — Shadow workers and a profession little known to the public, medical technologists, are essential to treating patients. However, Quebec is currently experiencing a “critical shortage” of technologists, causing delays in the health care network.

Tests performed by medical technologists allow the doctor to make a diagnosis, suggest further treatment and a treatment plan. Approximately 85% of diagnoses and therapeutic follow-up are based on laboratory results.

There are several main sectors of the medical technologist profession, including blood banking, pathology and microbiology.

Every year, 208 million samples are processed in Quebec health network laboratories.

In honor of National Medical Laboratory Week, which ends April 20, The Canadian Press caught up with several speakers from the healthcare sector who highlighted the important role played by medical technologists.

Critical shortage

Loan Louw, president of the Order Professional des Technologists Medicales de Québec (OPTMQ), says the shortage is critical. She noted that 50% of the needs have now been met.

According to CEGEP, the need for medical technologists for 2022-2023 was estimated at 687 people, and only 327 graduates were hired into the health network.

Ms. Luu said OPTMQ is working with government agencies and other partners such as the Center Hospitalier Université de Montréal (CHUM) to find a larger pool of skilled labor to help network laboratories.

“Hence the importance of recognizing the work of medical technologists because we also want to retain them,” she explains. It is important to recognize their contributions and that is the purpose of this National Promotion Week.”

Marie-Kim Potvin-Perron, a medical technologist at the blood bank at CHUM, witnesses the labor shortage every day.

She explains that the blood bank is open 24 hours a day and that at least two people should always be on duty in the evening and at night, especially for urgent needs, such as a patient in the delivery room who may be bleeding or have urgent operating room needs.

“We have emergencies,” she said. For a patient who will not necessarily be tested, the drug must be administered in less than five minutes. We must ensure product safety quickly,” explains Ms. Potvin-Perron.

His department is supposed to have six technologists, but sometimes only two are on duty. “The bosses have set a list of priorities for us. When we enter the red phase, management must call all responsible persons in the operating room to cancel operations, appointments, transfusions so that we can respond to emergency requests,” Ms. Potvin-Perron indicated.

According to Marie-Reine Kuzaili, technical coordinator for the microbiology department, the labor shortage in her department is less severe, although it still exists.

“We often use a contingency plan. “We are moving to the second level due to lack of staff, so sometimes the workbenches are closed,” Ms Kuzaili said. This, of course, is difficult from the point of view of sample safety and meeting deadlines. We have to optimize time, effort, personnel, but it’s not always easy because everyone gets tired.”

Despite the shortage problems, Ms. Kuzaili and Ms. Potvin-Perron are true lovers of their work. “We are passionate people who conduct research, solve problems and truly make an impact in patient care,” Ms. Potvin-Perron said.

“It’s true that we work in the shadows,” Ms. Kuzaili admits. We do not have direct contact with the patient, so the patient and his family do not see us. For us, satisfaction lies in the fact that we do our job and can get the result in an acceptable time frame, maintain the quality of the samples and at the end of the line the patient receives the result that the doctor expects. »

Promote the profession

Physicians also emphasized the importance of the role of medical technologists.

For example, in the pathology sector, a technologist receives biopsy samples. He must ensure that he is wearing the correct condom so that the test can be carried out. Before you move on to cutting, there are several steps that need to be taken, such as whether the piece of bone needs to be softened or another type of tissue needs to be strengthened in order to cut it properly.

“To cut the right slice and find the disease we are looking for requires very important knowledge of anatomy,” explained Dr. Badia Issa-Shergui, president of the Association of Pathologists. The cut should be straight and uniform, and then you. you will have to paint the blade and apply the right contrast.

Dr. Issa-Shergi emphasizes that every sample is precious. We cannot go back at will to find, for example, a piece of a tumor.

Dr. Issa-Shergui believes we need to do a better job of promoting what she calls an important profession: “We see doctors, nurses, healthcare workers who have direct contact with the patient, but we don’t realize that behind every diagnosis, every treatment there is a… There is a laboratory test and it is done by a medical technologist. We really need to promote this very important role. The diagnosis is often made in the laboratory.”

Dr. Cécile Tremblay, medical director of CHUM’s microbiology department, agrees.

“The role of medical technologists is extremely valuable,” she says. We often think that when we request a laboratory test to diagnose or monitor a patient, all we have to do is insert a tube into the machine and we will get the result. But actually it is not. To correctly identify microbes, determine their sensitivity to antibiotics and make an accurate diagnosis, special knowledge is needed.”

Dr. Tremblay, who is also a professor in the Department of Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Immunology at the University of Montreal, emphasizes that the profession is multifaceted.

“People are skilled with tools, learn a lot about bacteriology, and can contribute to patient well-being, but this is underappreciated,” she says. And unfortunately there aren’t enough people training to meet our needs, and that’s causing real problems online.”

According to Dr. Tremblay and Dr. Issa-Shergui, we need to do a better job of promoting the profession to attract competent young people. The public would benefit from knowing what goes on behind the doors of hospital laboratories to understand how important the work that goes on there is to the patient.

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