The new medical scientists
by Charlotte Chalklen
This year, UniSA’s School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences celebrates 40 years of professional courses in laboratory medicine.
Barry Gormley, 65, and Danielle Kuzman, 27, are just two of the thousands who have graduated with qualifications in laboratory medicine since they were first established at UniSA’s antecedent institution, the South Australian Institute of Technology, in the 1960s.
Gormley was one of the first students to take what was then known as medical laboratory technology. He studied part time while working at the Adelaide Children’s Hospital (now the Women’s and Children’s Hospital), and went on to carve out a long and fulfilling career which included 20 years heading histopathology at Flinders Medical Centre and 15 years teaching a new generation of scientists at university.
Over the past 40 years, he has seen dramatic changes in the profession, from sweeping technological advances to an increased emphasis on occupational health and safety.
"Like just about all workplaces in the ‘60s, smoking on the job was common, and there used to be some dangerous practices for handling materials we now know are hazardous," Gormley recalls.
Many of these less-than-sophisticated laboratory techniques – used before formal education ushered in more stringent standards – made for a wide margin of error.
Nowadays that margin has narrowed to the point of being almost infinitesimal and as well as performing common tests such as pregnancy or AIDS tests, medical scientists have become versed in genetics and tumour diagnosis.
For all the changes in technology, Gormley says some things have stayed the same.
"Many methods for have become automated, but that hasn’t taken away the need for fine manual laboratory skills – if anything they are more in demand than ever," he says.
"We have a far greater variety of tests available today than in the 1960s, and graduates with an understanding of the broad range of diagnostic techniques are finding themselves highly sought-after by employers."
Danielle Kuzman graduated from UniSA in 2002 and has been a medical scientist at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital for the past four and a half years. She says she loves her job because it makes use of her scientific and analytical skills while offering a chance to make a difference to people’s lives.
She says one of the best things about studying at UniSA was the fact that her degree included a two-semester clinical placement in a real working laboratory.
"Doing the placement prepared me so well that by the time I had completed my studies I was offered a senior role at the IMVS (Institute for Medical and Veterinary Science) lab in Port Augusta."
Kuzman says that while many medical scientists spend a lot of time in the laboratory, there are plenty of other potential career directions for laboratory medicine graduates.
"A lot of the people I studied with worked in a lab for a few years before going on to roles in management, research, and even sales and marketing."
For more information about UniSA’s Bachelor of Laboratory Medicine, visit the School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences website at www.unisa.edu.au/pmbs