INTRODUCTION:

The Medical Laboratory Science/ Medical Technology curriculum is mandated to include internship training program in the fourth year of its academic program. This program has been implemented through the recommendation of government laboratories since 1965.

In the early years of the Medical Technology Program, there was a limited number of accredited laboratories in the community, thus the expected fourth-year students could not be accommodated. The University gained an advantage because the trainers of the government facility where the school was affiliated were also members of the faculty. However, the hospital management changed and the laboratory staff disintegrated due to changes in responsibilities and work ethics.

The late Dr. Asuncion A. Paraan, a pathologist by profession who was the first head of the Medtech Program noticed the effect of the changes such that the training of the interns was relegated to “advantage” – a pair of hands to do menial and dirty work. Skills development became negligible and were taken for granted. Overcrowding in government facilities worsened bureaucracy and inequities developed. This prompted her to conceptualize the possibility for the school to provide the program its own training center to address such need. She recommended to the administration the putting up of a clinical laboratory with the following objectives/functions, to strengthen the school’s capability:

1. Provide students in-depth skills training and development and prepare them for the licensure examination.

2. Utilize the facility for a more realistic instruction in relation to the subjects.

3. Become a research component for UIC students, faculty and other institutions and become a research center.

4. A diagnostic facility for medical evaluation for students, parents, UIC community and relatives and walk-in clients.

The Clinical Laboratory formally opened in 1997 after two years of preparation. Through the years, it has surpassed the difficulties and met the needs of the intern students and the community.