Are Medical Technologists still needed in Medical Laboratories in a Technologically Advanced Future?

Abstract

An emerging trend in modern medical laboratories is automation, and it is having a positive impact on the quality of service to patients and on the safety of medical laboratory staff. The use of automation in medical laboratories enable many tests by analytical instruments with minimal use of an analyst. These automated instruments result in increasing the capabilities of a laboratory to process more workload with minimum involvement of manpower. Total Laboratory Automation (TLA) has many advantages including workload reduction, less time spent per sample, increased number of tests done in less time, use of a smaller sample amount, decreased risks for human errors, and higher reproducibility and accuracy. With the future practice of medical technologists in a technologically advanced future in peril. What edge do medical technologists have over Artificial Intelligence and Robotics that would still make them essential in medical laboratories in a future that is technologically advanced?