ARUP, University of Utah Open Advanced Practice Clinical Laboratory Training Center

ARUP Laboratories, an AABB-accredited institution, and the University of Utah’s Division of Medical Laboratory Sciences (MLS) recently opened the Advanced Practice Clinical Laboratory Training Center (APL), a new lab designed to address the nationwide shortage of clinical laboratory scientists. 

The APL will double the number of clinical laboratory scientists trained at the university, with the goal of reaching 80 graduates annually. Students will gain hands-on experience with real patient samples, which are discarded specimens from clinical testing, using the same instruments found in hospital laboratories.

Funding for the center was secured in 2022 through a federal appropriation, with support from local leaders and health system executives.