by Jack C. Holland
Written in Winter 2011-12
Clinical Laboratory science began to develop in the 1920s and 1930s. Most of the work was done by pathologists or physicians in private office practice. Eventually the office nurse would find this to be part of her duties. In the 1930s the degree of Medical Technology was instituted to separate the analytical needs of the profession from the hands on nursing. World War II had a profound effect the whole medical field; money was made available for better medical instrumentation and all medical training was expanded. At the end of the war in 1946 hospitals were developing large, well equipped pathology laboratories and the new wartime doctors were trained to use them. The new degree in Medical Technology was appealing to both men and women who found it satisfying to help people with scientific analysis rather than the hands on work done by other medical professionals.