What's Next? Ask Tomorrow's Laboratory Scientists

Training the Public Health Laboratory Workforce of Tomorrow:
A Wadsworth Center Mission

Recently, the center developed a new avenue to train the public health laboratory workforce of tomorrow - The Wadsworth Center Master of Science in Laboratory Science program.

This new program is slated to have students enrolled in September 2012 and will begin accepting applications in early 2012.

The program will offer students a unique opportunity to experience practical laboratory training complemented by the study of laboratory regulations, quality assurance, financial operations and human resources management; all designed to train the next generation of public health laboratory managers.

Students in the program will have a unique practical laboratory experience in a public health environment. The program expects to award five matriculated students master's degrees in 2014 with the hope that they will pursue long-term careers in public health laboratories.

The Web site for the new master's program is: laboratorysciences.wadsworth.org

A Commitment to Training

Wadsworth has long been involved in the training of public health laboratory professionals. It has an on going relationship with the State University of New York at Albany. The Center has hosted a wide variety of internships and summer experiences through Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) and National Science Foundation.

Since 1995 the Wadsworth Center has been a host laboratory site for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-funded and APHL-administered Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) Fellowship program. As part of this program and an internal sister program, the Wadsworth Center has trained 67 post-baccalaureate and post-doctoral fellows, with four additional fellows joining the Center this year.