The college’s new logo reflects the new name it took on July 1.

July 3, 2012 | July 2, 2012 | On July 1, the College of Health Related Professions became the College of Health Professions, more reflective of national trends.

At the same time, the college’s oldest program got a new name.

The college’s name change was approved earlier this year by the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees. The state Department of Higher Education also was notified of the college’s plans. The change culminated an effort started in 2011, the year the college, which today encompasses 21 programs in 18 health professions, celebrated its 40th anniversary.

“Nationally, schools like ours are commonly either a College of Health Professions or a School of Health Professions,” said Dean Douglas Murphy, Ph.D. “Our programs are health professions, they are not related to health professions.”

The terms “related” and “allied” suggested an auxiliary role, Murphy said. Since federal guidelines began referring to the allied health professions years ago, the professions have matured, becoming more sophisticated, more specialized and taking on larger roles in patient care.

The college’s executive committee of department chairs initially approved the name change, Murphy said. A vote in December 2011 by college faculty and staff was strongly in favor of the switch, with nothing but positive feedback by students and faculty, he said.

The college’s medical technology program – whose roots as the college’s oldest program can be traced back 93 years to the laboratory sciences program established in the College of Medicine’s Department of Pathology in 1918 – also is altering its name effective July 1. The program will be known as the medical laboratory sciences program, aligning the name with how the profession is known internationally, Murphy said.

“The term ‘technologist’ suggests just a technician but the modern laboratory scientist is far more than that now, taking on an active role in interpreting lab test results and providing consultation to other health care providers on clinical tests that can aid diagnosis and treatment,” Murphy said.

Karen Hunter, Ph.D., director of the medical laboratory sciences program, agreed the name change is more reflective of how the profession has evolved. “We have been a fragmented profession – some used medical technologist, some used clinical laboratory scientists – that this provide more unity,” she said.

The laboratory scientist’s job has grown more technical in the 25 years Hunter has been in the profession. As technology and clinical testing equipment has improved, it has also become more technical.

“Today’s laboratory scientist not only must understand the test and the result but understand the equipment and instrumentation they are using,” she said. “As much as 70 percent to even 90 percent of clinical information in a patient record now comes from clinical test results – blood work, DNA tests and many more.”

Hunter thinks the program’s name change also might help attract potential students unfamiliar with the professions. “Technologist may indeed suggest a technician to someone unfamiliar with it and that does not communicate the increasingly large role clinical laboratory professionals have in the modern health care team,” she said.