Alum Helps Relaunch Iowa Medical Laboratory Science Program
PHOTO: Liz Martin/University of Iowa Health Care
Laboratory technician Samantha Cassel (24BA) works in the cytopathology lab for UI Health Care.
In his Springfield, Missouri, home, Dave Buhr (73BS) proudly displays a sign decorated with images of test tubes. “Life is drab without a lab,” it reads, an apt summary of Buhr’s long career as a medical laboratory scientist.
PHOTO: KATHERINE HOUSE
Donors Dave and Pam Buhr
Lab scientists aren’t well known, but their work is. That’s because up to 70 percent of health care decisions related to disease diagnosis and treatment are based on lab results.
Buhr credits a medical laboratory science education from the University of Iowa for playing a pivotal role in his career. Following his retirement, he and his wife, Pam, offered to fund scholarships for UI students pursuing a similar career path. There was just one problem: the medical laboratory science major no longer existed. “That floored me,” he says.
The Buhrs changed that by making a gift that served as “a major catalyst” in restarting the program, according to Todd Redenius (97BS), executive director of development for regional gifts in the health sciences at the UI Center for Advancement. Their gift provides programmatic support and funds scholarships, while inspiring others to donate, he says. Redenius adds that Rose Meyer (73MedT, 91MBA), the UI Department of Pathology’s retired clinical administrator, supported the effort by writing curriculum and ensuring the program achieved accreditation.
According to director Kizer Friedley, Iowa’s medical laboratory science program plays a “vital role in meeting the state’s demand” for lab scientists by offering “flexible pathways and real-world laboratory training.”
PHOTO: Liz Martin/University of Iowa Health Care
Medical laboratory scientist Tara Doughty (19BS) uses a digital imaging system to capture photos of blood cells at the pathology lab for UI Health Care.
The relaunched major, which debuted in the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine in fall 2024, offers two tracks. Every student completes classes at Iowa and can opt to participate in hands-on laboratory and clinical site experiences at either the Kirkwood Regional Center at the UI or Mercy College of Health Sciences in Des Moines. Required classes include anatomy and organic chemistry, and clinicals cover topics such as hematology and urinalysis. Graduates are eligible to take a certification exam through the American Society for Clinical Pathology.
Buhr, a native of Maynard, Iowa, was a nontraditional student when he arrived in Iowa City in 1969, thanks to the GI Bill. He had already completed a medical laboratory technician program in Minnesota and served as an army medical lab specialist. During a tour of duty at the 36th Evacuation Hospital in Vietnam, he used his training and passion for laboratory testing in crossmatching blood and helping to detect malaria cases. He later evaluated labs for the Joint Commission and served in executive roles at Missouri’s Audrain Medical Center.
In addition to the program at Iowa, the Buhrs also helped launch a medical laboratory technician program and student scholarships at Moberly Area Community College in Missouri. Dave Buhr says medical laboratory science majors can work in many settings, including labs, veterinary clinics, blood banks, urgent care facilities, and infection control departments. At a recent event in Iowa, he told scholarship recipients, “You should be very pleased that you are helping people in the medical profession.”