3 Questions with Rebecca Yee, PhD, D(ABMM), M(ASCP)CM

As the director of a clinical microbiology laboratory in an academic medical center, Rebecca Yee, PhD, D(ABMM), M(ASCP)^CM, loves that every day is a little different. With a job that entails clinical consultation, oversight in diagnostic testing, and academic responsibilities such as teaching, research, and engagement with the institutional and scientific community, it is ever-changing. “I know that no matter what I am doing that day, I am impacting the lives of someone—patients or trainees,” Dr. Yee says. “I loved being a ‘lab rat’ when I was a trainee myself and am grateful for those who gave me plenty of opportunities. Now, I can pay it forward to help the next generation of scientists and those in need.” 

Here, Dr. Yee shares her insight on the challenges facing healthcare, the impact she hopes to make, and more.    

What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the laboratory in healthcare today?  

The biggest challenge right now is the diminishing workforce in the laboratory. Many of the cited reasons include retirement of the baby boomers, educational costs, salary, and burnout. There are other challenges in healthcare such as a continuing rise of complicated patient populations, emerging infectious diseases, and expanding healthcare systems; these challenges only exacerbate why a shortage of laboratory personnel is even a bigger problem than before. Laboratories are working hard to maintain high quality of work with a small backbone of the workforce, which is a struggle. The COVID-19 pandemic showcased the significant role of laboratory testing and how the laboratory personnel are also ‘frontline heroes.’ As such, there needs to be more investment and incentives for our field to develop and retain our staff such as overall better development programs and financial support, like what other healthcare professions have. Additionally, there needs to be more active outreach of our career track to encourage the younger generations to join our workforce. 

What impact do you hope to make through your work in this field?  

I hope to make an impact by introducing novel testing modalities for infectious diseases diagnosis. I hope to continue what I have done in the past such as being the principal investigator and/or team member of clinical trials or commercial evaluations for new infectious diseases diagnostics. My role as a researcher will actively help commercial companies push innovation into the market so the impact of novel tools can be reached further into our patient population. I also hope to help standardize proper clinical practice. I have published and served on several document working groups to draft guidelines for laboratories to use around the world. I hope that technologies and education of different methodologies can be accessible for laboratories in need so we can help provide answers to the patients. 

As a laboratory professional, you have a unique perspective on disease diagnosis and patient care. How do you approach the responsibility of delivering accurate and timely diagnoses, knowing they have a significant impact on patient outcomes?  

Working in the laboratory, we perform tests for patients and provide confirmatory answers for suspected diagnosis. As the laboratory director, I aim to implement rapid and accurate novel diagnostics into my laboratory if there is a clinical need. As the experts in laboratory testing, we are aware of limitations and advantages of our testing modalities. Hence, we should also be the stewards of our tests and ensure that the right test is being done on the right patient so that our tests are effectively utilized. As with any other specialties in healthcare, it is a team effort in medicine. For example, in the realm of infectious diseases diagnostics, I encourage laboratory professionals to be represented in the institution’s diagnostic or antibiotic stewardship committees or infection prevention committees to ensure that there is clear communication and understanding about appropriate testing, result interpretations, and patient care. Close teamwork allows for streamlining necessary procedures to provide diagnosis that is clinically actionable.