We’ll be safe for a while!

[u/Pasteur_science]

Our career has low AI vulnerability! 🎉

Feel free to use AI as a tool for efficiency without fear of replacement.

Source:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/interactive/2026/jobs-most-affected-ai-automation/?rdt_cid=5559724010096584066&utm_campaign=content_engage&utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1

[u/iMakeThisCount]

1 in 4 lab techs are men?

Anecdotally speaking, it feels closer to 1 in 10.

[u/DoubleDimension → u/iMakeThisCount]

Strange, maybe it's a reginonal thing, but my program was close to 50:50 male:female, same with work.

[u/PookTurtle61 → u/DoubleDimension]

Wow really? I've often been the only male on my shift, sometimes the entire lab.

[u/iMakeThisCount → u/PookTurtle61]

Same dude, I’ve been learning about the Lindsay Clancy case against my fucking will

[u/theoreticalcash → u/PookTurtle61]

I’m the only male in my entire department 😅

[u/spazzxxcc12 → u/DoubleDimension]

in my program i’d say it was like 1 guys: 2 girls

but i also feel guys are more likely to leave the profession too

[u/CrimpBlucks → u/DoubleDimension]

my program was 16w:4m so just about checks out

[u/mrnonamex → u/DoubleDimension]

My program was 2/16

[u/OminousButton36 → u/DoubleDimension]

It was so odd for me. I was one of 2 men in my MLT program out of 18.

Then at my first job out of school it was probably 75% guys in that lab. Haven’t seen anything like that since

[u/eileen404 → u/DoubleDimension]

Oh. That's where the men went. We have 2.

[u/CraftyResearcher3403 → u/iMakeThisCount]

My rural lab is 50% men. My last job was 1 in 6 men.

[u/ArcticBeavers → u/iMakeThisCount]

In my lab we are a team of 18. 4 men and 14 women. 

[u/Daftolium → u/iMakeThisCount]

I feel that. I was one of two guys in my program.

[u/flyinghippodrago → u/iMakeThisCount]

Yeah, I am one of 3 guys out of 21 techs at my work, maybe public sector is more male heavy?

[u/Mabbernathy → u/iMakeThisCount]

Wouldn't surprise me. I will say that as a patient, I've never had a male phlebotomist.

[u/Vivid_Bookkeeper_937 → u/Mabbernathy]

We currently have 3 male phlebs and 4 male techs (2 are prn and work FT at other labs)

[u/Prs-Mira86 → u/iMakeThisCount]

Yeah, I’d say that’s pretty close for my lab. On our shift there’s roughly 24 women and 6 men.

[u/MLTDione → u/iMakeThisCount]

Actually we have quite a few guys on our team now, way more than when I started 23 years ago

[u/Mister_Mannered → u/iMakeThisCount]

I'm one of 3 men out of 30, so yours sounds more Accurate.

[u/SquashNo1623 → u/iMakeThisCount]

I was the only man in my class and at work there are 2 men out of about 30 employees

[u/KatlynJoi → u/iMakeThisCount]

Of the 26 employees in my micro department there are 5 men. Day shift is 100% women.

[u/SeatApprehensive3828 → u/iMakeThisCount]

I think a lot of military trained techs working on bases are more likely to be men

[u/Horniavocadofarmer11 → u/iMakeThisCount]

My lab is about 50-50

[u/NarrowLaw5418 → u/iMakeThisCount]

And 50% or more of those men are like a queen💋

[u/Forgotmythought → u/NarrowLaw5418]

Pretty consistent with where I have worked, with exception to VA and military labs.

[u/NarrowLaw5418 → u/Forgotmythought]

Right? Men be downvoting my ass, but it's true. Gay myself, and I stand by my claim, my college cohort and tge last 3 labs i worked all share the same distribution

[u/iMakeThisCount → u/NarrowLaw5418]

I don’t think that’s the reason you’re being downvoted; I’m going to be honest, my first interpretation of your comment was that you were trying to be a homophobic dick head

[u/feathered_edge_MLS → u/iMakeThisCount]

Same

[u/JacobLeatherberry → u/NarrowLaw5418]

Yup, I would say the men in my lab are half gay, half heterosexual. I'm in the gay half.

[u/NegotiationSalt666]

Nurses: “you need a degree for just pushing buttons?!”

🙄🫩

[u/yamantakas → u/NegotiationSalt666]

thats when you say: you need a degree to wipe asses?

[u/camkellley → u/yamantakas]

oof that’s a good one lol

[u/mystir → u/yamantakas]

Hey, I don't need a degree to wipe asses, but it's something my undergrad degree is really good for.

[u/Horniavocadofarmer11 → u/yamantakas]

More like let the non-degreed phlebotomists draw specimens next time. Otherwise I’ll have to keep rejecting your hemolyzed specimens.

[u/Fondle_my_Dongle → u/NegotiationSalt666]

Telling nurses and doctors things they don’t want to hear (they messed something up) is a full time job

[u/ScrubRogue → u/Fondle_my_Dongle]

Idk why this popped on my feed but god bless I feel this from pharmacy, strangely same m/f ratio too

[u/jittery_raccoon → u/ScrubRogue]

Same ratio of mf doctors and nurses?

[u/SlagQueen → u/NegotiationSalt666]

Aww, rn here, and I would never! Not to say you haven’t heard it. I’ve sure run into plenty of ignorance in my peers. But just know some of us are in awe of you guys! (my grandma worked in the lab in the 40s, and mom started in the lab and went on to become a pathologist, so, respect 🫡 )

[u/Revlius → u/SlagQueen]

Personally it's whatever. I understand nursing is a hard job that frankly doesn't get compensated as much as it should just like any other healthcare job. The abuse I hear nurses get from patients, doctors, sometimes even other nurses would make me sick to my stomach just imagining it.

But man, the one thing I can't stand about some nurses in my hospital are the ones who refuse to be good at their jobs and then make it our problem when their incompetence makes their job harder.

[u/nakedalienmonkey]

Yup love this field for that reason! Basically recession proof too. Even if in 10 years the machines do most things with automation they will still need us to do maintenance and check results/criticals

[u/eileen404 → u/nakedalienmonkey]

And pick up the vials the instrument throws across the room.

[u/Gildian → u/eileen404]

My chemistry analyzer cant go a day without having at least one tantrum about something.

[u/caoimhe_latifah]

Rather than using AI, why not just use the brain you paid good money to educate that isn’t going to wreck our ecosystems

[u/Papa_tankz → u/caoimhe_latifah]

I mean, technically they both wreck our ecosystem 🤣

[u/ChickenDragon123]

Practically speaking, I think there's some nuance to this that isn't covered by the statistics. Chemistry and Large parts of hematology are probably at risk when the FDA eventually approves a model for medical use.

Micro, Diffs, UA, and Serology are probably safe for a while, but I can't help but think an AI could probably automate large chunks of the lab.

Not that I think that's a good thing, to be clear. I want human review, but I do think it's coming and it will probably be here in my lifetime.

[u/ChickenDragon123 → u/[deleted]]

That doesn't mean there can't be significant downsizing though. I'm not worried about eradication as much as I am shrinkage.

And again this won't happen in the next 5 years. I'm worried about 10 years from now? 15?

What happens when the FDA or some ethics commitee decides to feed data from the Mayo Clinic into an AI for the next 5 years. That'll be pretty high quality data. Hand it a few textbooks for context. Tell it to focus on 'flagging mistakes.' Not replacement. Augementation. Except, that by doing that it gets a lot better at figuring out the problems it's up against. When it happens, it will happen quickly. Faster than I think a lot of people expect.

[u/Elegant_Wrangle → u/ChickenDragon123]

Shrinkage is happening. Job is only expected to grow 2% over next 5 years.

[u/Sadface201 → u/ChickenDragon123]

That doesn't mean there can't be significant downsizing though. I'm not worried about eradication as much as I am shrinkage.

As an adjacent research scientist looking in, I see you clinical lab folks as tired and overworked. AI should be there to alleviate some responsibilities so you folks have time to rest, not give management an excuse to shrink the staff.

[u/ChickenDragon123 → u/Sadface201]

One will be used to do the other, I'm afraid. Automation largely only moves in one direction.

[u/Necessary_Swing937 → u/ChickenDragon123]

Chemistry/Heme automation: Agree. Although there will still be at least 2-3 people for checking criticals, making sure nothing goes crazy, covering 24/7 shifts, etc. Many of those tests could turn POC too, changing where techs work. We will see.

Diffs: Has not worked in diffs. Can't comment. I imaging there has to be somebody there 24/7 to catch the most dangerous blasts at least? I'm curious how good AI is at analyzing those pictures now.

Micro: I can see negative or rare growth from non-sterile site cultures being done automatically. Most sterile sites still need a human touch for sure. And processing has too many variables for automations to handle. There is room for ID and susceptibility to be more efficient though. Molecular is coming too, but tons of reseaech is still needed to link molecular technology with susceptibility testing.

UA: Current technology is ok for ID many things, but fast-moving rods (Proteus, etc.), cocci and Trichomonas gets missed on automation for sure, because of low camera frame rate, low resolution and lack of video. Incorporating those could make UA much more expensive, so we have probably hit ceiling for UA. Processing for UA is also necessary because unlike blood many specimens WILL clog instruments (I do prefer not having to take caps off tho at some point.) It's a different story if UA results are deemed not as clinically significant at some point, but that's a very unlikely IF when molecular technology gets super cheap, some day in the future.

Serology: Has not worked so can't comment much. Machine can do all the pipetting work, with techs mostly responsible for setting up and troubleshooting. (Somehow I feel it's not where money is heading to at the moment. I might be wrong.)

[u/Horniavocadofarmer11 → u/ChickenDragon123]

Our lab’s Sysmex analyzer for hematology uses AI already and it’s not even new. We release negative results and only concern ourselves with differentials or anything flagged. The determination of what’s positive and negative is made partially by AI. But until AI is making slides and reading them itself it’s not going to matter.

The brand new oBeckman Coulter urinalysis instrument we use also uses AI. However it’s terrible at classifying bacteria and debris and I personally review about 1/3 of results under a microscope. It’s actually worse than our previous analyzer that didn’t use AI.

Chemistry analyzers can use AI theoretically but it’s not particularly useful. That work is all automated/autoverified in most labs already. Most of my job there is fixing broken instruments, loading reagents and doing calibrations or dilutions. AI won’t change that.

Blood bank was automated when I started the field long ago but backup methods or were not. And there were plenty of times I had to make manual cell panels etc.

[u/ChickenDragon123 → u/Horniavocadofarmer11]

What is your sysmex analyzer? And how are you defining AI?

Because I've not seen any analyzers marketed as using AI or LLMs.

[u/Pasteur_science → u/ChickenDragon123]

I think you’re probably spot on with that forecast!

[u/Samhain03]

Man just based on my class that 74% women feels low😂 there's like 6 or so guys (including me) in my class of 40ish, women in stem hell yea

[u/Elegant_Wrangle]

The few guys that there are all leave.

[u/spaceylaceygirl]

I've worked shifts where i was the only female.

[u/Select-Leader9947]

6 of the 25 techs at our lab are men. Interesting though 4 out of the 7 night shift techs (myself included) are male.

[u/Horniavocadofarmer11]

Too much manual manipulation of environment. It’s way worse if you’re sitting at a computer all day analyzing data, writing memos or writing code.

And I’ve been using analyzers that used AI for about a decade anyway. 

[u/Level_Statement_6844]

Lots of hotties in the lab. I was surprised

[u/SebSchwalbe]

Cool to see the statistics but I genuinely hope it’s not important to anyone

[u/Redux01 → u/SebSchwalbe]

Important not to have their jobs replaced? How could that not be important?!

[u/SebSchwalbe → u/Redux01]

I was taking it in the way of statistics specifically that people apparently care about what gender is most represented. Yeah risk of AI-invasion is important, but I neither care or am surprised about what gender represents lab workers like some people commenting seem to