Professional Autonomy in the Running of Medical Diagnostic Laboratories in Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Background: Autonomy in practice is one of the essential elements in defining professionalism in medical and other fields of practice. In the Nigerian health-care sector, several inter-professional conflicts had existed, in some cases requiring administrative and legal interpretation of scope of professional responsibilities and regulatory control. Objective: The review highlights the importance derivable from the implementation of professional autonomy in the running of medical laboratories in Nigeria. Method:  We used direct database search and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), to search the following terms and their variants: Medical Laboratory Service Delivery, Professional Autonomy, Medical Laboratory Science, Service delivery, and Clinical Pathology. Authors independently extracted data including first author’s name, study design and date of publication. Results: Professional defined roles of Medical Laboratory Scientists/Biomedical Scientists/Clinical Scientists are different from the roles of Clinical Pathologists in all settings reviewed. Framework for professional regulation ensures that direction and supervision are offered intra-professionally. Conclusion: Autonomy, division of labour, team-work, working within one’s scope of practice and competence (professionalism) is key to safe practice in healthcare delivery system globally and will facilitate the rendering of best and holistic medical care to well-meaning Nigerians.