New Delhi, Oct 14 (IANS): SRL Diagnostics on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University (DSEU) to create the content and curriculum for undergraduate studies for training students in the field of medical laboratory technology.

DSEU is an institute set up by the Delhi government that equips students with skills education and enables candidates for employment.

The prime areas of the programme would include laboratory specialities like biochemistry, haematology, microbiology, serology, histopathology and cytology, genetics and molecular diagnosis.

The diagnostics chain will also facilitate sponsorships for students who are top performers and those who are not able to afford the programme financially. Students who complete this diploma and undergraduate programme will get opportunities as phlebotomists, accessioning officers and lab technologists, the company said in a statement.

India has a very low density of health workers per 10,000 population and the distribution of health workforce across the Indian states is highly skewed.

A Public Health Foundation of India report in 2012 reported a lack of over three lakh skilled and trained medical laboratory technologists and this number has gone up over the last decade.

Collaboration such as these between academic institutes and industry partners can help bridge this gap of skilled medical workforce that the country needs.

"I believe this is a very good opportunity for cross-fertilisation of ideas. More such partnerships are required to address the shortage of skilled resources in our industry," said Anand K, CEO, SRL Diagnostics, in a statement.

Students can also benefit from SRL's extensive network of more than 420 labs for laboratory visits and internship programmes that will provide them a perspective of global laboratory standards.