Medical Laboratory Technology

As a lab tech, you perform precise procedures that provide a wide range of information for physicians to use in diagnosis and treatment. You’ll learn to operate computerized lab equipment and to use quality-control methods to guarantee accurate information for patient care.

Medical laboratory technicians provide a wide range of information for physicians to use in diagnosis and treatment. Technicians work in clinical settings under the supervision of medical laboratory scientists and pathologists and are required to perform precise tests and procedures to guarantee accurate information for patient care. Technicians analyze body fluids, isolate and identify microorganisms, study blood components, perform pre-transfusion tests, and determine disease-related immune responses.

The MLT Degree program prepares students to operate computerized lab equipment in a safe, cost-effective manner and to use quality control methods to assess the accuracy of lab data. Students acquire a working knowledge in the areas of hematology, urology, parasitology, immunology, clinical chemistry, clinical microbiology, and blood banking. In addition, they develop important communication skills to be used in translating reports, records, and results.

If you are interested in the Medical Laboratory Technology program, please contact Mr. Stratton, Program Director, at strattonde@midlandstech.edu. 

Learning Settings 

Learning experiences for students in the Medical Laboratory Technology Degree Program are provided in classrooms and laboratories on the Airport Campus in the Health Sciences Building. Student preclinical experience is provided through state-of-the-art medical lab science equipment available in the two on-campus labs. Required clinical experiences (externships/internships) are arranged through affiliations with local healthcare facilities.

Requirements & Certificates

Graduates of the program are eligible to take the Board of Certification (BOC) examination offered by the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) to earn the designation Medical Laboratory Technician (MLT).

Students are required to purchase and maintain standard uniforms and safety equipment at an approximate total cost of $300. The American Society of Clinical Pathology Board of Certification examination fee is approximately $215.

Students must attain a grade of “C” in all curriculum courses to successfully complete the program. No course may be repeated more than one time. No more than 2 courses within the curriculum program may be repeated and only one Medical Laboratory Technology (MLT prefix) course may be repeated.

Courses must be taken in the appropriate sequences.

Accreditation

The program is fully accredited by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences. Please see our Program Outcomes Data. 
National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences
5600 N. River Road, Suite 720
Rosemount, Illinois 60018-5119
773-714-8880 ​
www.naacls.org

In addition to the college’s placement test and the admission requirements for the Health Sciences Department, there are additional specific eligibility and interview criteria for the Medical Laboratory Technology program. Note that the TEAS test is not a requirement for the MLT program.

Admissions Criteria

• Observation in a clinical setting.​
• TOEFL test for international students.
• Interview by the Medical Laboratory Admissions Committee.
• Acceptable criminal background check and drug screening.
• Physical Examination and various immunizations to be completed by the specified date.
• Completion of at least 5 general education courses listed in the MLT curriculum with 1 of those 5 courses being BIO 210 Anatomy and Physiology I.

Other Criteria

• Acceptance into the college; including high school diploma or equivalent

Additional Information

You must apply to the college before applying to the MLT program. Applications to the MLT program are not publicly available. Applications must be released by a School of Health Care advisor. In order to be released a program application from an advisor, students must meet eligibility requirements. Eligibility is granted when students have completed at least 5 of the 8 general education courses in the MLT curriculum (non MLT-prefix courses). Please note that 1 of these 5 courses must be BIO-210 Anatomy and Physiology I. The 8 general education courses include: PSY-201, BIO-210, BIO-211, CHM-110, COL-106 (or COL-105), MAT-102 (or higher), ENG-160 (or ENG 101 or ENG 102), and PHI-115 (or approved humanities course).

The application period for applying to the program is January 1st to June 1st each year. Students are only accepted into the program each Fall (August) as the MLT courses are taught on rotation. Applicants will be offered an interview with the program’s admissions committee over the summer. If the student passes the interview and completes all necessary paperwork, they will be conditionally accepted into the MLT program and invited to the mandatory New Student Orientation session which is typically offered the Thursday before the Fall semester starts.

If accepted into the program, students are required to have a background check, drug test, and various immunizations. These requirements are set by the clinical sites and department safety officer. Neither the MLT program or the college has authority to waive these requirements as they are in place for the safety of the employees and patients at the clinical sites. Students must cover the costs associated with these requirements and complete them by the specified due date in order to continue in the MLT program. In addition to the background check, drug test, and immunizations, students are also expected to purchase disposable gloves, a calculator, colored pencils, uniforms, and name tags. Uniforms include solid black scrubs and a lab coat. The scrubs are not needed until semester 4. Lab coats may be rented from the MLT program, or purchased independently. To be acceptable for labs, the lab coat must be fluid resistant, knee-length, white or white with pinstripes, closable to the neck (zipper or buttons), and contain cuffs. To test if the lab coat is fluid resistant, simply hold it under a running sink and see if the fluid gets absorbed into the coat.

After completing the MLT program, we encourage students to obtain a bachelor's degree. With a bachelor's degree, students are eligible to sit for the Medical Laboratory Scientist (MLS) certification exam through ASCP. The average annual salary as a MLT is $50,000 and as a MLS is $62,000. Note that this is the average base pay; lab techs have the ability to earn a higher salary through shift differential, weekend differential, holiday pay, overtime, PTO cash outs, traveling positions, and/or a secondary PRN position. If you already have a bachelor's degree, the MLT certification plus one year of fulltime experience will award you eligibility to sit for the MLS exam; it is not mandatory to get a second bachelor's degree in laboratory medicine.

Although times may vary depending on the semester, students are expected to be available for in-person classes Monday through Thursday from 9:00AM until 4:30PM. All MLT classes are exclusively taught in the Health Science building of the Airport campus. Clinical rotations usually start earlier; most facilities request students to arrive at 7:00AM.

Are you new to the college? Use the following link to take a virtual tour of our campuses: https://www.massinteract.com/midlands-tech/