5: Health Careers
- Page ID
- 114414
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Course Competency:
Investigate health career options.
Learning Objectives:
- List departments of the medical laboratory.
- List common laboratory occupations and personnel.
- List responsibilities of common laboratory occupations.
- Describe the educational requirements for common laboratory occupations and personnel.
- Describe career-laddering options for laboratory occupations.
- Examine the relationship of laboratory occupations with other healthcare providers.
- Examine professional organizations and certification agencies
Introduction
Types of Labs
By far the most common type of lab that MLT students find employment in after graduation are in hospital or clinic laboratories.
- Hospital Labs – These are laboratories located inside hospitals. They are typically staffed 24 hours/day and offer a wide variety of tests.
- Clinic Labs – These are laboratories located inside clinics. They have more restricted staffing hours compared to hospitals. Fewer tests are typically performed in a clinic lab. Some tests are sent out to their associated hospital or to a reference laboratory.
Other types of labs include reference, research, nursing homes, government agencies, industry, and military labs.
Lab Departments
The clinical laboratory (whether physically located in a hospital or clinic) can broadly be divided into two main areas: clinical pathology and anatomic and surgical pathology.
Clinical Pathology Departments
In the clinical pathology area, analysis of blood and other body fluids is performed. Depending on the size of the lab, there can be several different areas/departments where testing is performed. This is the area of the lab where Medical Laboratory Technicians work. The MLT program includes one or more courses in each of these areas.
The sections/departments in this area include:
- Support Services – This includes phlebotomy and processing. (Phlebotomy course)
- Phlebotomy – This area is responsible for drawing blood from patients
- Processing – Phlebotomists draw samples and send to this area for centrifugation and aliquoting.
- Hematology – This area determines number of cells (red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets) in the blood and look at changes in cells. (Basic Hematology and Advanced Hematology courses)
- Coagulation – Department where tests are performed to see how a patient’s blood is clotting. Tests are performed to monitor treatment of blood clotting disorders. (Coagulation course). This department is sometimes within the hematology area, especially in smaller facilities.
- Urinalysis – Physical, chemical and microscopic examination of urine is performed in this department (v). As with the coagulation area, urinalysis is sometimes in hematology.
- Chemistry – The Chemistry department utilizes complex instruments to determine concentration of substances (glucose, cholesterol) in samples. (Clinical Chemistry course). This is typically the lab department with the highest volume of tests.
- Immunology/Serology – Many tests in this department are based on antigen/antibody reactions. Common tests include pregnancy, HIV, hepatitis, and infectious disease testing. (Basic Immunology Concepts course) This department is sometimes within the chemistry area, especially in smaller facilities.
- Blood Bank/Transfusion Services/Immunohematology – This area determines the patient’s blood type (ABO and Rh) and what blood product will be compatible to transfuse the patient. (Blood Bank course)
- Microbiology – This department cultures and identifies microorganisms causing disease and determines antibiotics that will be effective against the organism. (Clinical Microbiology and Advanced Microbiology courses)
- Molecular Diagnostics/Molecular Testing – Area performing analysis nucleic acid (DNA/RNA) to detect and identify diseases or genetic disorders. Most often it is incorporated into other lab areas such as microbiology. (Introduction to Molecular Diagnostics course).
- Referrals – Department that prepares samples for shipment to other testing facilities.
Anatomic and Surgical Pathology Departments
The other main area of the lab is the anatomic and surgical pathology area, where they analyze the characteristics of cells and tissues.
The sections/departments in this area include:
- Cytogenetics – The department that examines chromosomes for evidence of genetic disease.
- Cytopathology – This area processes and stains cells in fluids and examines them.
- Histology – This department prepares tissues for exam by the pathologist.
Laboratory Personnel
Similar to nursing, there are several levels of education, training, and skills found in laboratory workers. The Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment of 19881 defines the qualifications of the personnel based on the job functions required of that position.
Clinical Pathology Personnel
- Laboratory Director – This is typically a pathologist (medical doctor trained in laboratory medicine)
- Labratory Manager – An individual trained in lab science with additional healthcare administration or business/management degree or experience. The Lab Manager reports to the Lab Director.
- Department Supervisor - This person is responsible for the work performed in that respective department/lab area. They report to the Lab Manager. This person may be an MLT or MLS depending on the requirements of specific employers.
- Laboratory Information System (LIS) Analyst – This individual works with the computer systems of the laboratory and the hospital’s electronic medical record.
- Testing Personnel – These are technicians or scientists performing testing.
- Medical Laboratory Technician (MLT)/Clinical Laboratory Technician (CLT) - These technicians have an Associate’s degree and clinical training. They may have completed a national certification exam to become certified, though certification is not always required.
- Medical Laboratory Scientist (MLS)/Clinical Laboratory Scientist (CLS) - These personnel have a Baccalaureate degree and clinical training. They may have completed a national certification exam to become certified, though certification is not always required.
- Laboratory Assistant – This individual receives and processes specimens, answers the phone, and may perform phlebotomy. A high school diploma is required.
- Phlebotomist – These individuals draw blood samples and process samples. A high school diploma is required. These individuals may have on the job training or have taken a phlebotomy course.
Anatomic and Surgical Pathology Personnel
- Pathology Assistant – These individuals assist the pathologist with their daily duties. These duties include collecting and processing samples and preparing reports to describe their findings.
- Histotechnician/Histotechnologist – These individuals prepare and analyze biological tissues for microscopic examination.
- Cytotechnologist – These individuals process cellular samples obtained through pap smears, needle aspirations, and biopsies.
Certification Agencies
To become a certified laboratory professional, individuals must complete an approved course of study and pass a national certification examination. There are several types of training programs offered. They can be through colleges and universities, hospitals, technical schools, or private institutions. There is typically an academic component as well as a clinical component to the training programs. Certification agencies are independent institutions that provide examinations for the various levels of laboratory professionals. Examples include: American Medical Technologists (AMT) and the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP). Each organization defines the requirements to be eligible to sit for their certification exams and the continuing education requirements necessary to maintain the certification. In our area, the ASCP Board of Certification exam is the most commonly obtained certification.
Relationship with Other Health Professionals
The clinical laboratory professional is a valued member of the healthcare team. They work with nurses, physicians, therapists, and other professionals to provide quality patient care. Many clinical decisions are based on the laboratory test results that MLTs provide.
Additional Resources
- "Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians," U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook.
- "Careers in Laboratory Science," Coordinating Council on the Clinical Laboratory Workforce, LaboratoryScienceCareers.com.
- "ASCP Board of Certification," American Society for Clinical Pathology, ASCP.org.