Medical Laboratory Technology

FAQs

What is a Medical Laboratory Technology?

  • Medical Lab Tech is the field of health care that performs clinical laboratory tests using analytical pieces of equipment such as instruments, microscopes, and computers to test human body fluids and tissues to help the physician detect, diagnose, treat and prevent diseases.

What is a Medical Technician?

  • A medical laboratory technician is a healthcare professional who performs clinical laboratory tests; these include blood typing (Immunohematology), identifying infectious microorganisms (Microbiology), differentiating human body cells(Hematology) and running chemical tests on blood, urine and spinal fluid (Chemistry/Urinalysis). They act as scientific investigators tracking down clues of possible diseases.

What are Essential Functions?

  • They are established technical standards that must be met by the students in the program. Overall the student must be in good physical health and free from contagious diseases and addictions.
    • Motor Skills – Students must be able to:
      • Work for extended periods of time in small spaces, when needed
      • Manipulate and handle laboratory equipment
      • Utilize keyboard for inputting data
      • Perform venipunctures at the patient’s bedside or in an outpatient area
    • Visual Ability – Students must be able to:
      • Differentiate color changes
      • Read computer screens, lab instruments and procedure manuals
      • Use a clinical grade binocular microscope to discriminate and recognize fine differences in structure and color of microscopic specimens
      • Detect and recognize alarms from instruments and equipment
    • Communication Skills – Students must be able to:
      • Communicate with individuals and groups(i.e. faculty members, staff, patients, and other health care professionals) verbally and in recorded format (unaided oral speech, writing, typing, and graphics)
      • Understand and interpret written and verbal instructions.
    • Mental Ability – Students must be able to:
      • Use good judgment in performing laboratory procedures and validating test results
      • Recognize safety hazards
      • Manage use of time in order to complete tasks within specific time constraints
    • Human Relations – Students must be able to:
      • Work compatibly with other technicians/ technologists as a team member
      • Interact with patients in a concerned and compassionate manner
      • Respond positively to supervision and accept suggestions
      • Interact with hospital personnel and physicians professionally
    • Behavioral Skills – A student must possess adequate behavioral skills to be able to
      • Be honest, compassionate, ethical and responsible. The student must be forthright about errors and uncertainty. Student must be able to critically evaluate his/her own performance, accept constructive criticism and look for ways to improve.
      • Show respect for individuals of different age, race, religion, and/or sexual orientation
      • Be flexible and able to adapt to change
      • Provide professional and technical services while experiencing the stresses of a distracting environment (i.e. high noise level, crowding, complex visual stimuli) and emergent demands (i.e. STAT tests, ringing phones)
      • Exhibit professional behavior by conforming to appropriate standards of dress, appearance, language and public behavior. For example, body piercing and visible tattoos are NOT considered professional appearance.

How many students do you admit to your program each year?

  • We generally admit between 16-24 students between both our on-campus and blended learning programs. Seats are based on the availability of clinical internship seats in the MLT215 Clinical Practice course.

How competitive is admission?

  • We usually receive about 30+ applications. Admittance into the program is based on the petition requirements (completion of prerequisites, Grade point average (GPA) and matriculation date).

What is the cost of your program?

  • Tuition and fees can be found on the MCCC website here.
  • The breakdown for the Medical Laboratory Technology program costs are listed here (pdf):
    • Rates are $175.25 per credit for in-county, $224.75 per credit for out-of-county, $318.25 per credit for out-of-state or international.
    • The NJ Chargeback program is available for this MLT program
      • New Jersey residents who live outside of Mercer County and wish to attend MCCC can apply for chargeback tuition support. Chargeback enables a student to pay in-county tuition rates. The difference in tuition will be paid by the student's home county.
  • For more information on tuition payment, withdrawals and refund policies visit Tuition and Fees.

Can any of your prerequisites or program classes be substituted with other classes or work experience?

  • Most writing, math and other general education classes can be transferred from any regionally accredited college if taken within the last 10 years with a grade of “C” or higher within 2 attempts.
  • Science course can be transferred in if taken within the past 5 years with a grade of “C” or higher within 2 attempts.
  • Students can receive credit via experiential learning, The College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) and DANTES Standardized Tests. Visit .http://www.mccc.edu/student_services_testing_clepdantes.shtml#2
  • To be given credit for an MLT course that was taken at another educational institution, the following criteria must be met:
    • The course must have been taken at a NAACLS approved program of study.
    • The course must be comparable to the didactic and/or laboratory component of the MCCC MLT course.
    • The student must take a written challenge exam for that course (prepared by the college's MLT faculty). The student must pass the written exam with 70% proficiency.
    • The student must take a challenge laboratory practical, if applicable, for the course and meet the required proficiency as stated in the course outline.

When does the program start, how long does it take and when do I get to graduate?

  • Class begins in May and continues for 14 months until the following year. There are 5 terms plus 1 extended term for the clinical internship course. Student progress through the Professional phase as a cohort.

What kind of certification am I eligible for with your program?

  • You will be eligible to take the exam to become nationally certified through accrediting agencies such as ASCP www.ascp.org and AMT www.americanmedtech.org.

Will I get a job after I graduate?

  • Please visit our program outcomes page to see how many graduates are working in the field within 12 months of graduation (employment rate).

What are the practicum requirements?

  • During your program you will be placed at a clinical affiliate site where you will spend your time (8 hours a day, 5 days a week) rotating through 6 different departments, assigned to you by the MLT program, for a total of over 560 hours. Before beginning practicum, students will be required to complete a criminal background check, a drug screen and provide proof of immunizations and health insurance. There are costs associated with completing these requirements.

Can I choose the laboratory site for my clinical practicum?

  • No. Clinical site assignment is determined by the MLT Clinical Coordinator. The Clinical Coordinator inquires with every student clinical site preference, area of residence, main mode of transportation and other important factors for selection of clinical sites. The Clinical Coordinator makes every effort to accommodate student site requests. However, there is no guarantee that your request will be fulfilled. If you know of a new site that would like to host students, a new clinical contract can be developed. Please see the Program coordinator.

I already work in a Laboratory. Can the hours I work be counted as practicum?

  • No. In abiding with our accrediting body, NAACLS, students may not engage in service work during their internship. Practicum hours must be unpaid separate from your regular paid hours.

What happens if while I am going through my practicum rotations, the clinical site decides to discontinue training students?

  • There is a termination clause that has been established and incorporated into our signed clinical affiliate agreement. If students are not able to continue as a result of unforeseen hospital circumstance, the MLT Coordinator will begin to find an alternate site. If another site is unable to accommodate the student, graduation may be delayed.
  • If students are displaced from a site as a result of poor conduct, MLT policies will be followed.