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Medical technologist
A medical laboratory scientist (MLS) (also referred to as a medical technologist, a clinical scientist, or clinical laboratory technologist) is a healthcare professional who performs chemical, hematological, immunologic, microscopic, and bacteriological diagnostic analyses on body fluids such as blood, urine, sputum, stool, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), peritoneal fluid, pericardial fluid, and synovial fluid, as well as other specimens. Medical laboratory scientists work in clinical laboratories as well as hospitals, physician’s offices, reference labs, biotechnology labs and non-clinical industrial labs.
In the United States, a medical laboratory scientist (MLS), medical technologist (MT) or clinical laboratory scientist (CLS, California only) typically earns a bachelor’s degree in clinical laboratory science, biomedical science, medical technology or in a life / biological science (biology, biochemistry, microbiology, etc.), in which case certification from an accredited training program is also required. Medical technologists who are certified and in good standing by a number of certification bodies, including the National Medical Laboratory Science Council or the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) are entitled to use the credential “MLS” after their names.
Subspecialties also requiring a four-year degree include cytotechnologists, who study cells and cellular anomalies, and histotechnologists, who work on the detection of tissue abnormalities and the treatment for the diseases causing the abnormalities.
In addition, there are also medical laboratory technicians (MLTs) who earn two-year degrees plus certification.
In the United States, the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA ’88) define the level of qualification required to perform tests of various complexity. Clinical laboratory scientists, medical technologists and medical laboratory scientists are the highest level of qualification, and are generally qualified to perform the most complex clinical testing including HLA testing (also known as tissue typing) and blood type reference testing.
Most medical technologists are generalists, skilled in all areas of the clinical laboratory. However some are specialists, qualified by unique undergraduate education or additional training to perform more complex analyses than usual within a specific field. Specialties include clinical biochemistry, hematology, coagulation, microbiology, bacteriology, toxicology, virology, parasitology, mycology, immunology, immunohematology (blood bank), histopathology, histocompatibility, cytopathology, genetics, cytogenetics, electron microscopy, and IVF labs.
Medical technologists with such a specialty may use additional credentials, such as “SBB” (Specialist in Blood Banking) from the American Association of Blood Banks, or “SH” (Specialist in Hematology) from the ASCP.
In the United States, Medical Laboratory Scientists can be certified and employed in infection control. These professionals monitor and report infectious disease findings to help limit iatrogenic and nosocomial infections. They may also educate other healthcare workers about such problems and ways to minimize them.
Time for Labs to Use Web To Recruit Med Techs
CEO SUMMARY: On the Web, clinical laboratories have a chance to identify potential new hires weeks or months in advance and to interact with potential job candidates in ways that were not possible in the past. An experienced lab recruiter explains how labs can benefit from these …
October 4, 2010 “Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
In Hawaii, two competing clinical laboratory companies have joined forces to save a medical technologist (MT) training program from closure. Together, Clinical Laboratories of Hawaii, LLP (CLH–owned by Sonic Healthcare), and Diagnostic Laboratory Services, …
Irish Labs Are at an Important Crossroads
GLOBAL OUTSOURCING OF CLINICAL LABORATORY TESTING IN IRELAND has entered its second phase. The Irish Health Service Executive (HSE) granted Quest Diagnostics Incorporated a contract for an additional two-years of cervical cancer screening tests while…
Is Lab Industry Ready for Facebook and MySpace?
WHO COULD HAVE IMAGINED, JUST A FEW YEARS AGO, that social networking sites such as Facebook.com, MySpace.com, and YouTube.com would become a useful platform that allows clinical laboratories, pathology groups, and in vitro diagnostics (IVD) companie…
New Clinical Lab Trends To Shape Events in 2010
CEO SUMMARY: In presenting this list of macro trends for clinical laboratories, several themes are in play. They range from a continued emphasis on improving lab operations to the need to acquire and deploy sophisticated information technology. During the next few years, the long…
August 10, 2009 “Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Last week, the pathology profession got a new professional group. It is the Digital Pathology Association (DPA) and it was formed by several companies offering digital pathology systems and services. DPA’s founders say it will support digital pathology education initiatives, define…
Biotech Start-Up Firms Hiring Lab Professionals
CEO SUMMARY: It may be a tough job market right now for laboratory professionals. But investors, lured by the potential of personalized medicine and molecular diagnostics, continue to pour investment capital into new companies. In turn, these companies are actively recruiting exp…
Kaiser in Colorado Uses Lab Test Data to Improve Cardiac Care
CEO SUMMARY: Proud of a 73% reduction in mortality among patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) at Kaiser Permanente Colorado, clinical care teams there demonstrate how integrated care and more effective use of laboratory test data can lead to remarkable improvements in pati…
Laboratory Industry Has “Elephant in the Room”
CEO SUMMARY: In almost every laboratory across the United States and in several countries around the globe, one much-discussed topic in recent weeks has been the Vitamin D testing program deficiencies at Quest Diagnostics Incorporated. Yet, even as rank and file laboratorians act…
Labs Need to Respond To Inaccurate Results
CEO SUMMARY: What does a lab do when it discovers that it has reported inaccurate test results? In 2004, a turnaround team arrived at the laboratory of Maryland General Hospital in Baltimore to deal with the consequences of a failed infectious disease testing program. For about t…
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Volume XXXII, No. 6 – April 21, 2025
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