The Medical Laboratory program is designed to prepare students to function as members of the clinical laboratory health care team. Medical laboratory science professionals are vital healthcare detectives, uncovering and providing laboratory data that assist physicians in patient diagnosis and treatment, as well as in disease monitoring and prevention. Medical laboratory science professionals use sophisticated biomedical instrumentation and methods requiring manual dexterity to generate accurate laboratory data. One of the strengths of the program is the strong hands-on laboratory skills that the graduate possesses. These skills can be applied to a variety of settings including hospital labs, reference labs, doctor’s offices and clinics, industrial labs, environmental testing, and quality control testing.
Clinical laboratory testing encompasses such disciplines as clinical chemistry, hematology, immunology, microbiology, and transfusion medicine. Students in the program learn to perform routine laboratory testing such as identification of microorganisms, chemical analysis of patient specimens, identification of blood cells, and the cross-matching of blood for transfusion. The program includes student learning experiences both on campus and in the clinical laboratory. These educational experiences allow students to acquire the basic entry-level competencies necessary to function in a clinical laboratory setting.
Job demand is predicted to continue to rise for the medical laboratory technician. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2016), Ohio is one of the largest employers of medical laboratory technicians in the country. The annual mean wage for medical laboratory technicians in Ohio is currently $43,700. Employment of medical laboratory technicians nationwide is projected to grow 13 percent from 2016 to 2026, much faster than the average for all occupations. The Medical Laboratory program is fully accredited by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS), 5600 N. River Rd., Suite 720, Rosemont, IL 60018-5119, 773-714-8880, https://www.naacls.org. After successful completion of the program, the graduate is eligible to take the national certification exam given by The American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP).
The Medical Laboratory program is a selective program limited to a maximum of 20 students per year. A complete list of admission criteria, including prerequisites, may be obtained from the following: www.zanestate.edu/programs/medical-laboratory.
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