Clinical Laboratory Personnel

Field of Study — Clinical Laboratory Science

Clinical laboratory scientists and clinical laboratory technicians (medical technologists and medical laboratory technicians) perform lab tests to detect, diagnose and treat diseases. Most clinical laboratory personnel work in hospital laboratories. Many also are employed by private physicians, medical groups, public health and environmental laboratories, research facilities, pharmaceutical and biomedical companies, universities, industrial medical laboratories, molecular diagnostic laboratories and the armed forces.

Clinical laboratory technicians:

perform laboratory procedures on the fluids, cells and tissues of the body.
use microscopes, sophisticated precision instruments and computers.
collect blood specimens.
inoculate culture media to identify bacteria.
monitor the quality of tests and procedures.
report unusual or abnormal results to clinical laboratory scientists or pathologists.

Clinical laboratory scientists:

perform complex and standard laboratory analysis.
evaluate the effect of a patient’s physiological condition on test results.
confirm test results and provide physicians with data needed to determine the presence, extent, cause and treatment of disease.
design, establish and monitor quality control programs to ensure accurate test results.
manage financial operations, marketing and human resources to assure cost-effectiveness and quality of clinical laboratory services.
conduct research for publication and evaluate published studies.
use information management systems to report laboratory data.
evaluate emerging diagnostics, test systems and interpretive algorithms.
provide education and consultative interactions with members of the healthcare team, customer service, and patients.

With additional education, clinical laboratory scientists and technicians can become specialists in the following areas: clinical chemistry, microbiology, hematology, immunology, blood banking, virology, molecular biology and laboratory safety.

Educational Requirements

Students intending to pursue a clinical laboratory career should prepare by taking the most challenging high school courses available in science, math and English.

To become a clinical laboratory scientist, students must either have a bachelor’s degree in clinical laboratory science (medical technology) or an acceptable combination of higher education plus laboratory experience.

To become a clinical laboratory technician, an individual must have an associate’s degree in medical laboratory technology or an acceptable combination of an associate’s degree and laboratory experience. Individuals seeking to become technicians or laboratory scientists must pass a national certification examination.

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Educational Institutions

Professional Associations

American Medical Technologists
710 Higgins Road
Park Ridge, IL 60068
(847) 823-5169
http://www.amt1.com
American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science
6701 Democracy Blvd.
Suite 300
Bethesda, MD 20817
(301) 657-2768
http://www.ascls.org
Virginia Society for Clinical Laboratory Science
P.O. Box 1077
Warrenton, VA 20188
http://www.vscls.org

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Average Salary Range

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Clinical Laboratory Personnel

Educational Requirements

Educational Institutions

Virginia Colleges and Universities

Virginia Community Colleges

Virginia Hospitals and Health Care Facilities

Virginia Proprietary Schools

Professional Associations