Medical Laboratory Technicians Have a Strong Desire to Help Others

If you are a problem solver who enjoys challenge and responsibility, the career of Medical Laboratory Technology is for you. Medical laboratory technicians are accurate, reliable, and function well under pressure. Technicians must work quickly and carefully to uncover clues in blood and other specimens that indicate health concerns such as diseases and infections. They may hold life and death in their hands because information they provide can influence the type of treatment a patient receives.

And There's Plenty of Variety

The Medical Laboratory Technician program at Lake Area Technical Institute trains students for a high caliber and demanding profession. Medical laboratory technicians are primarily concerned with the patient’s treatment by performing laboratory procedures in microbiology, blood banking, chemistry, hematology, parasitology, serology and urinalysis.

Specific tasks a medical laboratory technician may perform include collecting, grouping, and typing blood; preparing, staining and evaluating blood slides; performing chemical analysis and cell counts on blood; plating cultures; and obtaining electrocardiograms.

Is the Medical Laboratory Technician Field For You?

Manual dexterity, good eyesight and self-discipline are musts for this occupation. The varied testing procedures require a skilled and conscientious person.

Although they spend less time with patients than doctors and other allied health care professionals, medical laboratory technicians play a vital role in patient care. As an important member of the health care team, the medical laboratory technician works closely with the pathologist and other physicians. The test results they provide help to diagnose disease and allow for the appropriate selection of treatment for each patient.

Job Opportunities

Hospitals need competent laboratory personnel and medical laboratory technicians to help meet increased demands for laboratory service in nearly every city, town and rural area. Approximately two-thirds work in hospital laboratories. Others are employed in physicians’ offices, clinics, commercial firms, research facilities, the armed forces, public health centers, industrial and pharmaceutical laboratories, and veterinary clinics.

Students completing the program are eligible to take a national certification exam. The Lake Area Tech Medical Laboratory Technology program is accredited by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS - 8410 W. Bryn Mawr Avel, Suite 670, Chicago, IL 60631. Phone: 773.714.8880).

Recommended Background Courses

Although not required, the following courses would be beneficial to this course of study prior to attending Lake Area Technical Institute: Health, Science, Algebra, Chemistry, Biology, English, Communications, Math, Computer.