Congratulations to CLS and Cytogenetic students Maureen, Fernie, Magda, and Betzaida who won first prize in the banner contest for the Health Professions Fair held on November 1.

Clinical Laboratory Sciences

The Clinical Laboratory Science Program is accredited by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences.

The Profession

Clinical laboratory science, the study and practice of diagnostic laboratory medicine, is a dynamic health care profession. The profession encompasses a variety of laboratory professionals including clinical laboratory scientists, cytogeneticists, cytologists, and histologists. Clinical laboratory professionals provide 70% of the critical objective information for diagnosis, treatment and preventative health care. These individuals analyze body tissues and fluids using complex instrumentation, sophisticated techniques and specialized knowledge.

 

Clinical laboratory scientists (CLS), also called medical technologists (MT) and clinical laboratory technicians (CLT), also called medical laboratory technicians (MLT) work primarily in hospital, physician office and reference laboratories. They perform many routine and complex tests that help the physician diagnose and treat the patient. For example, diabetics must be monitored closely to assure that their glucose is within acceptable limits. The laboratory professional will take a blood specimen from the diabetic and test it for glucose. Based on results of this test, the patient's insulin levels are adjusted.

 

Here is a link to a 12 minute video entitled  “A Life Saved : Laboratory Professionals Make a Difference” 
This poignant and moving story about a child with leukemia helps to demonstrate the active and  vital role that clinical laboratory scientists and other laboratory personnel play in every lab in the country on a daily basis.  View the video.

 

Cytogenetics is a highly complex specialty area of the clinical diagnostic laboratory. Cytogeneticists are laboratory professionals who analyze tissue samples in an effort to detect genetic abnormalities. These abnormalities may be hereditary or acquired. The cytogeneticist assists the physician in correlating the chromosome anomaly to the individual's medical condition. Much of the progress that has been made in diagnosing and treating disorders of the bloodand bone marrow is directly related to the advances in cytogenetics.

 

Cytologists are laboratory specialists who study cells microscopically to determine whether the cells are normal or abnormal. These are the individuals who receive biopsies to determine whether a malignancy is present.

 

Histologists are laboratory specialists who prepare tissue specimens for examination by cytologists and pathologists. They perform special stains on the specimens to help the cytologist and pathologist identify and differentiate cells.

 

Clinical laboratory professionals seldom have contact with patients because they work more closely with physicians, researchers and other health care professionals in disease investigation, consultation, and interpretation of laboratory results. If you like science, particularly the laboratory, and you want to be a part of the health care team but do not want to deal directly with patients, one of the clinical laboratory science professions may be for you. We welcome you to come and visit our facility and gain some first-hand knowledge of the type of work done in the clinical laboratory.

 

Career Opportunities for CLS Graduates

The U.S. bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts a rapid growth in the job market for clinical laboratory professionals with excellent employment opportunities. The growth rate for these jobs is projected to be 14% between 2006-2016, with 43,000 new jobs due to increased demand for clinical laboratory testing. This is in addition to positions that will be available due to retirement, change of profession, etc. In the most recent years there are about 4,000 new graduates per year to fill these positions. The ASCP Wage and Vacancy Survey in 2005 indicated that 44% of laboratories were experiencing difficulty in finding and hiring laboratory professionals. Vacancy rates vary between 6-11%. Little is known about this critical shortage because laboratory professionals work behind the scenes and rarely interact with patients or the public. Due to the shortage of clinical laboratory professionals, graduates from our programs have no problems finding jobs. Most have positions before they graduate. See "Success Stories." The median annual earnings in 2006 were reported to be $49,700. Pay varies widely depending on geographical area, experience level and place of employment.