Purpose:
The curriculum is designed to prepare students to perform essential laboratory testing on blood and body fluids that is critical to the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of disease. In a medical laboratory, the MLT is part of a team of highly skilled pathologists, technologists, and phlebotomists working together to determine the presence, extent or absence of disease, and helping to evaluate effectiveness of treatment. This program emphasizes “hands-on” practice of laboratory methods in a state-of-the-art laboratory at the Medical Education Campus in Springfield, followed by clinical experience at various affiliating health care organizations.
Upon completion of the program graduates will be eligible to take the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) Board of Certification examination, and other national certification examinations offered at the technician level.
Transfer Information:Transfer is not the primary purpose of an A.A.S. program, but NOVA has articulation agreements that facilitate the transfer of this and other career-oriented programs to selected senior institutions. Students interested in transfer should contact a counselor or their faculty advisor early in their program.
Career Opportunities: Employment for Medical Laboratory Technicians is available in hospital laboratories, private laboratories, physicians' office laboratories, health department laboratories, and industrial medical laboratories.
Admission Requirements:
Students must:
- Comply with all General Admission Requirements for Allied Health and Nursing Programs.
- Attend a Medical Laboratory Technology Information Session.
- Be eligible for MTH 163 as shown by satisfactory scores on the NOVA placement tests.
- Complete with a grade of “C” or higher: BIO 101 or BIO elective (exclusive of BIO 205); CHM 101 or CHM 111, ENG 111, SDV 101.
- Document a GPA of at least 2.0 at last school attended.
- Have proficiency in computer skills and possess ready access to the internet for select online assignments.
Special Accreditation Status: The program is accredited by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS); 5600 North River Road, Suite 720, Rosemont, Illinois 60018; Phone: 773-714-8880; Fax: 773-714-8886; http://www.naacls.org/.
1 CST 110 Intro to Communication or CST 126 Interpersonal Communication may be substituted for CST 229.
2 The PED requirement may be met by one of the following options: PED 116, 2 cr.; or PED 116, 1 cr. plus a PED activities course, 1 cr.; or PED 116, 1 cr. plus RPK activities course. PED 116 is offered as both a 1-credit and a 2-credit course.
3 The social science elective may be selected from the social/behavioral sciences courses listed under General Education Electives.
4 Humanities/fine arts elective may be selected from the humanities/fine arts courses listed under General Education Electives.