Top Medical Laboratory Technician Schools Programs

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), there are more than 350+ Medical Laboratory Technician Schools in the United States, with more than 10,000 students enrolling in medical laboratory technician programs yearly.

To be professional, you must undergo Medical Laboratory Technician Schools and learn the required skills and certification to be the best medical laboratory technician. This article will discuss the best medical laboratory schools to mold your life into a successful medical career.

Schools for Medical Lab Technicians

With more than 63% of the average graduation rate for the medical laboratory technician program across all the Schools and Universities across the United States, schools for medical lab technicians are in high demand among medical aspirants.

Every physician requires a support system beside him to diagnose and treat diseases; the same goes for any medical technologist who would always require a medical lab technician to assist him with medical tools and equipment, collecting samples from patients, and preparing them for different medical tests.

Most clinical laboratory technicians or technologists work in hospital and clinic settings, medical and diagnostic laboratories, and physicians’ offices. However, we must advise before considering the medical lab technologist programs.

Considering the following factors directly related to your professional medical career would be best before getting into the medical laboratory technician schools.

• Program Accreditation
• Tuition Fee Structure or Program Cost
• Location
• Job Placement Rates in the past three years
• Scope of Higher Education
• Current Students and Alumni

Different Levels are based on medical lab technician certification programs; you can have below four different types of degrees under any accredited medical laboratory technician school.

The salary scope and growth projection in jobs in this Medical Laboratory Technician is increasing yearly. You can check the following numbers to set the blueprint of your career planning here.

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List of Medical Lab Tech Schools

Community colleges, universities, and technical schools offer medical laboratory technician programs. Here is a list of medical lab tech schools with their contact information. We recommend visiting their sites for detailed information and the latest update.

Medical lab technician schooling provides the needed exposure to medical laboratory science. It gives the environment that sets them free to explore their core interest within the domain of medical lab technologist programs.

Based on your eligibility criteria, you can visit the college website and explore more about the medical laboratory technician programs. You can get various scholarships and education grants each college provides, and keep their site visits regularly for their latest updates.

Eligibility Requirement: MLT Programs

The count doesn’t matter; you must produce the documents before enrolling in such MLT schools. It would be best to meet specific eligibility criteria to get the right fit candidature. The eligibility caps for admission into the Medical Lab Technology schools differ and vary widely based on other schools.

However, there are some general requirements for the MLT programs for every school and institution; we’ve described them as follows.

• High school diploma or Equivalent
  • You can give the General Educational Development (GED) test if you do not have a high school diploma and get the Equivalent course.
• Prerequisite Courses
  • Some MLT programs may or may not require prerequisite courses in subjects like biology, chemistry, math, and English.
• GPA Requirement
  • Every school or college will have a separate GPA score. This is when your scorecard till your class ten matters before you pursue your medical education. Almost all medical laboratory technician schools must require a minimum 2.5 GPA score.
• College Entrance Exam
  • Every school or college would have its set parameters of eligibility tests and, based on that, conduct its own entrance exam to get the best potential.

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Different Medical Lab Technician Schools

Being a lab technician is a journey beyond courses and programs. Different medical lab technical schools offer medical education with such intensive curriculum, structured teaching, exposure, and the environment in the domain of MLT.

Various laboratory technician schools offer medical lab technician programs in the United States. Here you shall get the different medical lab technician schools type that help you be prepared to make an informed decision before getting along with the accredited institutions.

You can earn the medical lab technician certification programs through different kinds of medical laboratory technician schools as follows.

1. Four-year Colleges or Universities
   • Such colleges, universities, or schools provide the 4-year degree course certification in MLT programs under the health sciences or medical laboratory science departments.
2. Two-year Technical Schools and Community Colleges
   • It provides an accelerated 2-year certification program for medical laboratory technicians. In addition, you may get an associate or an applied science degree.
3. Short-Term Programs or Course
   • Such programs are topic oriented with a short-term period of around six months or 12 months and provide practical exposure to the subjectivity of education.
4. Hospital Affiliated Training
   • The various hospitals provide the MLT training course, which the National Accrediting Agency accredits for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS). The duration may vary based on independent hospitals and delivers hands-on laboratory experiences.

Top 5 States with MLT Schools

Here is the list of the top 5 states with the most medical lab technician schools or institutions offering Medical Laboratory Technician programs.

1. Texas – 32 MLT Schools
2. California – 27 MLT Schools
3. Florida – 21 MLT Schools
4. Ohio – 16 MLT Schools
5. Illinois – 15 MLT Schools

Average Fee Structure of MLT Schools

Observing the average cost of medical lab technology programs might give you a reference point to project your budget. If the budget exceeds, you might also get several educational grants and scholarships from the federal government.

Some private institutions have different fee structures for In-State Students than Out-State students, usually slightly lesser than Out-state students. However, most private institution has a similar cost of MLT programs for both types of students.

MLT School Accreditation

Accreditation ensures that a particular medical lab technician program meets specific educational standards. An accreditation organization will recognize a good school, providing all the education regulations, rules, and structures that suit the students.

Accredited school programs would provide the certification validly anywhere across the state and even in the foreign. Students learning from certified schools are considered and recognized first. The following are two accreditation organizations in the United States.

• National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS)
  • Understand that NAACLS is the primary accreditation organization for all MLT programs. The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) recognizes this organization.
• Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES).
  • This organization has been recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). However, it is not the primary body for only the MLT programs but considers all the other healthcare programs.

To pursue the necessary licensure, one must go to accredited schools that provide quality education and training according to the standards set by these accreditation organizations.

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Scope of Medical Lab Technology Programs

You get various opportunities and a broader range of fields and research work in your career after studying the medical lab technology program. We list potential career paths according to your expertise and interests.

However, the different programs hold similarities but provide slightly variant inclusion or exclusion. The following is the title you might be given after you complete your MLT program.

• Medical Laboratory Technologist (MLT)
• Medical Laboratory Technician (MLT)
• Clinical Laboratory Scientist (CLS)
• Clinical Laboratory Technologist (CLT)
• Medical Technologist (MT)

“Innovation and renewal are required to keep a laboratory on the frontiers of science.”

— Burton Richter, Physicist

Becoming a graduate and an expert in the subject domain are two different things with sequential events one after the other. Once you graduate from the medical lab technology program, the following career path will open the door for you to explore your MLT field.

Whether to opt for higher studies, research work or start practicing your career with the license would always be your consideration. There would be a separate procedure for achieving the license to practice your laboratory skills with authorized hospital care or any private clinic.

1. Medical Laboratory Technologist/Technician
   • Both technical and technologist programs have common similarities. However, they exist because of some critical differences. The medical laboratory technician (MLT) has a more limited scope than the medical laboratory technologist (MT).
   • The medical laboratory technologist performs complex lab tests and procedures, fetching the data and accurately analyzing and diagnosing the root causes through their interpretation of the test results.
   • The medical laboratory technician performs routine laboratory tests and procedures, supervised by a medical laboratory technologist, like blood tests, urinalysis, and microbiology tests.
2. Clinical Chemistry Technologist
   • Performing laboratory tests to measure the chemical levels in the blood and other bodily fluids helps diagnose the patient.
   • They have expertise in various chemical compounds in our body and their balance and threshold values that help them analyze and prepare the graph with different chemical composure.
   • They also prepare the hormonal compound of the body fluid using the specimen. A medical technology or life science degree would bring you to an entry-level job as a clinical chemistry technologist.
3. Blood Bank Technologist
   • Blood bank technologists are found in the blood banks, and they’re the first person to process blood donations, measure diseases, and test the compatibility with other recipients.
   • The American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) and National Credentialing Agency for Laboratory Personnel (NCALP) are some accreditation organizations for the blood bank technologist program.
   • The projected job growth in the current decade is 7% from 2020 to 2030, with an annual salary exceeding $60,000.
4. Microbiology Technologists
   • They are professional experts in identifying and analyzing the microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites, collecting samples, and interpreting test results.
   • Microbiology Technologists are responsible for performing antimicrobial susceptibility testing that helps determine the causes behind the infections to suggest the most effective method of diagnosis.
   • Bacteriology, mycology, parasitology, and virology are some areas where microbiology technologists can explore more and pursue higher education or research work.
5. Cytotechnologist
   • The cytotechnologist is responsible for examining the cellular samples, such as cellular cells obtained from Pap smears, fine needle aspirations, or other bodily fluids.
   • They help in identifying abnormal cells and diagnosing cancer and other diseases. They also identify cellular changes and prepare graphs and reports based on their analysis.
   • The annual earning of the cytotechnologist is around $54,180, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). They usually work in hospitals, public health laboratories, clinics, or research centers.

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Conclusion

Journey to MLT, we tried to drill in this article and comprehensively covered the medical laboratory technician schools. We have listed the schools for medical lab technicians and other associate factors such as eligibility, the scope of work, and career growth.

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