10 Things You’ll Love about Being a Medical Laboratory Technician

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10 Things You’ll Love about Being a Medical Laboratory Technician
On August 26, 2016

The medical laboratory technician is a behind-the-scenes medical position can save lives without even encountering patients. This important profession receives bodily fluids, tests the specimens and reports the findings, which help doctors diagnose the problem. Science-passionate mathletes seeking a rewarding career in the medical field should consider this 18-month associate degree program. I sat down with medical laboratory technology program chair and resident microscope aficionado Dianne Szarka to find out more about the ultra-important role.

Medical Laboratory Technician | Stautzenberger College

10. Multi-tasking is Key, and it’s Essential

“As a medical laboratory technician, you will never have a dull moment,” stated Stautzenberger College program chair Diane Szarka, “In smaller places, the MLT may be running the full profile of a patient admitted to the emergency room. If the patient is just some person found on the street, this could include a drug toxicity panel or perhaps a complete blood profile to see if the patient was exceedingly anemic or perhaps in a diabetic coma.”

9. Make a (Life-or-Death) Difference

“Doctors depend on your answers in order to determine the correct procedure,” according to Szarka. If the incorrect procedure is performed (ex: treating a patient for a diabetic coma when the patient was actually in insulin shock), lives can be lost. Each day is different and each day is a challenge.

8. Science is King and You Can Pick Your Favorite Kind (or not!)

When Szarka worked at a hospital in D.C., she had the fortune of collaborating with the National Institute of Health. Together, they developed a protocol used profession-wide in surgeries today. This consisted of infusing the surgical site with the patient’s own platelets, thereby decreasing time needed for healing and an outcome with less scar tissue.
If stories like this excite you, research could be your calling card. That’s the beauty of becoming a medical laboratory technician. You can specialize, perhaps in research, viruses (like Zika or Ebola), or you can generalize your skillset. It is your preference.

7. You Have More Focus than the Hubble Telescope

As Szarka notes, being a medical laboratory technician is a “thinking person’s game” and it starts on day one. This is not a job that can be accomplished mindlessly and requires the medical professional to be fully present in order to help patients.

6. Math is Your Superpower

There is a saying in the medical laboratory technology profession: Death by decimal point. It’s crucial to ask yourself after each test run: Do your results seem logical? Just because you put numbers in your calculator doesn’t mean your answer will make sense. Can you hang 20 liters of an IV solution on a patient or two liters? Medical laboratory technology is a thinking-person’s game, not an assembly line, so an aptitude for math goes hand-in-hand with critical thinking.

5. You’re a Detail-Oriented Perfectionist, You Know It and You’re Not Afraid to Show It

Working with small samples, and sometimes multi-tasking with small samples, requires a great deal of organization. Details come and go everyday into the laboratory, and as the MLT it’s your responsibility that everything is systematic.

4. Problem-solving Your Way to a Solution Gives You a Massive Sense of Accomplishment

Szarka has an excellent example for this one: “A couple months after graduation, I took over the chemistry lab at a Cleveland hospital. The emergency room staff brought up a sample to have the glucose level tested for a patient they said was in a diabetic coma. I went to run the test, and did not get the expected reaction. I then called down to have another sample sent up for a re-test, and I still got the same result. After completion of the second test, I determined the patient was in insulin shock, which is the opposite of diabetic coma.”

Had it not been for Szarka’s propensity to problem-solve, the patient in question would have died instantly. Even though Szarka has an aptitude for math, she thought through her process before jumping to a conclusion. Perhaps she was given the wrong sample, or was told the wrong patient? Could it be that her instrument was faulty? After ruling out all of these possibilities, she was able to save someone’s life.

3. You are the Proud Owner of a Strong(-ish) Stomach

Your gloves may be sterile, but that doesn’t mean the contents you’re examining are. Fecal samples aren’t known for smelling super fresh and things can get messy if you’re not careful. While there isn’t much face-to-face interaction with patients there is certainly more than enough contact with their bodily fluids (IE: fecal, urine, blood, semen, etc.) In many medical careers, not getting easily grossed out is a required proficiency and the medical laboratory technician is no exception.

2. Test Tubes Don’t Talk Back, and You’re Glad About It

This is one role where your success will not necessarily depend on customer service. Do teamwork and professionalism go far in this field? Of course. Are you expected to plaster a grin on your face at all times? Absolutely not.

1. You Don’t Have the Time, Money or Patience for a 4-year Degree

According to Szarka, the medical industry is the overall leader in hiring employees in Cuyahoga County. Not all medical positions require as much school as you think… at Stautzenberger College, students can complete an associate of applied science in medical laboratory technology in 18 months.

If this article applies to you or someone that you know, please call the Brecksville campus at 440-838-1999 for more information.

 

 

 

 

Kelsey Cullen Stautzenberger College

Kelsey Cullen has been gaining public relations, advertising and marketing experience in the Cleveland-Akron area since 2010. Cullen joined Stautzenberger College as a Community Outreach Coordinator in January 2016. She wears many hats at the school; including admissions, event planning, social media producing and guest speaking in high schools. Cullen is currently engaged to Kevin Kelsey (no that is not a typo) and is an admitted crazy cat mom to Rorschach and Crash.

 

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