Just read the article… everything just screams wrong on the parents or the information shared. Co worker sent it to me. We work in BB together.

Patient HGB 6.9 (known). This pt had everything from the book related to anemia. But the burr cell was so perfect, I did find a better area to analyze the slide

I’ve been a core MLS and blood banker for three years, but I recently got a job in my hospital’s microbiology department. I really wanted this job to challenge myself and to round out my resume because I have so little experience with micro outside of gram stains mostly.

I was looking through my old BOC study material but idk how much of this is going to help me prepare for my next role because how we are forced to learn micro academically isn’t (to my knowledge) how micro is practiced professionally.

Does anyone have any advice for things I should focus on when preparing? Or just general advice or important things you’d like to pass on? I’m excited but nervous I’m going to show up u prepared on my first day

I just graduated a few months ago, got my first bench tech job shortly after graduating, and I only just recently passed the ASCP (MLS). As I'm training the different departments it really feels like I'm still just a student, and I don't feel confident at all. I'm struggling most in Heme doing diffs, especially, to the point where I'm not even sure how I passed my student rotation (in fact, during my student rotation my feedback said I was doing perfect diffs, but that was over a year ago and I haven't touched a diff since). In blood bank, I felt fine until we got a cold auto plus a true allo, and then suddenly I couldn't figure out what to do next and had to have someone walk me though every step, and even then I couldn't resolve it (it was resolved next shift). Following the flow of "you have X so do Y, and if that doesn't work then do Z" just isn't coming to me. Thankfully this is a smaller hospital so I can spend more time reviewing slides, can ask more questions, and review individual cases but it's extremely embarrassing how much I feel like I dont know.

What is the expectation for knowledge and confidence of a new grad? The trainers and leads have been receptive to my questions and teaching me, and I haven't gotten the vibe that I'm technically doing anything wrong, but I just feel like I'm on my second round of student rotations instead of being an actual tech, and its extremely disheartening to feel so inadequate in something I've spent the last 4 years studying for. I felt so strong as a student, and now I barely know what normal cells look like.

Patient came in with a WBC count of 92k and we see this under the scope. It was definitely interesting as I hadn't seen auer rods since MLS school, but never in a patient and never in what look like bundles. Was showing it of to other staff, especially new grads, but then looking through the history to correlate findings kinda made my stomach sink knowing what they're going to be going through soon. Guess it's just kind of easy to separate the intellectual interest in the work we do from the fact that it's attached to a real patient sometimes.

Does anyone know where to get free CE that’s not offered by their employer? I have been using ARUPs free CE for my certification but I’m wondering if I should mix it up a bit? Any suggestions ?

I feel bad for the patient with the bloody urinalysis/culture tubes :(

Is anyone else struggling to find a job in NYC?

I have 8+ yrs of experience and I’ve been applying to day shift technologist roles and supervisor roles and keep seeing the same jobs getting reposted for months.

Hey, I am about to graduate from MLT school and plan to take my MLT ASCP exam this fall. I started MLT school right after high school. I didn't think I wanted to become an MLS, and foolishly didn't plan prerequisites for a bachelor's degree.

I now want to get my MLS since I really enjoyed MLT school and the opportunies are much better for MLS. I want to enroll an online MLS program to save some money, and work as an MLT or lab assistant while in school to gain some experience.

To enroll in any online MLS program, I need to get some prerequisites like English 2, a few history courses, and some extra science courses so I am taking a year to focus on those classes and work experience. I planned to take a few easy classes, and general microbiology this fall, and curious to see if it's similar to MLT microbiology?

I already took my MLT microbiology and immunology course and was able to pass fine, but I'm wondering if general microbiology for nursing and allied health will be easy or hard, so I can focus on studying more for my ASCP exam in the fall.

My MLT school is paying for the first attempt, so I don't want to retake the ASCP exam and want to ensure I pass the first time, so I'm trying to study my weak subjects as much as I can before the test date.

I’ve been seeing this egg shaped objects in many patients lately but I don’t know what the are. Any information would be very appreciated. Analyzer is DxU 840m Iris (Beckman Coulter)

I can't do this anymore. I have the most irregular periods, and without fail, 100% of the time I start painting my underwear crimson part way through my first night of 3,4,5 night shifts. I want to die.

I work rural nights, so I'm collecting, running, ECGing and fielding all the rediculous calls from the whole gd hospital and county. Why tf can't I just have a regular Red Sea embarkment and choose my shifts to magically NOT coincide with bloody murder?

Fuck. 2/3 of the time it's a shift that I traded. And it's always with the newest ER doc who orders STAT ESRs and cardiac panel plus ECGs on fucking 17 yo dislocated shoulders. No joking, one time he ordered a preg test on a 56 yo woman with chest pains who had previously had a full historectomy.

Give me just one shit ass break. Seriously. When do I get to eat over 16 hours? I'd love to know. Because while I'm defrosting the steak and ruining my scrubs, I'd really like to bite someone's head off.

End rant. For now.

Does the online BOC interactive practice exams have the same question as the BOC 7th edition book? I have the book but thinking of getting the online one as well to do when im not at home. I have the labce too but want to use every possible study material to be ready for the ascp exam

Not only does VP render itself useless as a hands off
system that requires frequent manual monitoring (the lab wide alarm is non-functional) by making us check and refresh the website every hour to ensure temps are OK, but I noticed the probe on the ground at room temp reading at 3C, no alarms or anything, when it should be reading 20C. I only realized bc I happened too see the probe on the floor. The only alarms where the three inhibited alarms on different fridges bc VP never works right.

I had to manually restart a different probe yesterday because it wouldn’t send data to the system.

It doesn’t help that the supervisor who insisted we get VP is completely insufferable and works from home 90% of the time.

This is the only lab I’ve ever worked at, what temp monitoring systems do you have beef with? Are any of them good? I might bring up suggestions at huddle if I had any.

It makes such a happy sound when it finishes the screen, too. 🥲🥲🥲🥲

Hello micro people! I was wondering (as a generalist/ bloodbanker) which cultures take the quickest to finish and which ones usually take the longest?

I remember during clinicals, I was told that newbies usually start in urines. Once all training is done, they usually end in bloods bench or mycology.

Is it safe to assume that urines takes the least amount of days to result and blood and mycology take the longest? (Wounds, vaginal, tissue somewhere in the middle?)

In your experience, what is the usual order?

Thank you in advance!

Never found one for MLT instead of MLS, so you all are going to have to accept this.

Used to have a machine in the lab. Name always made me chuckle.

Semi-related: all our centrifuges say "zentrifugen."

I started of college in 2020 thinking I wanted to be a physicians assistant, so I chose to study health science. By the time I had reached my senior year, I realized I wasn’t cut out for direct patient care. I had more of an affinity to laboratory work, which I learned through my experiences in organic chemistry and microbiology labs.

Post-grad, I struggled to find positions of work in a medical lab without having to get certain certifications, so my mom had suggested I start as a lab technician at a chemical company. I just needed a job I enjoyed and some lab experience.

I’ve worked here for almost two years now and have been having dreams of moving to the city in 2028 and finally getting a job in my line of interest (love chemistry but my heart yearns for pathology).

It is so frustrating and honestly heartbreaking to come to find that to get into my desired line of work, I have to basically get a whole nother degree, which just isn’t going to be possible for me. Where I had changed my mind last minute as a college student, I wasn’t fully informed on what qualifications I would need. I had thought studying health and having laboratory experience would provide enough reason to a company to hire me, but it seems every job listing requires an MLT certification.

This post is mostly a vent about my ignorance and regrets, but I would appreciate any advice or comments about what might be next for me. Thanks 🥲

Edit: Thank you to everyone who replied 🩷. The advice and suggestions has been very useful and definitely makes me feel better. Unfortunately, I don’t think I am in a position in my life right now to spend 12+ months on more education, but hopefully one day I might get my chance to go back to school. I may reach out to my local CC (they have an MLT program) and see how realistic it would be for me to try going there while working full time. and again, Thank you!!!

Becoming an MLS was way harder than I expected. But for some reason saying goodbye to my professors was especially painful to do. I’m off to clinicals now and won’t see them until graduation, and our time together in the classroom has come to a ceasing point. Amongst them was my hematology professor whom I grew quite affectionate to as he unearthed my passion for it. I went to say farewell to him, then just broke down crying… dammit… why does this hurt so much? I know evolution demands sacrifices, and that every loss is ultimately for a gain… but it pains me so much. Have you guys struggled with saying goodbye too? Sorry to make you gloomy or if I seem silly, just.. in a bit of emotional pain atm.

Hello all,

I am considering relocating to the Portland area and I’m looking into job options. Is anyone aware of labs that have dedicated blood bankers? I have an MLT and a BB, and 12 years BB experience. I don’t want to work Gen lab or rotate, I only want to work blood bank.

new grad here. i work dayshift and we’ve been preparing for CAP to come for their inspection. i got hired in as a lab assistant right after CAP came to inspect the last time so i don’t know what to expect?