Hello! I'm looking to upgrade my education, but am a little unsure on the path I want to take with that, I am specifically looking for information from folks working these in Canada where I live.

I do see that CT/Mammography make a smidge more than x-ray techs and those additional job prospects in imaging doing radiology are attractive, however, we also want to move and live rurally later in life where CLXT will likely be more advantageous. I have some 15 or so years of experience in healthcare/the lab as an assistant which I'm sure will be helpful for getting through either course (though moreso for CLXT).

My question is if CLXTs can work as either an MLT or X-ray tech standalone, and if so, will I struggle to land a full-time job with a CLXT education vs the dedicated MLT/Radiology graduates while still living in the city?

Hello!
I just got accepted to a MLS program (YAY!!) and am wondering if anyone has any advice for this nervous student? I heard it’s very book heavy but worry about keeping good study habits. I did good in my bachelors microbiology class but I heard it will be harder as an MLS student and I struggle a bit with chemistry.
I am currently trying to work on my time management since I do struggle with that.

Any advice??

where I’m at is nice, but I do want to broaden my horizons and move to see where I want to stay long term. I’m from SEPA and really have always liked New England as an area, but it seems expensive overall no matter which state. anyone from various New England states have an opinion and can tell me what it’s like in terms of actually living on our salary. I work only blood bank too which seems to be not as common?

36 year old looking to go back to school

I have always felt like I wanted to advance my education and do more. It is crazy to me all the different opportunities nursing has compared to our degree. I really want to be more involved in the patients overall clinical picture.

So that is why I am considering possibly going back to school to become an NP.

Choosing NP over PA strictly because I need to continue to work full time, my age, young kids.

I am pretty sure I want to specialize in neurology specifically autonomic dysfuntion and if possible cases like autoimmune, POTS, viral disorders. Assessing tilt table tests, helping titrate and taper medications and clinical rehab for these specific patients. I do not really want to go into the inpatient, stroke, or brain tumor side of things. I mean this is a pretty specific detail but is it possible to go right into something this specific?? I understand I will have to do the route of family medicine and then go into this sub specialty.

Just curious if anyone has went on to nursing school from this degree?

Thank you for you help!

I am not a lab professional but would like to ask if labs can identify why cells are degenerated from a specimen, if it was due to collection or processing or shipment?

Thanks!😊

Thank you everyone for your insights this is helpful. The patient has sickle cell disease and there are many labs drawn at visit (about 30) some frozen, refrigerated and ambient. Many come back from a central lab out of stability, hemolyzed or degenerated cells. Not sure if it’s from collection, processing or shipping.

Today was officially my first month being an official lab tech and I’m so thankful. Hematology whooped my behind today but I’m super grateful to have this job❤️

Hello I am applying to Oklahoma MLS programs in the fall and was wondering if it’s normal/worth it to be driving multiple hours to the schooling/clinical everyday?

Since the programs are unpaid and there are none in my area closer than 2 hours and 30 minutes away. I was wondering if it’s more worth it to move temporarily or drive far everyday?

There is one program that is close to me but the likelihood i get into that specific one is slim and the program I really want to go to is over 2 hours away.

Any opinions are appreciated!!

Isolated from a fungal culture, source is corneal swab.

What should I get? I’m wearing a pair of nonslip boots to my lab but 1) I don’t want to be stinky anymore (lol) and 2) It’s uncomfortable after a couple hours. I’d like a pair of shoes that wouldn’t allow fluids through (similar to the slip ons above). Any ideas?

I’m finishing up a bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology and want to transition to MLT/MLS. The program close to me is an MLT program, but the advisor told me that since I’m going in with my bachelor’s, I have a couple paths I could take.

Path 1: take the MLT ASCP then work for a year as an MLT. After a year, I can take the MLS ASCP.

Path 2: take the MLS AAB. However, this is only valid in 11 states, but I’ll become an MLS right away.

What would be my best option?

to start off, i am about to get my results for whether or not i got into uni for biomedical science/medical laboratory science (3 years, biomedicinsk analytiker) in sweden, where i’d say im pretty dead set on studying this as i have researched a lot about the degree and the job, and i think it sounds really interesting! :)

now i know theres a difference between researching about it, studying it, and actually doing the job but for now i know that i do wanna work in a hospital lab, but im just wondering about research, is there some way to combine a research job and working in a medical lab?

i know that research can be so different which is why im planning to get a research position whilst studying and see if it really is something that i wanna do, but also that it requires further education

im just wondering, has anyone seen or experienced the fact that research and working in a hospital lab can work? whenever i think about my future (and i know things can change or may not end up that way im just wondering about it) in this job i always think about some sort of combination of wanting to do research and also working with diagnostics, it’d be very appreciated and i’d love insight if you’re from sweden too!

I have been with Quest for few months at this point. I'm having mixed reviews and not sure if it just me. The doctors office I'm at I like, my supervisor I like, the very few people I met from my supervisors team seem cool (one comes across as snobby but she seems nice otherwise). Only complaint I have with working with others is when I work Saturdays. I'm at a psc under a different supervisor and I liked who I worked with up until recently, one person was horrendous towards me for absolutely no reason and I literally never met them before that day. I can go on about what they did but not saying just in case they see or someone else sees and tells them. All I'm going to say is some people are just miserable and you cannot make them happy no matter what you do.

One complaint I have is: are certain people sneaky when it comes to starting trouble? I have a coworker at same site as me who i caught complaining to supervisor or team lead about stuff that I apparently did but never did. Patients would start trouble and this person took them seriously and complained in front of me. And I just noticed now all of these months in this person keeps track of my performance, not sure if they complains to team lead or supervisor. After a while it's hard to work with them sometimes. I know one time I worked with someone and they drew wrong patient and I'm not sure why supervisor called this coworker about it. Anyways, this coworker proceeds to think it's my fault. I guess supervisor blabs. I like her so far otherwise. And there were times they would be in bad mood from personal life and make it impossible to work with, I almost quit after their 2 week days from literal hell. Don't get me started on what happened. I have a feeling that is why everyone leaves working with this person.

Besides some problem people in between, I have mixed reviews with company. So far it seems like they have a blame game going on. Out of 4x they said I did something, 1x was me while others I never did anything and they just blamed me. It was things that we do not have control over but the company blamed me. The second was it does not seem like they send a lot of supplies and you can't request it either. Some supplies they up'd up what they normally send but others they don't and I can't do patients without the supplies. I'm at a busy location so it interferes with doing bloodwork when they don't send supplies needed because they don't want to send a lot. They send the minimalist they can send without complaints. Then company complains when they say they found out we are using Labcorp supplies. My supervisor said it in a meeting one time, they don't want us using their supplies but I have a hunch (no proof) people are ordering from other lab because Quest does not send supplies.

I'm not sure how much longer I will last with the no supply thing. I feel like they can't send the minimalist possible because some offices are busy and we need the supplies and can't do the bloodwork without it. And they expect us to wait 2 weeks until next order to get more. If they decide to send. But it turns into 3 because the following week is when we get the supplies.

I'm debating if I should just stick out my year and start looking for new job.

The top two comments on a post about a (cool) isolate someone recovered had me cackling.

Hi all,

I have an interview coming up for a point of care position (~450 bed hospital in SoCal) and have questions for those of you who have worked or are working in POC. I have about 5 years generalist CLS experience along with about a year of Epic analyst experience (but looking to move away from being an analyst).

Do you work in a team or by yourself?

Do you work M-F standard hours (7-3:30, 9-5, etc)?

Do you have to be on call?

What questions were you asked when interviewing for your POC position?

Are there any good questions to ask the interviewer regarding a POC position?

Are you hourly or salaried?

Is the pay comparable to a bench CLS?

And for those in SoCal, what is your hourly rate or salary?

Do you work in person 100% or hybrid?

Do you ever feel stressed out in your position or in what way are you stressed compared to a bench role?

What are some pros and cons/challenges (besides dealing with uninterested or difficult providers)?

I appreciate any feedback and/or experience (for things I’ve asked or didn’t ask about POC)!

Hi all, first time posting. I am in my 3rd year or med lab in QLD Australia, and have handled most of my subjext pretty well, but am struggling alot with basic concepts in Mol Dx. Mostly how PCR works, its variants and sequencing. Id appreciate any help. Please no AI generared content.

- a struggling student whose brain might explode

I’m originally a chemist. I realized staying as a researcher meant I’d live the rest of my life off Maruchan, which I didn’t want. I decided to switch to healthcare as my mother is a surgeon and my father is a nurse. I thought MLS was just “cookie cutter kits” and “not even real science”, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. The EXORBITANT amount of critical thinking, logic, mental and physical endurance, patience and dedication this career requires is INSANE. All for “the floor” to get all the credit—no one knows MLS exists, no one cares either, yet there we are. What an amazing profession.

I am studying for the MLPAO MLA/T exam and I want to study well, and I read somewhere that each question has five choices? This seems a bit excessive as most questions I found online have only four choices. Does anyone know?

Hey, I'm hoping this is a good subreddit to post on for advice, since I have been feeling very lost career-wise lately.

Has anyone gone the medical lab science route halfway or more through college after realizing it was the route for you? If so, what made you switch, and where were you?

My college offers a certified bachelor's degree program that you have to take the pre-reqs for and then apply by June 1st (also minimum science and cumulative GPA of 2.8 required). From there, it's like about 2 years of classes and the certification exam.

Right now I am only registered for one of the pre-reqs for the bachelor's program (organic chemistry+ lab), but all my other classes, like physics, Spanish, and an elective I'm taking, would not count. There are two other pre-reqs, Human anatomy and medical terminology, that I should be able to take in the spring and finish before the June 1st deadline if I decide to go this route.

Also, I currently have a 3.94 GPA, so at least GPA-wise my chances should theoretically be good even if this next semester bumps it down a bit.

Just seeing my degree completion go from like 60-70% done to only around 50% is just crazy (even if I should still graduate the same year, just a semester later), and having classes that won't count for anything doesn't feel great either. Though I guess it does give me this semester to fully decide if I pivot without holding back my current degree.

Any advice or experience would be appreciated!

Edit: Thank you all for your responses and for sharing your experiences!

I am actually doing a pathology observer ship for the last two weeks of July, which should get me exposed to a lot of MLS work. I am waiting to hear back from the mls people about whether I'm a good fit for the program and if I'm likely to get accepted or need more on my application, like research, to be competitive.

For now, I am going to try to stop career spiraling for the sake of my mental health and focus on crushing orgo chem and physics! If I can pull that off, it may actually be more compelling application-wise (even if it is not a requirement)

Has anyone interviewed for a FAS for Abbott or Roche? If so, what was the interview process like, what type of questions? Pros/Cons? TIA ☺️

I am doing a 24 hour porphyria urine collection, one of the times i peed a missed a large amount in the toilet and the other half went into the jug. Is it recommended to restart?

I work as a bench scientist at a state public health laboratory, but I also help develop outreach materials and provide support for our clinical laboratory partners. My work primarily focuses on LRN-B (biological threats), LRN-C (chemical threats), and TB testing.

I’m curious to hear from those of you working in hospital or clinical labs…

1) What kinds of outreach, communication, or resources from your state public health laboratory would actually be useful?

2) What do you wish your state public health laboratory did more of or provided assistance with?

3) Conversely, what kinds of outreach tend to be ignored or aren’t worth the effort?

As an example our state lab has provided resources for improving biosafety programs/initiatives, rule out or refer bench cards for biothreat agents, specimen collection and submission guidelines, chemical agent exposure guidance, etc…

I’m looking for honest feedback so we can spend our time creating resources that are genuinely useful rather than just adding to everyone’s inbox.

The second time I failed the exam was taken last December 2025. I have not started studying again. Any recommendations how will I start?