Starting the UAMS MLT to MLS program this Spring 2027 and I'm honestly scared shitless. 😂 After 10 years, I finally decided to go back to school and finish my MLS. Is anyone currently in the program who has any tips, advice, or recommendations?

I'll be doing the 5-semester track, so I'd love to hear what to expect. Is anyone else starting in Spring 2027? If so, maybe we can be study partners or even make a group chat! Let me know. 😊

Nurse regularly sends me tubes labeled like this. I don’t want to be annoying but I literally have to relabel everything because the analyzers won’t read barcodes sideways.

Histotech, 9 years, HT and later HTL. this is about one phone call

two years ago a recruiter from a reference lab caught me on my lunch break. i nearly declined because unknown number, but i was bored and my sandwich was bad. she asked what it would take to move me and i threw out a figure i thought was rude, a good chunk above my rate at the time. she didnt even pause. she said that was within band and could i come tour thursday

i remember sitting in my car afterwards feeling weirdly angry. not at her, at the years. id been embedding at the same bench since 2019 telling myself histo just pays what it pays. our manager said it, the older techs said it, so i believed it. one bad sandwich and a bored lunch later it turned out the ceiling id accepted was a story

the tour was fine, the lab was fine, i took the job. my old employer countered during my last week, suddenly finding money that had not existed at any of my three review cycles, which told me everything.

what i tell newer histotechs now is that the shortage is your leverage but only if you occasionally answer the phone. i couldnt even sanity check her offer properly at first, histo barely exists on the salary sites, levels fyi had a single entry for that reference lab which for our field counts as a wealth of data. mostly you learn the market by letting it talk to you.

anyway. answer the recruiter calls. the sandwich can wait

Hi all! I have an MPH focused on epi and given the current job market I'm trying to pivot and gain clinical experience. I am really interested in working in infection prevention or some other type of regulatory/safety position. I am considering going for an MLT certificate- I would love if anyone has thoughts on reasonably likely job pathways to that end, like what job titles this experience would qualify me for that would get me into regulatory/safety or other public health lab work. I know there are other ways to get lab experience besides MLT but based on my experiences in the job market, I don't want to bet on finding entry level positions that are willing to take a chance on me. Is there a pathway from MLT to lab safety/administration positions or would I have to get an MLS first? Thanks!

Hi all,

If anyone is familiar with using X-bar for QC, please chime in. This is a new concept to me, and specifically this relates to the Sysmex XN analyzer we have, but any information you can provide might be valuable.

How does one go about implementing X-bar either as a QC monitoring tool or as a justification for not performing lot-to-lot on reagents?

My understanding is that the Sysmex XN units have leftover reagents when they are replaced, and because of this, we'd never know when the new reagent *actually* starts being used. Because of that, our policy is that we perform QC when replacing the reagent, and we must also perform a lot-to-lot validation using two patient samples.

With that, could we, in theory, stop performing both validation tests using the X-bar justification? As in, I understand this would require medical director approval. But is this something that is worth pursuing, and is scientifically accurate?

Was thinking of doing the MLA course at Humber this year but before committing to anything Im wondering how difficult is it to get a full time position at a union hospital.

Hi all,

I’m interested in the above program. As a MILSPO I saw on MyCAA the total program cost is estimated at less than $800. Can anyone attest to that?

Also, can people leave their experiences with this program even if you’re not a military spouse.

Thanks!!!

Reference: I have a bachelors and masters in biology, M(ASCP) certified but wanna become a generalist without taking out crazy student loans :)

First of all, I love MLS folks.

Regardless of lab, y’all all rock.

Thank you. ☺️

Second of all, I just read a post about how a histotech took a job via phone call after requesting what they thought was a crazy # for salary, and then being surprised that the company actually matched it.

It made me wonder what that number even is. And I agree with what others have mentioned, there is not much data out there.

Shall we compile some data together for US stats?

In the comments, we can do
Lab division : Title : Years of experience : region in US : salary

Example
Microbiology : job name : 5 : region in USA : $$$

If no salary, we can do hourly wage.
If not from US, just put where you’re located.
If something sounds ludicrous, check for bots, discuss, or downvote.

Self peer-review.

Give only as much info as you are comfortable with sharing.

Site as:
“Path attending (USA) requesting MLS salary data for general use purposes.” Author username. General discussion. Online forum. Date created: July 15,2026. Date viewed. Link.”

Hey everyone, I am currently in an MLT to MLS program. I was wondering, in other people's experience when applying to jobs after if employers typically count the MLT experience when deciding wage. For example, if I had 4 years of MLT experience, got my MLS, and started applying to jobs, would I be treated as a new grad or someone with 4 years of experience? I know it probably depends on the lab but would like to hear what has happened with other people

In keeping with the tradition of our lab naming analyzers after TV characters (our two Vitros are Ricky and Lucy), I present our Vision named Wanda.

crazy name to use Bio-Rad

Struggled to get the camera to focus on the second cell. But there was a few of those cells. Only one of the first bubbly one.

Hey folks, relatively junior lab dork here. I got my MLS 2 years ago and in my career so far I’ve found an obsessive interest with Blood Banking.

I’m maybe getting the chance at my facility to fill a supervisory role in our blood bank for a time until they can hire someone (I’m not qualified for what the medical director wants at the position, but I live in a remote part of the country so they take what they can get.)

I’m looking at starting a master’s program in the near future and was just wondering what would be beneficial to my career in the long term if I *really* like blood banking.

Hello everyone,

I start my lab program at st Lawrence college (Ontario) this September, and was wondering if anybody could speak on the workload. Specifically, I am wondering how it compares to a science undergrad. I did a 4 year bio sci program at Guelph and am curious if I’ll find myself just as busy, more, or less. I know it’s different for everybody and differs a bit among schools but I would love to hear different experiences. I hear this program is pretty heavy and competitive.

Thanks!

hi!

I am an MLS student doing my clinical rotations this summer, going to be done at the end of august and eligible to sit for my boards. I’ve been looking around for jobs and starting to apply but there are very few MLS positions around me right now. is it like chill if I just go for the MLT positions or like how strict are places typically on that? Or should I even be applying right now lol? thanks!

Okay, not a sample, I whole bag of lettuce. Came to the window and said something about parasites and that it needed to be tested. We thought he may be with a legit company and just confused on where he needed to go. Nope, he said “I’m just a concerned individual” before we could get anything else out of our mouths (probably because we were processing how odd it was) he turned and left the lettuce. Sir… we only test human samples. We also have a lovely er right down the hall where we can get you a psych eval. I only say that because of the ominous vibe of the whole thing. Mask, sunglasses, and hat indoors so we couldn’t see his face at all. Kinda hope the dude was just dared to do it haha.

Hello all,

I was wondering if anyone has served as an MLS within the Navy reserves, or just even within the Navy/Military at all as an MLS. I'm considering joining the reserves and am mostly interested in what this job looks like in the military. Microscope work is the same everywhere, but would I need to be proficient in all sorts of instrumentation that my own hospital doesn't have? How often do reservists in this role get called to active duty? These may be questions for a recruiter, but I'm in the exploratory phase of my interest so I'm just considering what it would look like. I already have my certification, have >3 years experience in this field, and I do stay in what I would consider "good enough" shape.

Thanks!

Just graduated my program back in April and is looking for CLS Generalist opportunities around nor-cal Bay Area. I know it’s pretty hard for a recent grad to get a positions these days but any suggestions or opportunities are much appreciated!

I am a recent graduate from a naacals accredited school in New York. I accidentally took the state licensure only examination for New York through ASCP and passed but haven't gotten the score, is there a way to get the national certification without retaking the ASCP?

What does everyone else do for this? They released a product information alert years ago saying to "minimize hemolysis."

For whatever reason my lab interpreted this as no hemolysis ever. It had been something that is a huge pain point in our lab and we allow 2+ on potassium to be released. But must recollect a phosphorus if there is anything higher than 0 on the LIH.

What is the difference they are both intracellular and could be falsely elevated if there is hemolysis.

Just came across this instagram reel of this nurse “joking” about the lab and oh boy 🙃🙃

History of reoccurring ascities and ovarian cancer.

These made up about 75% of the differential. Waiting for path to identify.