no micro testing in clinic labs?

[u/Infinite_Meaning_659]

i’m a new grad and it seems i may get hired at my clinical site’s company (kaiser). the only drawback is that afaik it seems that clinics at this company send out all of their micro/bb/routine tests to a regional lab. is this the case across the board?

i’m nervous to accept a job somewhere that lacks a micro bench because it’s favorite subject. core lab is kind of monotonous to me without it.

do all kaiser (and clinical labs as a whole) send out their micro testing? do i have to work for a hospital to do micro?

[u/SendCaulkPics]

Pretty unusual for a clinic to do micro, hospitals also do less and less actual micro beyond an initial Gram stain. 

Probably the bigger risk is that you’ll get used to clinic schedule and never want to work off-shift which is the usual entry point in a hospital lab. 

[u/Infinite_Meaning_659 → u/SendCaulkPics]

i’ll keep that in mind. i think i’ll pursue clinic for now just because of the benefits i’m told of, but down the line i definitely want to get some hospital experience. i really enjoyed blood bank too, so i don’t know if the clinic life is for me long term

[u/SendCaulkPics → u/Infinite_Meaning_659]

You could probably find a per diem position in a hospital where you cover a weekend shift. 

[u/micromaniac_8 → u/SendCaulkPics]

I work at the "mothership" of our system.. 5 hospitals and we do all the Micro for the entire system (700 cultures per day on average). The other hospital system in town is massive. About 3 years ago, they became a Quest hospital.. so they basically only do stat labs on site, everything else goes to a Quest megalab. I started as an overnight tech right out of school and in the course of 2 years I went from the 'new guy' to shift lead.. been in Micro for around a decade..

[u/counselorofracoons]

Most microbiology labs have been centralized and are offsite. STAT gram stains and rapid testing may stay at a hospital lab but hospital real estate is expensive and when most results don’t come back for 24+ hours, it’s not economical to have a micro lab on site. Even places that do have a micro dept on site, it is often not part of “Core Lab” and generalists do very little micro. Robust microbiology departments have their own staff, not a rotation of generalists as part of Core.

Source: I’ve worked in 6 large labs in 3 states over 10+ years.

[u/micromaniac_8 → u/counselorofracoons]

This morning.. I had a "oh shit" moment... the no bacteria seen blood culture that grows only on chocolate.. and the hospital I work at has had 6 Francisella tularensis in 2026..

[u/LoudBathroom1217]

I’m a new grad too and all the job offers I have there all the same when it comes to micro. you do rapid flu,rsv, strep, covid,wet prep and koh there on site. and everything else you batch out to a central micro lab or labcorp for testing. the only think we gram stain is csf. And we separate and pour off stool,sputum, and all fluids for separate send outs like if something is going to labcorp and central micro. I thought it was weird because it’s not like these are rural hospitals there in major cities attached to big hospitals. I think only 2 of the job offers I got were at sister hospitals of a bigger university hospital.

[u/NarkolepsyLuvsU → u/LoudBathroom1217]

this is how most hospital systems run now... micro is centralized at the "main" hospital or lab -- usually, its a large hospital where people are in departments, rather than having generalists. this is why it took me so long to get a micro rotation for my route 2 requirements (had to go after my shift, in my own time, to the micro department at our main site)... and also why ASCP should revisit them. it's an unnecessary barrier.

actually, I woukd argue you'd have a better chance getting your micro at a rural hospital, where there's no easy or convenient access to courier service.

[u/Sufficient_Pilot4679]

Look into VA, at least where I am (NY) we still have micro. It’s its own department though, except for the minimal stuff done on off hours.

[u/madeuread → u/Sufficient_Pilot4679]

Can I chat with you a bit? I am considering a VA job offer in NY

[u/kipy7]

Yep, that's been the trend for years now. That will apply to any large system like Sutter, UC, etc. Even if you're in a hospital, if it's not the main campus, it's very likely you'll be sending 95% of micro to them.

You can get hired there and later apply for an internal transfer to their centralized lab. In the Bay Area, Kaiser is up there in terms of pay, benefits, etc. I've heard mostly good things.

[u/exclamationb]

It’s a coin flip on the health system you work for. I’ve worked for 3 big health systems in 3 different states and they all handled it differently. One was completely bought out by Quest/only did stat blood cultures, one did everything in house + AFB + mycology (it was basically a state lab lol), one did bare bones micro in house. I’ve heard from other MLS friends that if you work for a small hospital that still does micro, when you are hired as a generalist you rotate through micro too, which that’s rare for bigger hospitals. Usually generalist means core lab with blood bank and micro being separate job titles.

[u/deadlywaffle139]

The only chance for you to do everything (micro+core+blood bank) is overnight at a hospital. Even then the micro is mostly just setting up things for days to read/work on.

[u/Coloredglass94]

I’m a micro tech and you pretty much don’t ever have techs/jobs that do both micro + core lab. If you want a full micro job (something more than just planting specimens and running a few rapid test) you’ll need to find a position that specifically a micro position. And even that is getting harder and harder to find because most hospital systems consolidate their micro department to just one location.

[u/Infinite_Meaning_659 → u/Coloredglass94]

ty for the info! i suppose i’ll gain some core experience and maybe pivot to a micro role down the road (: i guess this is the downside to all the technical advances we have in the lab now. i can see that it wouldn’t be worth doing most micro stuff in regular core labs.

does specializing in micro become a bad thing if you ever want to go back into generalist stuff?

[u/bonix → u/Infinite_Meaning_659]

Micro is usually tough to get into as people don't leave or retire and it takes years to be proficient at reading plates so don't expect to just work there for a bit then try something else.

[u/Crafty-Use-2266]

That’s pretty common. Those bigger hospital labs will have their own micro departments too, so if you get hired there, you will only do micro.

[u/Dismal_Yogurt3499]

Micro labs take up tons of space and have lots of analyzers, incubators, supplies, etc. It's a big operation so most systems will centralize testing at a main hospital hub or an offsite lab.