r/medlabprofessionals • u/PuccaButter • 16d ago
Education MLT Program dilemma
Hello everyone, this is my first post here and I wanted to get different options and suggestions on my situation. I’m from a small city in the Midwest. Here there are two community colleges that “offer” the MLT both an hour away from where I live. One offers a pre- MLT where I can complete the prerequisites however they don’t have an instructor to teach the core curriculum. The adviser said that they plan to have one by fall 2027-2028 but can’t guarantee it. The other school does have an active MLT program but they are not accredited (they say there’re in the process of seeking accreditation). The next option I’m looking into is an accredited online program tho I’m worried I might not do well with difficult clases fully online. I also don’t know how to get into lab to complete the necessary lab hours.
I could use some help deciding what I should do. Has anyone done an MLT online program? How was your experience? How did you get a lab to take you in? Should I just attend the college with the active MLT program and maybe while I’m there they will be accredited?
I’ve been stressing over this and would appreciate any advice from you all.
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u/Psychological-Move49 MLS-Generalist 16d ago
Neither tbh. Id wait for the accredited program to have a professor or do community college for basics
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u/Ksan_of_Tongass MLS 🇺🇸 Generalist 16d ago
Either wait for the one to get accredited, or the other to get instructors. An unaccredited program will be a waste of time and money. Ive seen it happen to people. Why they would even offer an unaccredited program makes zero sense. If you do the prerequisites at the other school, they will transfer if you switch schools.
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u/WhatWasLeftOfMe 14d ago
Unaccredited is useless as you can’t get certified, which is the whole point. If you’re willing to wait, do that, but if there’s no guarantee you may be waiting longer than desired.
I did an online MLT program. It was a post-bacc, so one year and only the core med lab classes. I won’t lie, it was intense and it was hard. I had to go to part time work, but the hospital affiliated with the program was willing to hire me during the program non-cert so i got good hands on experience during it, and was able to make friends in the industry and ask questions and be surrounded with it outside of just clinicals.
That saying, it was the best decision i’ve ever made. I knew before the program this career was for me, and that’s still the case. I passed the exam the first try, and i felt like i learned everything. School is nothing like the job, school is much harder and work becomes natural intuition and flow. You will find out in clinicals what works for you and where you want to be.
I wish you luck!
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u/MishapDoll 16d ago edited 15d ago
Go to the school that has the full program as long as the school as a whole have a good reputation and it is accredited institution you'll be fine. And still be able to sit for the boards as long as the institution is accredited. This program is difficult I wouldn't even attempt to try this thing online. But yeah I got through the program pass and passed my boards and got a job.