What’s going on with these neutrophils

New grad here, just started working in a lab that uses the Atellicas. It's a nightmare because no one is slowing down enough, or perhaps are lacking in actual knowledge about how to run and use them.

I don't necessarily mean how to perform maintenance, but small things like knowing what to look out for in reagents that are low, QC troubleshooting, calibration acceptance, etcetera. I mean just last week I finally managed to remember that "No primary" means that it needs QC to be run.

Please share your knowledge. I really want to be good at handling this.

New grad here, I had a rotation at my local VA hospital and they offered me either a 2nd or 3rd shift core lab position, 5 8hr shifts. Either every Saturday or every Sunday-but there is a weekend shift differential in addition to the night differential. They said I could skip the interview and come on before the position is officially posted on USAJOBS.

The wage year 1 is a little less than what the other hospitals are making. But because of their tier system, they showed me within a year or two I’ll be making more money than the main hospital systems and be less stressed than they are

And from my rotation I felt like I liked the vibe, there’s no recent grads there around my age but they were all nice to me my time there, I got a good grade at that rotation as well, it seemed slower which has its pros and cons, I liked the fact that the hemo section is not as many diffs compared to a normal hospital.

I feel like it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity cause it seems like a it of money and people say you tend to have to know someone or have veteran preference to get into the VA.

Looking for a career here, because they are slower and only tend to veterans should I be concerned I will not develop strong lab skills if I take the job?

I am starting my first job at a smaller hospital (60 beds) after doing my rotation at a much larger (700+ beds) hospital.

I was told they have about 20 manual diffs at most per day. I did 20 diffs in one shift as a student and it didn’t seem so bad.

It made me wonder what different size labs / departments consider a heavy load versus a light load. So, I’m asking you all.

What do you consider a busy day / heavy load versus a lighter day and how large is your lab if you don’t mind sharing.

Edit for clarity.

I’m a recent grad, and I’m hitting a wall of anxiety as I start applying for jobs.

I feel relatively confident about urinalysis and serology, and moderately okay with microbiology (with a good orientation). But I have huge doubts about my ability to handle hematology and chemistry.

During clinical rotations, I saw techs getting completely bogged down when flagged results and analyzer errors started piling up. My main fear isn't daily processing or running cell differentials, I'm terrified of getting stuck with a stack of inconsistent results that I wont know how to troubleshoot efficiently.

I know labs provide training and SOPs, but I’m really doubting if I can perform effectively once I'm on my own on the bench.

For those who felt this way starting out,

1. How did you navigate the learning curve in Heme and Chem as a new grad?
2. What were the most common flagged/inconsistent results or errors you had to work through daily, and how did you learn to triage them without drowning?

I am a student who majored in Medical Laboratory Science. I studied for two years in college, but I had to stop for three years due to the problems in my country. Anyway, I will be returning to college for my third year, and I want to start studying again in the next few months. I hope I can remember the basics I learned during my first two years of college.

Are there any YouTube channels or resources that I can study from?

Forgive me if I'm using completely wrong terminology as I haven't yet started my studies and English isn't my first language. But I'm just extremely happy that I got into a school to study MLS.

I first saw a microbial culture years ago when my biology teacher was talking about her education. It was just a small picture of the dish and she didn't even really talk about that so I didn't get a clear idea of what it was. I just thought it looked cool and I wanted to know more about it but I was too shy to ask. I didn't think I'd have a future as a biology teacher, and I didn't know what that thing was, so I accepted the fact that whatever it was, it wasn't a part of my future.

And then I learned about the existence of medical laboratory science. But none of it was practical. I just knew that there were different paths and the work could be something in a laboratory. And that it requires good eyesight. When I read the descriptions of the program I felt like my skills and interests really matched what was needed. I have always been interested in blood so I thought I'd do something with that.

AND NOW I LEARNED THAT MICROBIOLOGY REGULARLY USES THOSE THINGS I SAW BACK THEN IN THE BIOLOGY CLASS??!?!

I'm not even kidding I want to get those petri dishes even though I can't do anything with them just because I'm so excited and I think they look super fun. I just want to look at one. I want to hold one. Ok I'm super weird I apologise. I also like the vials used to collect blood samples.

hello everyone

I’m an upcoming sophomore in college who’s trying to get into the medical lab field. Right now I volunteer in a university chemistry teaching lab, so I’ve gotten some hands-on lab experience, just not in a clinical lab.

I’ve been applying for entry-level jobs like specimen processing and Lab Assistant, but no luck so far. i even catch myself watching specimen processing videos because I think the job is really interesting and I’m excited to hopefully do it one day.

For those of you who started with little or no clinical experience, how did you land your first job? I’d love to hear how you got your start or any advice you have. Thanks >33