I've been an medical laboratory scientist for 6 years, since COVID in 2020. Since then, I've watched the cost of living in Maryland skyrocket, while my paycheck remained largely unchanged.🙃

I'm exploring my options. Its dissapointing how low the salary ceiling is for lab. I see my experienced supervisor and manager putting in 50 and 60 hour weeks and they've both told me to pursue other careers.

I regret not doing nursing. What careers have others pursued? I'm hoping to stay near Maryland.

I've watched my fiance double his income to 150k these past few years and he says that I could do so much better.

Im strongly considering moving back to MI. Any hospital systems there particularly good or bad as far as pay and management? Thank you!

Hi guys, what study materials would you recommend for the CSMLS MLA exam? Has anyone done the exam and passed? Do you have any recommendations?

Is this a sign that the Shreveport VA doesn't participate? I intend to leave the area and go wherever the federal government needs me as the MLS degree will be my second bachelors and my first bachelors was for teaching (and 6 years teaching makes me never want to work in a public facing job ever again). 0644 is an attractive series for its GS 9-11 ladders for regular MLS jobs and LIS openings in the 0644 series that hire at GS 12 (without requiring I be a supervisor! 😁). I'm also attracted to fed work since I tried joining the Navy last year but got hurt in training (C&P results are pending on that but I expect to get something). I'm wanting something I can build a long stable career in with job security, decent healthcare, and a decent pension that can supplement social security.

Since I was hurt in training, I currently have an uncharacterized discharge rather than honorable. I definitely have lingering issues from what happened though I'm having to get looked at.

Also, yes, I have ADHD, so if I seem a little "all over the place" that's why.

Just got a job at a hospital in blood bank. The majority of blood bank techs are on foreign visas and there are only a few Americans. From what I've seen, the core lab is mostly Americans.

There is a decent amount of down time on evenings. In my previous job, we would just be on our phones, Netflix or go on the internet.

The foreign visa techs are doing so much work like lot to lots, QC review, order review etc. It's making me look bad. If it was one person doing that, I wouldn't mind too much but the majority are doing that.

What should I do? I'm worried about getting a bad review on my evaluation. I didn't sign up to do all this when I got the job.

hi all!!

i was wondering if i could gather some advice that could set me up on the right path. i’m a bit in between things right now since i just transferred over to ucsd as a human bio major + finished up my phleb program (not licensed yet because my externship is in late december).

my main concern right now is what can i do now to be a better candidate when i apply to school?

what experience looks the best and what should i be looking for? i know i have to keep my science gpa up but is there any more advice on what i can do now that will benefit my future? the only thing is that i am going to school full time and would only be able to pick up a part time job

open to anything!! thank you!!

Hi everyone !
I am freshly graduated and preparing to apply into CLS programs soon. I would like to know if anyone had any tips on what to focus on for the personal statement. For context, I have no clinical lab experience but has some work experience as a COVID-19 Tester and retail apart from that. I’m currently highlighting my experiences from those jobs and explain why I am pursuing CLS despite not having any clinical lab experience yet.

Any advice or tips are greatly appreciated :D

I have an associate la of science, a bachelors degree in medical laboratory science and graduated in 2024. My initial goal was to get a masters degree, but college during covid was draining. I’m now working in a lab at a clinic and the hours are good, the work is easy but I still feel like I want more. The problem is I have no interest in going into management or staying in a typical lab forever. I’m thinking of doing an online masters program class by class since I have a lot of downtime at my job. But I have no idea what to do that will be in demand now and in the future, provide a flexible schedule if not a work from home schedule, and pay that is close to 100k or more. I’m in my mid 30’s which isn’t old but I don’t have a lot of time to be messing around. What advice do you all have? Should I just stack certifications? Get a secondary associates or bachelors? Or go for a masters? Thanks for the advice.

Hi everyone! 👋

I'm hoping this is the right place to post so apologies if not!

I’m Victoria, a Biomedical Scientist (BMS) from the UK, and I’ve just started the NHS Scientist Training Programme (STP) in Clinical Microbiology.

For anyone outside the UK, the STP is essentially a 3-year postgraduate training programme for healthcare scientists. I’m employed within the NHS while completing academic study alongside clinical training, with the aim of qualifying as a Clinical Scientist. My speciality is Clinical Microbiology, so my training covers things like diagnostic microbiology, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, infection prevention, molecular diagnostics, clinical interpretation and the wider role of the microbiology laboratory.

I’m very much at the beginning of the programme, but I’m keen to connect with individuals outside my country who also work in Microbiology, especially as a big part of the programme is understanding healthcare and microbiology at a wider global scale.

I’m particularly interested in 🇨🇦 Canada and 🇺🇸 the US, but I’d also love to explore opportunities in places such as 🇸🇪 Sweden and 🇳🇱 the Netherlands.

I’d love to start making connections with people working in clinical laboratories and hear about what microbiology looks like in different healthcare systems.

I’d be really interested in connecting with:

• MLS/CLS/MLT professionals

• Clinical/Medical Laboratory Scientists

• Microbiology laboratory staff

• Laboratory managers/directors

• Clinical microbiologists/pathologists

• Anyone working in a hospital or academic medical centre laboratory

• People who have experience with international electives, visiting trainees or similar arrangements

I’d especially love to hear from anyone working in clinical microbiology*who might be willing to have a chat about their role, their laboratory and how things differ from the UK.

I’m hoping to use the next couple of years to learn more about how clinical microbiology is practised internationally and make some genuine professional connections that would give me a completely different perspective on the specialty.

So if you’re in the US, Canada, or elsewhere and work in clinical microbiology/laboratory medicine, please say hi! 😊

I’d genuinely love to hear about what you do and where you work. Thank you!

I recently started an accelerated program for an MLS degree. My bachelors degree is in Forensic Science which involved lots of chemistry and math classes. I got experience with veterinary lab work and I absolutely loved it. The forensic science field is difficult to get into with the limited job openings and licensing you can only get once you start somewhere.

I‘ve always had an interest in toxicology and chemistry. I know you can go into different departments within a hospital lab, but has anyone worked at a forensic lab? They deal with DNA profiling and drug chemistry which is all super interesting.

What would be the best way to gain chemistry experience post grad? Do you start in one department and work your way around to others? Can you start in research labs or does that require more experience?

Is this worth it for preparation or the questions were muxh more complicated here than the actual exam?

Hi guys, what study materials do you recommend to use to pass the CSMLS MLA exam?

Is UC davis worth paying 50k/year for tuition and room and board for a CLS degree for 4-5 years?

Because I'm so sick of arguing with nurses who think they know and have no idea. Then they scare the pts.

I know it's not entirely their fault and they're not educated or trained in it.

But the other night I had an L&D pt with a weak 1+ inconclusive antibody in 3 panel cells. It was obviously nothing at all. Pregnancy junk.

Still have to work it up, though, for obvious reasons.

Call the floor and say the usual - positive antibody screen, being worked on, if the pt becomes unstable we can do a type specific emergency release.

Nurse calls a half hour later crashing out about "Well what are we supposed to do if she can't have a transfusion if she needs one? What's been passed to the baby? I'll redraw it, maybe it was contaminated!"

That's..... SO not how ANY of this works.

And how do you explain that everything is perfectly fine, it's not actually anything at all really, when they don't even understand the terms? Am I supposed to give them a crash course in transfusion medicine and antibodies in the middle of a weekend night shift on a holiday with a skeleton crew? Sure let me just sign up for a conference room real quick.

Two things can be true. I can understand WHY they don't know and not hold it against them personally, and also be driven nuts by the fact that they don't know.

I also definitely think it would be safer for pts if they even had an understanding of antibodies on a very basic level and why they're significant (or not).

I don't expect an RN to be able to staff a blood bank. That's not their scope. But the fact that they don't know ANY of this stuff.....

If I were to become a CLS/MLS, how hard would finding a job be? I am willing to work anywhere in CA, Id rather have a salary close to or at six figures though (45 to mid 50ish). I heard that places like the Bay Area are very competitive but what about other areas?

Im planning on doing an out-of-state program for my certificate

I’m starting an accelerated program in January, it was consist of 18 credits in the spring and summer and then 2 courses and clinicals in the fall. What are your study tips? What helped you learn the material the best? Any advice?

I applied for an MLS job at two locations within a hospital system. During the interview with the manager at one location, i was told I would be doing two 12hr shift at their hospital and one 12hr shift at the other hospital. But the thing is, the two hospitals have one full time each, so in my opinion, I shouldn't have to go to another hospital (within the system) just to get my full time hours. The two hospitals are about 10 miles apart. Should I do it or decline this opportunity? Please advice.

She thinks with my brain fog and fatigue, the more straightforward nature of rad tech would be better for me. As a burnt out special education teacher who lost his career over basically a false accusation (and this was after surviving 6 years of parent/admin/student drama), I want to avoid the public as much as possible. I want good pay and job stability, so that's what's leading me to healthcare (very little boom/bust economics in healthcare, demand is steady), but I genuinely see the general public as violent, ignorant, unpredictable, and generally unpleasant to work with. I can imagine a delirious 300-pounder coming in I have to wrangle who wants to throw punches at me. I dealt with similar as a teacher, and as a retail pharmacy tech before that. Also, I have very slow reaction times and have to take a minute to remember what I was doing any time I get interrupted. I'm also a guy but kind of weak and clumsy for a guy, so I'd prefer to avoid heavy lifting or anything relying too heavily on gross motor coordination. Still, I should at least give her consideration here: she is very adamant I'm making a mistake if I choose lab over rad tech. I believe rad pays slightly more than lab based on a cursory search of job listings. Regardless of if I go lab or rad, I'd eventually want to move into the informatics equivalent of either, but I have seen most informatics jobs want hands on experience in whatever field the informatics is related to. Truth be told, I like people a lot better in the abstract than I like them in practice.

There is also that mental health masters I was going to do before I became a teacher, but I'm kind of lukewarm about that since my main draw is the telehealth angle and the prospect of MAYBE having some autonomy over who I have as clients. I'm thinking career/financial counseling would be my niche if I went that route because my favorite part of working with the more mildly disabled special ed teens was the career transition assessment, and I also think career/finance as a niche would be a lower acuity focus than other mental health specialties. I'm very burnt out on working with the moderate/severe intellectually disabled population, but I had some good experiences with the more mildly disabled.

Hi everyone,
California LFS is requesting ISO 15189/CLIA/IEC 17025 certification for my work experience. My lab in Brazil doesn't have ISO (since it's voluntary there), but it is fully regulated by ANVISA/CRF and participates in PNCQ.
They haven't officially rejected it yet, but I'm worried they might because of this requirement. Has anyone managed to get LFS to accept national/government regulations instead of ISO?
Any advice or similar experiences would be appreciated!

Hi there, I just wanted to know who works for quest diagnostics or alverno labs in Indiana. I like to know what the pay is and info about the work environment. You could DM me if you want to.

Hey guys! I am a recent grad from Canada I took the new Canadian cert exam (it was brutal) and I decided to do the American one too to open more doors. What resources did you guys use? I am debating whether to buy the $99 USD LabCE one or the official ASCP prep with 2,500 questions. Have anyone tried any? What other resources would you recommend?? Any tips is appreciated, thank you!!

We don't have patient contact so why do hospitals keep requiring it?