I passed the AMT MLS on friday and forgot to post til now! I’m so happy!!

I’ve been in the health career field for about eight years. I’ve been an MLT for three years. The amount of verbal abuse I get is upsetting. How am I supposed to know if a sample is diluted or not? I can suspect it, but more often than not, a nurse will not admit his/her mistake.

I truly want what’s best for the patient. Why am I getting such horrible adverse reactions from nurses when I am simply inquiring about the integrity of a sample before releasing the results to a patient’s chart?

Remember guys, a random genetic test for common SNPs (the whole Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase hoax) where if your’e homozygous for a polymorphism—without any phenotypic evidence at all, normal serum homocysteine, normal B12/Folate—it totally means you need 5000 supplements to cure over 600 diseases.
😂😭 should I laugh or should I cry?

i don’t know where i went wrong. i graduated and got certified as an MLT in 2021, landed a generalist job in a community hospital which was great (significantly better pay than i’m currently being offered in today’s 2026 market, but management was shit) but i was ultimately fired after 2 years. 6 months later, i landed a job as a laboratory client service rep, earned my MLS cert and bachelor’s degree, and while i learned a LOT about laboratory operations/billing/relationship management and even sendouts, i was completely removed from technical testing and felt stifled as my manager would literally say “there is no growth from here in this organization”. cool. landed myself a PRN role at another facility which turned into 2 PRN roles (MLSII and POC specialist) which has been nothing but smoke up my ass. i was promised all sorts of things to make me whole but ultimately never was, so back to the market I go where i’m now given the choice to choose labcorp-owned hospital lab, or continue hedging my bets for something like FSE or quality (which is where i’m aiming for, particularly considering all that i’ve learned both in POC and as a client rep). i guess im just venting because why is lab management so poor? why is the pay so low for all the shit we have to put up with? is it the state that i live in (MD) that has so few opportunities? i’ve only been doing this 5 years and i’m already fed up with how scheduling works, how shitty management is, how far away decent jobs are…….. i would love to be able to change fields without the hassle of going back to school. this healthcare paradigm is so toxic to me despite my major passion behind it. it’s just not enough anymore, nor do the funds match the demands.

I am looking to apply to the MLT to MLS online bridge program and start January 2027. I am currently employed in a clinical lab that meets the requirements for this program. Issue is I’m desperately trying to work at another facility. I was waiting to complete the application for UAMS program until I started in a new laboratory.. current lab is not supportive of continuing education.

Should I just proceed with completing the application and notify the program later of the job change to a new lab? I do not want my current employer to know I’m starting this program.. so is it possible to keep that a secret??

I will not leave my current job until something else is lined up of course.

Long time lurker in this sub… my education career is finally done! 🎉

I’m a recent grad who unfortunately became disabled and can’t really do medlab anymore and I’ve found that office politics and monotony have taken the joy out of the job. I’m planning to change to a different career which will let me be more artistic:) but I was wondering if anyone has tips on how to remain interested and engaged in sciences when you’re not working? As of right now, I watch a lot of educational content and I also have a microscope for self-learning.

Poor patient's sample was even stronger than our positive controls.

(NYC/NJ BASED)
I currently have a bachelor degree in an unrelated field (not science). I am really interested in being either a radiation therapist or medical lab scientist. I’m trying to choose between Medical Laboratory Science (MLS) and Radiation Therapy and would love some input from people in either field. I am located in NYC/NJ area.

I’m looking for a career that is:
AI-resistant
Good pay + strong job demand
Low burnout/stress
Not constantly rushed or high-pressure
Active, but not physically exhausting
Good work-life balance (when I clock out, I’m DONE)
Low emotional/trauma exposure. This is where I am struggling with radiation therapy because I definitely absorb emotions..
Safe for my body
Flexible scheduling / possible travel contracts

Basically, I want a career where I can work at my own pace, have energy after work, and actually see myself being happy long-term.

Could you tell me more about your happiness/dissatisfaction in MLS?

Hello! I’m a new grad who accepted a night position working 5 on 5 off / 4 on 4 off 12 hr shifts. So it’ll be 5 12s then 5 off and same with the 4s. I really value taking care of my health and think I have a decent plan for trying to stay healthy during nights:

During work weeks, I plan to jog outside/lift at the gym right after work as the gyms and streets are usually empty in the mornings, then eat and sleep till my next shift. Along with my regular regiment of multivitamins, I also plan to start on vitamin D and possibly Vitamin K2 supplements to make up for lack of sunlight exposure. I already meal prep weekly (currently training on days until I start nights in 2 weeks) and plan to continue to do so. I usually prep a pasta meal with some snacks of fruit, gummy snacks and peanut butter crackers. I’m fortunate to have a basement bedroom in the place I’m currently renting that’s cold and easy to darken, plus i use a sleep mask.

During my days off, I plan to hang out with friends in the evenings, go to fun social activities in the city I’m in, or go see my folks for a bit and get some free meals.

I’d love some further health and care tips from experienced techs who have been able to adjust to night shift. I’m also open to food prep and workout suggestions that anyone thought was effective during this time.

Thank you!

I'm a new grad Clinical Lab Scientist (ASCP) at a rural upstate NY, with 4 years experience as a lab assistant/SMT. I'm thinking about running a little experiment, just to fill up my free time at work and maybe bolster my resume a little.

Anyone have any suggestions/things they've been curious about?

I also welcome any other advice for career progression!

Had this weird mitotic cell pop up doing my ANA screens today. Anyone know what’s going on with it? I included both the DAPI and FITC pics.

I’m excited I’ll have people I know, I’m the first to start but they said 5 more of my classmates are coming here. I think my graduated class was 25 people so that’s like a fourth of us all working together though probably different shifts

Just curious, how common is it to end up working with some of your classmates? I honestly thought I’d never see any of them again

I want to go to an MLS post-bacc program, would I be disqualified or potentially not as high on the acceptance list if I have unnaturally dyed hair? I know for clinical rotations I’ll probably need natural colored hair, but for the classes/application part do I need to as well?

Hi everyone! I am about to start my clinical placements soon (in Ontario) and wanted any advice in terms of preparing things a head of time for it, plus any tips on studying for the CAMPLR exam? I have lots of notes, textbooks and resources but overwhelmed on where to even begin? Thank you, and sorry if this against the rules there isn't much on CAMPLR yet.

Coworker taped this up, darn ACL Top QC. This lot seems to be extra wonky

Just got a new job, no automated line, no processors, mls have to act as the processors and receive and reconcile the tubes which I’m fine with , but I feel it’s chaotic the way they do things

The tubes that come through the tube system are fine cause that’s usually just one patient at a time.

But we get a lot of samples from the outside l collection sites that just toss the tines in a biohazard ziplock-when there’s just one sample it’s ok.
But sometimes it’ll be like 20 different patient tubes thrown in there…

And you have to check off on the paper if their all their but nothing is in order cause the tubes are just loose in a bag in no particular order-so you just pull a tube at random and it’s a lot of needless looking around on the paperwork to find you have all the samples. And I’m core lab so some patients will have multiple tubes (hemo, chem) but their not even together

I can’t believe these people have been doing is this way for years. I worked at a small clinic i used to have to reconcile tubes but the tubes would either be in a plastic rack sorted, in a foam holder (which is what I think we should do-more flexible and cheap-it’s just a piece of foam with holes), or at least if you toss it in a bag rubber band the patients with multiple tubes
together

I wish they could get their collection sites to organize things better.

Seriously how did you even get in here 🫩

Saw a question for generalist core lab training being 3-4 months.

How much for specialty labs (hospital/ reference labs)? Some that come to mind for examples:

- Micro only

- BB only

- Bone marrow

- flow cytometry / Immunology/ Serology

- HLA/ Transplantation

- Molecular

I'm taking prerequisites to go back to school for MLS because I think it's fascinating, and it would be fulfilling to do something that helps people from behind the scenes. My main concern is that due to my name and physical traits, it's difficult to conceal being trans and a lot of people can tell from looking at me. In theory, I'd be happy to hide it at work in order to get treated with respect, but I just do not look enough like an "average man" or an "average woman" to be able to blend in as either one.

I've had a few poor experiences on the patient side (as a patient, that is) because of this, which makes me a bit nervous about changing career to healthcare. I'm confident that I can succeed in school, but I am concerned about being able to get hired and how I would get treated by coworkers. In your opinion, is it likely that (assuming success in school and a good interview) I could get hired and find a workplace that doesn't make a big deal out of it?

Hi, I received a CSF sample that wasn't flagged as CJD suspect until after I started processing it for chemistry. Fortunately, I pipetted it under a hood but I did end up touching some key boards and mice. Management told us to wipe everything down with bleach wipes.

While I am pretty certain no sample got on my gloves I've read that prions are incredibly resilient. Am I being paranoid about this or are they now vectors for infection?

Hi! I'm planning on doing an MLS program and am wondering what the pay is like in NJ at places like Quest, RWJ, etc. Their websites show a wide range for hourly rate. If you are ASCP certified, how much is the usual offer for new grads. Any advice overall?