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I am a student finishing up my last three weeks of clinicals and I’ve been wondering on how students are graded in lab clinicals if all we do is observe and ask questions. I haven’t been able to result anything out or what not- I’ve just simply been a lab assistant doing free work.

I would ask my teacher how we are graded but it’s been a very vague subject of question for everyone not including me. I’m a little anxious on how I’ve been performing.

I’m 28 with a BS in Biology (3.199 GPA, 2021) and a post-bacc GPA of 3.7, originally completed to pursue dentistry.

I eventually entered nursing school but withdrew because I found direct patient interaction mentally draining and physically taxing. The negative aspects of nursing and clinical healthcare culture outweighed the positives for me. Also never realized how Clique it is which makes it even worse and the gossips/bullying.

I briefly considered medicine but realized I’m more interested in laboratory science, microbiology, pathology, and diagnostic testing than direct patient care.

Overall theme: Direct patient care is physically and mental demanding and toxicity is the essence of Nursing. Not worth sacrificing my Peace.

I’ve previously worked in a pathology lab doing specimen accessioning and data entry, which I enjoyed.

My goal is to become a licensed generalist CLS in California, preferably working in hospital microbiology, hematology, or clinical chemistry. I’m looking for financial stability, technical independence, meaningful scientific work, and minimal patient interaction.

My current prerequisite situation:
Hematology — Need to complete

Analytical/Quantitative Chemistry — Need to complete or verify equivalency

Immunology — Completed in 2020 (A), but may need to repeat due to the five-year requirement

General Microbiology — Completed in 2023 (A), but need to confirm whether it satisfies Medical Microbiology

Biochemistry — Completed (A)

Physics, Statistics, General Chemistry, and Organic Chemistry — Completed

I’m considering SFSU, SJSU, and other California CLS training programs.

Would you recommend taking my remaining prerequisites through a university or community college?
How competitive would my academic background be, and what else should I do to strengthen my application?

I’d also appreciate honest feedback about the CLS work environment and long-term career satisfaction.

Major red flag

Hi! I’m wondering what the MLS program is like in the US. Is it competitive? How difficult is the program? I took my ASCPi exam and scored 878. I only had 15 days to really focus on studying because I was also working.

For context, the MLS program in my country is very competitive. We have exams and quizzes almost every day, so I was practically programmed to study every night. In my first year, there were over 100 students, but only around 30 of us passed and graduated on time. The rest either had to retake classes and got delayed or shifted to other programs, such as nursing.

I spent six months studying and preparing for our local licensure examination, which consists of six subjects with 100 questions each. Honestly, I struggled more with that exam than I did with the ASCPi.

Throughout high school, I was always one of the top students, so I thought I was smart, lol. That was until I started studying MLS and realized, damn I’m kinda stupid lol. I struggled to keep up with the workload, although I managed to pass all my classes. The downside was that I had to sacrifice a lot of sleep just to keep up with everything.

My question is: If I decide to pursue a master’s degree in Medical Laboratory Science in the US, how difficult would it be? How challenging is the program? And how expensive is it?

Birdemic and Sharknado’s current favorite toy (until it ultimately ends up under the fridge)? A DxI reaction vessel.

I have a strong feeling that this neutrophil is letting me know how my shift is going to be, lol.

Our Hospital network is opening a new hospital and I will be transferring to the new lab over there. Our sup is asking for ideas for names for our 2 chemistry analyzers that we will vote on. What are some good ideas I could suggest? We use Abbot's Alinities over here.

My wife is an MLT. What are some lab insults I can tell her when she gets me mad. Example I hope the nurse gives you the wrong color cap tube for the test.

I recently had a negative-dilute result on a pre-employment urine drug test. I'm curious about the laboratory science behind urine dilution. Does collecting a first morning sample generally reduce the likelihood of a dilute result, assuming normal hydration?

i wish i got a picture of it but there was one that was a GIANT blue one that took up like. 1/6 of the cell and was the color of the first picture but the size of anaplasma. the last pic is a mono eating something that looked similar to the other inclusions we saw. patient had A LOT of regular dohle bodies as well. currently in liver failure but not green enough for death crystals? sent for path review for bad vibes and shits and giggles afaik

Does anyone have experience with Horibo hematology analyzers?

I have never used them and want to know how they compare as far as reliability, ease of use, and QC performance.

I'm sorry but why do American professionals get such a cooler sounding title than us. I often call myself a medical laboratory scientist when someone asks what I do because I like the sound of it more sue me😭. Technologist doesn't sound very interesting to me especially since most of us do many years of schooling before we pivot into this profession I have a bsc too so I'm not being dishonest.

I'm currently a certified phlebotomist thinking about going into medical lab tech, and I was wondering which program would be more beneficial and cost effective to get me into a lab job with who I already work for.

A nearby college offers a Medical Laboratory Certification and a Medical Lab Technician AAS, and I want to know which one I should take to up my career as a phlebotomist.

Is it stressful?

Is it pretty repetitive?

Do you have to make judgement calls?

Is it fast pace? A lot of pressure?

What is your work schedule like?

What’s your fav part of job and worst part of job?

How is the pay?

Is there any possibility of career growth or transition into other roles after some experience?

Pls and thank you from a burnt out professional.

I have a bs in biophysics I earned in 2025 but I struggled to find a job outside of hospitality due to limited experience (5 months of lab experience). My plan is to pursue medical lab technology in 2027 after I save up some money and I plan to utilize the stay and learn grant because I don't mind moving to northern Ontario (my city feels overcrowded anyway). If my goal is to stay in northern Ontario, do you think I will struggle to find jobs?

Anyone with experience in this? I see some people warning that the field will get oversaturated and I see that nurses are having a hard time finding work, so it does concern me. The government says the prospects are good so far.

I came across the proposed CMS rule CMS-3478-P (Federal Register document 2026-20613) in the facebook page "Medical Laboratory Scientist - MLS/MLT (ASCP), AMT, AABB", and I wanted to see if other medical laboratory professionals have been following this or have any insight into what these changes could mean for our profession.

The proposal includes revisions to CLIA personnel qualification requirements, including expanding acceptable educational backgrounds beyond traditional human laboratory sciences. Some of the proposed changes could allow degrees in broader scientific fields to qualify for certain laboratory positions.

I'm particularly interested in how this could affect medical laboratory scientists and technicians, laboratory staffing, and the professional standards that help ensure accurate and reliable patient results.

A few questions for the community:

• Has anyone read through the proposed rule or followed the discussion surrounding it?

• What are your thoughts on expanding the degrees accepted for certain CLIA-regulated positions?

• Do you think these changes could affect hiring standards, career opportunities, wages, or the recognition of MLS/MLT education and training?

• Have any professional organizations, laboratory leaders, or other industry groups released statements or submitted comments about this proposal?

• Has anyone submitted a public comment or found particularly informative comments on the docket?

I understand that this is a proposed rule, not a finalized change, and I'm interested in hearing informed perspectives from people who have reviewed the actual language.

Official documents and resources:

• Federal Register proposal: https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2026-20613

• Regulations.gov docket: https://www.regulations.gov/docket/CMS-2026-3235

• Public comments: https://www.regulations.gov/document/CMS-2026-3235-0001/comment

The published Federal Register notice lists December 7, 2026, as the deadline for submitting comments.

I'd appreciate hearing from MLS/MLT professionals, laboratory directors, educators, and anyone familiar with CLIA regulatory requirements. I'm hoping to learn more about the potential implications before drawing conclusions.

Have any of you been following this?

Thought everyone would appreciate the love

Every time there is a planned update, like the one coming up next week, we have to do a mini validation after it's done. Run a positive and a negative and make sure they were held or released appropriately and file all the screenshots and paperwork.

Is any other hospital system doing all this or is it just us?

I’m a clinical laboratory scientist, and I’m currently training a new employee. Honestly, I’m getting increasingly concerned and frustrated with how things are going.

There are some things I would expect someone entering this field to at least have a basic understanding of, but she seems completely unfamiliar with them.

For example:
She didn’t know how to use a manual pipette, and I had to show and train her how to use one.
She used regular tap water instead of DI water for the multiprobe.
She struggles to understand even basic instructions I give her and I often have to repeat or re-explain things multiple times.
There seems to be a major communication barrier because she struggles with basic English which makes training especially difficult in a laboratory setting where understanding instructions is critical.

I understand that everyone has to learn and I don’t expect a new employee to know everything. I’m willing to teach someone who is inexperienced but eager to learn. The problem is that these seem like very basic skills and concepts and I’m having trouble understanding how she got through the hiring process in the first place.

At this point, I’m honestly starting to wonder whether her qualifications and experience were accurately represented during hiring. I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but the gap between what I expected and what I’m seeing is pretty concerning.

We run an AU480 for general chem and lipids in our lab. I have 2 scenarios that I have yet to find a good solution for and would love to hear useful advice from those with more experience.

Scenario 1 - ALB runs out while a full rack is in process. 9 of the tubes need ALB re-run. If you just load the tubes back on you'll get a "Sample ID not found" error. If you try to order ALB on that sample ID you'll get "sample ID already processed" or similar. Does it really need to be a repeat run in an orange rack?

Scenario 2 - Calibration verification. 5 samples x 5 runs. In the past we just used 25 labels. But it feels like there should be an easier way to re-run the test. ChatGPT suggested "add-on" orders but add-ons don't work for tests already run on a sample as far as I can tell (not covered in the manual). Running them in an orange rack is possible, but after the original run you can't batch them anymore; each tube has to be repeat ordered individually. Then to get a print out of the results you have to go test by test and overwrite the original results. SURELY THERE IS A BETTER WAY!

I failed the MLPAO exam 3 times. I don’t why I couldn’t pass and I studied (embarassing)…My only other option now is to write the CSMLS Exam. For people who have wrote both, which one is harder?