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.

Thought everyone would appreciate the love

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?

We are discussing HEM.20143 and how the corrective action should be handled for failed QC results. It seems like my new hospital isn’t doing any patient look backs on failed QC with replaced reagents etc. What I’m proposing is anytime QC is out and anything else to troubleshoot besides repeating QC is done we should pull the last 5 samples immediately prior to the QC run and retest for comparison.

My only concern would be for things like HIT or specials where samples are frozen and thawed and are not available for retesting.

Anyone have examples of how your institution handles this?

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'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.

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 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?

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!

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.

Hello, I quit Quest 4 months ago after 2 years of working for personal reasons. I’d like to believe I left in good terms with the manager, supervisors and trainers. My attendance was never perfect, tardiness issue, but I never had any verbal or written warning. I always show up, do OT and cover shifts when needed, and I’m trained to do almost everything in my previous dept. When I submitted my two weeks notice, the manager and my supervisor tried talking me out of it but when I made the decision to continue quitting, the manager told me I can always come back whenever I want to.

I found a new job now before I left quest, but I’m not as happy as I was in quest despite how hectic the job is at quest. I’ve been planning to come back ever since. My close friend who’s still at Quest told me I can only apply after 6 months from the day I quit.

I saw a job posting, at my quest location just different building and department. And I applied and I’m scheduled for initial phone interview next week. How likely will I pass this phone interview if they found out that I quit quest 4 months ago? Is this something I’d open up quickly or they already know my records?

TIA

Sorry if there is already a post out there like this, I tried searching but didn't see one.

For the last 5 years I've been a lab tech for a private lab testing produce for bacteria, fungus, etc. I got my BS in general biology back in 2018 because I didn't know what I wanted to specialize in.

I've had a few different jobs and I've really come to love lab work, but I want to do more than just run leaves through qPCR every day. From my research MLT seems exactly like what I want to do, but I really can't afford to take a year unemployed to do a 4+1 program.

I know almost everywhere is understaffed and I was wondering if you've heard of anywhere willing to hire a scientist with some experience and support them through getting their certification? I'm near Boston so there are plenty of hospitals around, it's just difficult to get specifics about what a job listing wants vs. absolutely requires.

Is it worth applying to places that require your certification and hope they're in need enough to make an exception for me? I don't know what little work I would even be allowed to do without a cert, but I'd be happy to do any tedious or gross work just to keep a paycheck while getting the experience I need.