Clinical Laboratory Sciences, Medical Technology Option
About The Program
The Medical Technology option prepares students with lifelong career skills in laboratory science. Students receive an in-depth education in clinical chemistry, clinical hematology, clinical immunohematology (transfusion medicine), clinical immunology, and clinical microbiology. Lecture and laboratory courses in these areas are taught here at the University, followed by clinical internships in each area at hospital laboratories in Greater Boston, Northeastern Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire. After completing their degree, students are qualified to sit for the national certification examinations in Clinical Laboratory Sciences/Medical Technology offered by the American Society of Clinical Pathology (ASCP) and the National Certifying Agency for Medical Laboratory Personnel (NCA).
The academic program includes scientific and clinical knowledge using current methodology, instrumentation and techniques relevant to each area in laboratory medicine. Students can elect to enroll in the five-year BS/MS program and take courses in their senior year that will count toward the master's degree.
The Medical Technology option prepares entry-level Clinical Laboratory Scientists/Medical Technologists who are able to: 1.) select and provide analytical and evaluative laboratory services based on scientific theory, 2.) effectively assess the results of their efforts and 3.) possess leadership skills of accountability, delegation, education, and supervision. This program is fully accredited by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS), Chicago, IL. For the third time in a row, the Medical Technology option received a perfect score during its recent national accreditation cycle in 2003. The teaching faculty is doctorally prepared in various science disciplines and nationally certified with teaching, clinical and research experience. Many of the faculty are nationally recognized in their respective fields.
The program has recently upgraded its equipment and acquired state-of-the-art laboratory instrumentation for all of the student laboratories. Students receive further in-depth experience with laboratory instrumentation in their clinical internships. Student clinical placements are guaranteed and are coordinated by the university faculty and staff.
Please read the section of additional information on this program.
Career Opportunities
The Medical Technology program prepares students for a variety of careers in Laboratory Medicine. Nearly 100 percent of program graduates are successfully employed in all departments of various hospital laboratories (i.e. Massachusetts General Hospital, Lahey Clinic, Saints Memorial Hospital), physician office laboratories, medical reference laboratories (i.e. Mayo Medical Laboratory, Quest Diagnostics), the American Red Cross Blood Bank laboratories, public health laboratories as well as veterinary office laboratories and hospitals (i.e. Tufts Veterinary Hospital Laboratory).
Graduates also have obtained employment in various jobs as sales representatives, R & D scientists, clinical research associates, technical field representatives, regulatory affairs personnel, and quality control personnel in the biomedical device, biotechnology, health informatics and pharmaceutical industries (i.e. Wyeth, Andover; Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Billerica; Bayer Diagnostics, Walpole; Meditech, Westwood). Graduates are also employed in research laboratories at various universities and medical schools in the Greater Boston area.
Finally, many graduates of this program have continued on to graduate school and received master's or Ph.D.s in various science disciplines such as biology, biotechnology, microbiology, biochemistry, nutrition, physical therapy, and clinical laboratory sciences at schools such as Tufts University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Dartmouth College. Others have earned master's of Education, master's of Business Administration (MBA) or Health Administration (MHA). Graduates have also gone to Veterinary School, Chiropractic School, Osteopathic School, Medical School or Physician and Pathologist Assistant’s programs at places such as the University of Massachusetts Medical School, SUNY Syracuse, and Northeastern University.
Admissions and Degree Requirements
All students must complete a basic core of science courses in Anatomy and Physiology, Physiological Chemistry and Basic Clinical Microbiology. These courses, along with the General Education courses in Social Sciences and Arts and Humanities, must be completed prior to the junior year. The upper division (junior and senior) courses combine classroom and online teaching and learning. Specific courses include Hematology, Coagulation, Clinical Chemistry, Medical Bacteriology, Medical Mycology and Parasitology, Medical Virology/Serology, Clinical Immunology, Clinical Immunohematology, and Molecular Diagnostics.
The program requires a total of 120 credits and completion of the required courses leading to a Bachelor of Science in Clinical Laboratory Sciences, Medical Technology option.
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