Comments on: Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians Are Among Top Growth Jobs for Next Decade

By: henry ramirez

henry ramirez — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 22:43:21 +0000

A career in Clinical Medical Science allows an MLT/CLS to be an invesitgator. We are part of the cure not the disease. This alone is priceless. WHy should we compare this profession to others when it comes to salary numbers? My idea here is that there is honor, courage, and feelings of prestige when you work as an MLT/CLS and what you make hourly should have no effect on your role in society. If you want to make money there any number of ways to do that. Sure we are unsung heroes here but if you want to be sung to become a firefighter or Policeman if you are worried about being recognized. At the end of day we save lives and it is this feeling that really matters more so then any audeince that is there to witness it.

By: MT/MLS ASCP(CM)

MT/MLS ASCP(CM) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 03:32:04 +0000

I would love to see salaries increase to line up with the other medical professionals who for some reason currently are percieved as more valuable to patient care than we are (nurses, pharmacy, physical therapy, etc.)…And as much as it seems promising that many jobs are going to come available as the older generation begins to retire, I don’t think our economy will allow our pay to increase along with that. There are lots of people without jobs now and I think enough people will fill the spots at the current pay just because they need to put food on the table for their family. At our hospital and many others, an MLT with the two year degree (that is two years including clinicals i believe) is paid just the same as those with 4 year bachelor degrees. To me it seems likely that we will become a less educated group of medical professionals just looking to maintain status quo. And this is not meant as an insult to MLT’s, just that it almost doesn’t pay to go for the bachelor’s degree if you end up with the same responsibilities and same pay.

By: Rob Wessels

Rob Wessels — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 09:46:56 +0000

Wow, I have never tought that a school psychologist would be on the 11th place of best careers. In the Netherlands it is the most crappy job you can take as a psychologist.

By: hana

hana — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 16:42:52 +0000

thats great,im very please to see that

By: Alphabet soup AA,AS,BS,PHD,MLT,CLS

Alphabet soup AA,AS,BS,PHD,MLT,CLS — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 23:24:30 +0000

Wow, the comments are excellent! I do have a bachelor’s degree in biomedical science as well as other things and I do love the lab and that is why I am headed there. It is the only reason because the pay is simply not there for the knowledge I will enter this field with at a non-profit hospital. I have 7+ years of college and will enter the work force making approximately $20/hr. This does include tuition, retirement, health, dental and many life benefits, but it still isn’t enough.

I know I sound greedy, but is our job any less important than say a pharmacist at Walgreens making $48 to $50 per hour plus huge sign on bonuses? Don’t say I should have been a pharmacist either because I have that under my belt and went for the fast cash. I wasn’t happy and I am changing careers mid-life to something I enjoy, not for the money.

The pay is ok, but it is under nursing at the local non-profit hospital and this I totally disagree with. There are fast track RN programs where they are not required to have a BS and then get out of the program making more money. I have NEVER understood this.

This position does have a ton of responsiblity. It may not have the direct patient contact that an RN or a PCT has, but the information provided by the lab is priceless. Even the pharmacist uses it to make decisions, how ironic?

I know I will enjoy what I do and after being in the work force for 20+ yrs prior to returning to college this is a key point for me. I just hope pay might increase as a seasoned generation retires and the new crop of labbies comes up in ranks and the labs realize the shortage and the need. With the shortage comes a lot of job opportunities and choices. If the pay isn’t there the turn over will greatly increase as techs “shop around” for the best packages.

We shall see……………..

By: Burton Haynes

Burton Haynes — Sat, 29 May 2010 15:14:00 +0000

Good post, thanks for it!

By: Ahmad Abdurrahman El-Fulaty

Ahmad Abdurrahman El-Fulaty — Mon, 03 May 2010 23:10:46 +0000

Just the feeling that one day things will get better keeps me on track.Medical Laboratory Science is a life saving profession without which the physicians will in no way make it to the promised land. But why do the physicians think they have it all despite the fact that they know they don’t? Fortunately, We are beginning to get along now, but the old professionals need to give us the credit we deserve at least to aid in the attainment of the target: patients’ care. They need to trust our diagnosis, else the repercussion is to kill innocent lives. Saying abusive words in clinical meeting will never solve a problem out of the many we have at hand. Having known the capabilities of each other right from school the young medical students learn to respect our findings, which is not the case with the old physicians. Why won’t they let things play out as they are? It is for everyone’s sake. The patients most importantly.

By: okoro cbu

okoro cbu — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:37:17 +0000

I must say that am quite surprised to learn from the contributions of some of my professional colleagues that Medical lab. Scientists in the west are also not accorded their well deserved respected within the health care system. In Nigeria, where I have practiced in almost all the disciplines, for over 20yrs the story is the same, if not worse. The Doctors and the nurses take all the glory whereas the lab is only remembered when it is required to salvage desperate situations. Well, I am in the Lab. today because it is my calling and am quite passionate about it. I strongly believe that any good biomedical scientist has this passion as the only motivating force. God will continue to bless us. Thank you.

By: Arlene Currie MT ASCP SBB

Arlene Currie MT ASCP SBB — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:53:13 +0000

Reading the article would leave me cold when it came to choosing to be a lab tech. I have been in this profession and recognize that the author has not spent any time in a hospital laboratory. More than 70 % of the objective information on a patient’s chart comes from the laboratory. We are giving clean,scientifically founded, and precise results to the physician. Unlike other professions that work in the hospital, there are no physicians reviewing our work, no middle man (woman) to review, inspect, direct our results. Just the clinical lab professionals do that. We are not handing off an Xray to a physician, reading the physicians pharmacy orders or calling the attending for answers. Please do not look at this as being mean spirited to other professionals but I know when it comes to objective information… black and white information, it is the technologists who do it. The reason our profession was started was because early physicians didn’t have the time to spend in the lab and gave those duties to the scientist, while the patient’s bed and feeding were given to nurses. Nurses being aware of their potential took their professiona and made it indispensible. I agree they are indispensible. We techs were stuck in the lab away from the patients. No one noticed us and we let our main organization ASCP be responsible for our legacy. Unfortunately ASCP was run by physicians and they kept us in the basements, while nursing pulled ahead.
Thre is no malice meant, it is just how many of us see our profession. 89 % of my colleagues in this laboratory are bachelor degreed, how many of our nurses are… not nearly that high, but we are still in the basement. My advise..pick a position that you love and be happy. I have been in the blood bank since 1970 and have loved every stressful minute even while knowing the docs and the nurses are given the kudos for our work.

By: Margaret Hidek, MBA, MT(ASCP), CLS

Margaret Hidek, MBA, MT(ASCP), CLS — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 20:49:16 +0000

Having spent the last 39 years as a clinical laboratory scientist, I find this article [written by U.S. News & World Report] to be QUITE misleading, although it is about time that someone thought to put this much-needed career in the public eye! Please understand that, to be a clinical lab scientist, a FOUR year degree PLUS a year internship is required. It is a stressful job-every result that goes out could cause someone to die! Of course, we like to be more positive and say that we save lives, which is certainly more the case, although the good that we do in saving those lives does not rate the news coverage that a disaster does.Also, the monetary compensation is usually somewhat more that the stated salary range. It is a rewarding job…please remember that we tell the pharmacist what drugs are needed, the physician whether a patient is too anemic for surgery, the nurse whether the patient needs to be isolated from her other patients because of infection…whether blood transfusions are needed…the list goes on.

Again, it is good to see this career mentionned in a positive light. The facts are simply not what I have personally experienced.