Medical Laboratory Technician Essay

Grey’s anatomy, Nurse Jackie, and Call the Midwife are all shows that feature nurses and doctors in the spotlight by directly helping patients, but what about who is helping behind the scenes? Medical laboratory professionals work behind the scenes with little to no contact with the patient, but they provide critical information for helping the patient. In the laboratory, professionals work to test specimens such as blood, urine, and several other types to assist doctors with finding out how to treat a patient. This report will be diving deep into the job description and education requirements of the three main medical laboratory professions which include: phlebotomists, medical laboratory technicians, and finally medical laboratory scientists.

Phlebotomy Technician

Phlebotomists have the most contact with patients out of the laboratory professions, so they end up being the face of the laboratory more times than not. Phlebotomists are an important cog in the laboratory framework because they collect specimens for testing. Phlebotomists are skilled with various techniques to obtain blood samples such as venous and capillary methods. Phlebotomists can work in various environments such as in

Nassau Community College offers a medical laboratory technician program and their description is simply perfect: “Medical laboratory technicians work in hospital and private laboratories (clinical or research) or physician office labs. At career entry, the MLT will be able to perform routine clinical laboratory tests done in hematology, chemistry, immunohematology, microbiology, immunology and coagulation” (Nassau Community College "MLT Job Description”). Medical laboratory technicians work under the supervision of medical laboratory technologists. Medical laboratory technicians are responsible for calibrating, sanitizing, and testing the medical laboratory