What is Medical Technology?
Medical Technology, or Clinical Laboratory Science, is a healthcare profession where clinical laboratory scientists perform laboratory procedures to help diagnose, monitor, and treat diseases. Many medical technologists work in hospitals or in clinical laboratories, although employment can be found at doctors' offices, research facilities, public health institutions, forensic laboratories, pharmaceutical laboratories, and animal clinics. Medical technologists make a valuable contribution to patient care by developing, performing, and evaluating diagnostic tests and clinical laboratory procedures using state-of-the-art procedures. They analyze samples of blood, tissue, and body fluids using the latest technology and a variety of analytical techniques using both cellular and molecular techniques.
Medical technologists can work in all areas of the laboratory or specialize in one of several sections of a clinical laboratory such as immunohematology (blood banking), urinalysis, body fluid analysis, hematology, microbiology, clinical chemistry/toxicology, clinical microscopy, or immunology. Within the laboratory clinical laboratory scientists have various levels of responsibility as staff technologists, research technologists, supervisors, managers, or educators. Because people with a medical technology degree often find themselves involved in laboratory management, coursework in business or management is beneficial. Education and training in the clinical laboratory sciences can open doors to many other careers. Many graduates of medical technology programs find careers as physicians, biomedical researchers, forensic scientists, hospital administrators, laboratory managers.
What is the Medical Technology Program at Lycoming College?
(The following is an excerpt from the Lycoming College Academic Catalog of 2003-2004.)
Students desiring a career in medical technology may either complete a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science program followed by a clinical internship at any hospital accredited by the American Medical Association, or they may complete the cooperative program. Students electing the cooperative program normally study for three years at Lycoming, during which time they complete 24 unit courses, including the College distribution requirements, a major, and requirements of the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS). The current requirements of the NAACLS are: four courses in chemistry (one of which must be either organic or biochemistry); four courses in biology (including courses in microbiology and immunology), and one course in mathematics.
Students in the cooperative program usually major in biology, following a modified major of six unit courses that exempts them from Ecology (BIO 224) and Plant Sciences (BIO 225). Students must take either Microbiology (BIO 321) or Microbiology for the Health Sciences (BIO 226), and either Human Physiology (BIO 323) or Cell Biology (BIO 435). The cooperative program requires successful completion of a one-year internship at a hospital accredited by the American Medical Association. Lycoming is affiliated with the following accredited hospitals: Williamsport Hospital, Graduate Hospital, Robert Packer Hospital, Lancaster General Hospital, and Abington Memorial Hospital. Students in the cooperative program receive credit at Lycoming for each of eight courses in biology and chemistry successfully completed during the clinical internship. Successful completion of the Registry Examination is not considered a graduation requirement at Lycoming College. Students entering a clinical internship for one year after graduation from Lycoming must complete all of the requirements of the cooperative program, but are not eligible for the biology major exemptions indicated above. Upon graduation, such students may apply for admission to a clinical program at any hospital.
When and How Should I Apply?
If you are interested in the Medical Technology Program, please contact me (Dr. Terence McGarvey) at mcgarvey@lycoming.edu or stop by my office (130 Heim Science Building). I will get you started on the application process. In short, you have to first decide whether you want to spend four years at Lycoming College and then one year of clinical internship or if you want to spend three years at Lycoming College before entering your clinical internship (please see details above). Application for admission to a clinical program is made directly to the hospital that is in charge of your clinical education (please see below for Lycoming College's hospital affiliations). This is typically done in the late summer or fall for admission for the following year. The application process begins early, and enrollments are limited, so don't delay! Please contact the hospital directly for specific information and for application materials.
What is Involved in the Clinical Internship?
All students must spend a full twelve months of study in an accredited hospital-based clinical program. Subjects include all aspects of clinical laboratory science including microbiology, clinical chemistry, serology, hematology, immunohematology, and immunology. The format includes both lectures and laboratory assignments, with most of the laboratory experiences being provided in the actual hospital laboratory. In the laboratory, tests are performed for patients and the student learns to function in the hospital environment. The following is a list of courses taken during the clinical laboratory science program at Graduate Hospital:
- Medical Hematology and Coagulation
- Clinical Hematology and Coagulation
- Immunology
- Clinical Immunohematology
- Medical Immunohematology
- Urinalysis and Other Body Fluids
- Medical Chemistry
- Clinical Chemistry
- Medical Microbiology
- Clinical Microbiology and Serology
- Clinical Seminar
Admission to a clinical program is competitive. Currently, most of the programs require a minimum GPA of 2.5 in all science courses as well as a minimum GPA of 2.5 overall.
What Hospital Affiliations does Lycoming College Have?
Lycoming College has affiliations with five hospitals in the state of Pennsylvania: Williamsport Hospital in Williamsport, Graduate Hospital in Philadelphia, Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, Lancaster General Hospital in Lancaster, and Abington Memorial Hospital in Abington. If necessary, we can make arrangements with another hospital if you would rather go through your clinical training elsewhere. Please see me for contact information for these hospitals.
Links
National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Science (NAACLS)
American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS)
American Medical Technologists
Advanced Medical Technology Association
Clinical Laboratory Science Internet Resources
Contact
Dr. Terence McGarvey
Department of Biology
Lycoming College
700 College Place
Williamsport, PA 17701
570-321-4189
mcgarvey@lycoming.edu
