by Young M. Um
Special to The Toronto Sun
When your doctor orders a test, do you ever wonder what happens to your blood sample, throat swab or urine collection?
Kate McBride knows exactly what happens -- she is training to be a medical laboratory technologist (MLT).
"I'm really interested in science, and I've always wanted to be in the health-care field," says the 24-year-old Peterborough native. The MLT profession, she says, will merge her interest in microbiology (which she discovered during her undergraduate years at Trent University) with her desire to help people.
McBride is in her first year in the Medical Laboratory Science (MLS) program at The Michener Institute for Applied Health Sciences in Toronto. When McBride graduates in two years, she will be eligible to write the national certification examination and join the ranks among the other 7,500 highly-trained MLTs practicing in Ontario.
MLT is a regulated profession and it forms the fourth largest group of health care practitioners in Ontario. They are trained in five areas of laboratory medicine: microbiology, biochemistry, hematology, transfusion medicine and histology. MLTs not only examine specimens through a microscope, they also operate sophisticated instruments, laboratory equipment and computers.
Each year, MLTs process and analyze millions of blood, body fluid and tissue samples -- from simple pre-marital blood tests to more complex genetic tests used in the management of diseases such as cancer and AIDS. It is estimated that 70% of all clinical decisions are made on the basis of laboratory data.
What do MLTs do?
use laboratory data to improve health-care outcomes (laboratory information management)
work at the patient's bedside performing laboratory tests (patient relations)
measure chemical components of blood and body fluids, including hormones and drugs (clinical chemistry)
study bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites which invade the body (clinical microbiology)
study the cells for detection of cancer (diagnostic cytology)
study the chromosomes, DNA and RNA from cells of body fluids and tissues to diagnose genetic diseases (genetics)
study the diseases in blood cells and the clotting mechanisms of blood (hematology)
study the body's defence mechanisms against disease (immunology)
determine blood types and cross-matching for transfusion (transfusion science)
prepare and study the body tissue for detection of disease (histology/pathology)
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"Without our data, those diagnoses and the monitoring of patients who are receiving therapy would be severely hindered," says Joyce Clitheroe, who has been in the profession for more than 30 years and is the acting MLS program co-ordinator at the Michener Institute. "From that point of view, we are playing a critical role in the care of the patient."
There are three accredited MLT training programs in Ontario; each program is three years in length, which includes one year at a clinical site (such as a hospital lab).
Although the minimum admission requirement is a high school diploma (OSSD), the program draws a diverse range of students, including individuals training for second careers, students with post-secondary education and those who were in related professions in other countries.
"It's a challenging course, but it's very rewarding," says Clitheroe, drawing upon her 20 years of teaching at the Michener Institute. "Our profession would be attractive to a person who is more technically oriented, as opposed to one that involves a lot of direct patient contact [such as medical and nursing careers]."
MLT graduates can work in a variety of practice settings, including hospital clinics and private medical laboratories. Employment opportunities also exist in laboratory management, clinical research, sales and technical services, and there are ample opportunities for career advancements.
"The job opportunities for graduates are amazing," she says, noting that the graduate job placement rate is 100% due to the shortage of MLTs in the workforce.
Blanca McArthur, executive director for the Ontario Society of Medical Technologists, says the current MLT shortage will get even worse because not enough people are being trained to enter the profession as people are nearing retirement. "Part of the problem is attracting people into the MLT profession," she says. "It's a fairly serious problem in that many people are not aware that there are opportunities in this field."
Clitheroe agrees. "In the next few years it will reach crisis proportions unless we deal with it," she says. "We're trying to make what we do more apparent than it is now. In truth, you see the doctors and you see the nurses, but you don't normally see the medical lab technologists."
(Young Um is a Toronto-based freelance writer who can be reached at
Young_Um@yahoo.com)
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