Medical Laboratory Science

Play a vital role in the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of disease – be a Medical Laboratory Scientist.

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE

Stevenson's Bachelor of Science in Medical Laboratory Science combines the sciences of biology and chemistry with medicine and the clinical sciences to prepare you for a professional career as a medical laboratory scientist, also known as medical technologist.

Medical laboratory scientists are “diagnostic detectives.” They apply biology, chemistry and medicine to perform and interpret laboratory data. This laboratory data aids in the diagnosis and treatment of disease as well as disease monitoring and prevention. It is a profession that requires vast knowledge to make life-saving decisions. This is an exciting, challenging and rewarding healthcare profession.

There is a demand for more testing as our population grows older and medical knowledge expands into biogenetics, DNA and cell marker technologies, and personalized medicine. But, there is a critical shortage of medical laboratory scientists nationwide. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects for 2016-2026 the annual number of MLS job openings are 12,900, but the number of certified MLS graduates are only approximately 3,500 per year.

Our program curriculum culminates in the senior year at the Sinai Hospital of Baltimore campus and a semester-long clinical practicum to develop competency in all areas of the modern, automated hospital laboratory, including microbiology, hematology, chemistry, blood banking, immunology, and molecular diagnostics. Graduates are eligible to take the national certification examination to become a certified Medical Laboratory Scientist, MLS(ASCP). You will have the benefits of the MLS faculty who are working professionals in their area of expertise. Our program offers personal attention in a small, select class of students and the networking opportunities as a result of being in the clinical laboratory your entire last semester.

The Medical Laboratory Science degree is a versatile one that will prepare you to become a certified medical laboratory scientist qualified to work wherever laboratory testing is researched, developed, or performed, including hospital, private, research, industrial, biomedical, and forensic laboratories; pharmaceutical companies; and fertility centers.Our graduates are currently employed in many area hospitals, such as, Sinai Hospital, Northwest Hospital, University of Maryland Medical Center, and Johns Hopkins Hospital. In fact, 100% of our MLS graduates obtain full-time employment (many before graduation) or continue on to post-graduate education.

Medical Laboratory Science Program Mission Statement

The mission of the Medical Laboratory Science program of Sinai Hospital and Stevenson University is to provide the academic and applied science education to graduate ethical, certified entry-level medical laboratory scientists. As professionals, they will provide service, research and leadership in a rapidly changing and dynamic healthcare delivery system. The program strives to create an environment that nurtures Medical Laboratory Science as a unique and highly specialized profession.

Accreditation

The Medical Laboratory Science program is accredited through April, 2020 by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS); 5600 North River Road, Suite 72; 60018-5119; 773-714-8880; http://www.naacls.org

Graduates of the Medical Laboratory Science program will learn:

• How to be a disease detective. As diseases like MRSA, Zika and Ebola take center stage in our world, you will learn how to detect these diseases, protecting the patient and the public.
• How red and white blood cells and platelets look microscopically and tell whether they are normal or abnormal.
• Red blood cells are flexible because they have to be. They negotiate through very narrow spaces such as veins and capillaries. If they break apart, the patient becomes anemic.
• How to be an anemia detective. Low hemoglobin indicates an iron deficiency or some other type of anemia.
• White blood cells are important to the immune system. As a Medical Laboratory Scientist, you will learn how abnormal white cells appear, so you can diagnose leukemia.
• The ancient Greeks and Egyptians studied urine. Testing urine can easily and inexpensively determine health, wellness and detect disease.
• Someone in the United States needs blood every 2 seconds. Medical Laboratory Scientists working in the Blood Bank perform sophisticated type and cross studies, matching donors with recipients who have anemia, leukemia, sickle cell disease and are victims of trauma.
• Medical Laboratory Scientists study patient samples looking for metabolic and genetic markers for heart attack, diabetes, cancer and AIDS.
• Communication, teamwork, time management and collaboration are essential when working as a group for the good of the patient.  Everyone in the clinical laboratory does their part in discovering the diagnosis of the patient.
• How to recognize critical illnesses by blood chemistries including diabetic crises, sepsis, genetic diseases, poisonings, even heart attacks.
• From the tiny hydrogen ion to the giant gamma globulins, Medical Laboratory Scientists in the chemistry lab measure the molecules that keep us alive or make us sick, diagnose our diseases or confirm our health. There is no hospital without the laboratory.

MORE LEARNING OBJECTIVES