Medical Lab Technician: Course, Eligibility, Job & Salary

Feb 19
06:54

2021

Hemant Virohan

Hemant Virohan

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The Medical lab technician (MLT) are a group of professionals with specific skills specialized in medical laboratory sciences which is a part of allied health sciences and re-known as paramedical healthcare personnel, some of the other personnel in this collective category are radiography technicians, operation theatre technicians, anesthesia technicians and so on.

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Who are medical lab technicians?

The medical laboratory technicians are a group of professionals with specific skills specialised in medical laboratory sciences which is a part of allied health sciences and also known as paramedical healthcare personnel. Some of the other personnel in this collective category are radiography technicians,Medical Lab Technician: Course, Eligibility, Job & Salary Articles operation theatre technicians, anaesthesia technicians and so on.

One can join this allied healthcare workforce and serve the community after completing programs of varying durations. One can do Certificate program (CMLT) which is of 6-12 months duration, Diploma program (DMLT) and Advanced diploma program (ADMLT) which is of 1-2 years duration or Bachelors in medical lab technology (BMLT) which is a 3 years program. Most of the paramedical programs including Certificate and diploma programs are offered here at Virohan institute of health and management sciences

What is Medical Laboratory technology?

Medical lab technology is a part of larger allied health services which deals with biochemical, pathological and microscopic examination of cells, tissues and fluids of the body through the use of various procedures, methods and equipment. 

The professionals who specialise in this field are called medical lab technologists.

These professionals aid the doctors in diagnosing through services involving collection, preparation, testing/ microscopy and reporting of samples collected from patients providing the means to identification, analysis, prevention and evaluation of diseases and disorders. 

The medical lab technicians/technologists usually work collaboratively with other healthcare professionals, including physicians, surgeons, nurses, dentists and pharmacists and play an important role in evaluating, monitoring and assessing a patient’s health situation. Thus they keep the doctors and others informed so as to devise a course of treatment and plan appropriate care arrangements for the patient.

The allied healthcare professionals are indispensable to the healthcare system and the demand for such professionals is ever increasing.

Today 70% of medical diagnosis is carried out in the laboratories by the medical technologists. The advances in the field are dramatic.

What does a Medical Laboratory Technician do?

On completing the degree or diploma in medical lab technology, you as a certified technologist will have the skills to perform a large number of clinical tests and operate various highly intricate , modern equipment and procedures.

  • Evaluation of all body fluids, the procedures for extraction of samples and analysis of those fluids.
  • Examining various tissues of the body, methods of sample acquisition and preparation and their microscopic examination.
  • Evaluating different blood cells & diagnosing the changes or pathology therein.
  • Biochemistry tests to measure blood composition, hormone, enzymes and drug levels
  • Blood grouping, cross-matching in case of emergency and trauma
  • Microbiological identification of various pathogens affecting the human body including all viruses, bacteria and other pathogens which cause infections.

In general, the medical lab technologists assist and help the doctors give the diagnosis through biochemical, pathological and microscopic examination of cells, tissues and fluids of the body.

Job opportunities

With a degree in medical lab sciences you can have quite a stellar career, one has numerous avenues to acquire a decent job and excel in this field, such as:

  • Hospital laboratories
  • International health services (Red Cross Society)
  • Government health services
  • Blood banks
  • Forensic labs
  • Clinical research laboratories
  • Educational institutions
  • Physicians’ laboratories (within clinic)
  • Applications specialists
  • Veterinary hospitals
  • NGOs
  • Private ventures (Entrepreneurship) or outsourced service providers.

Salary and perks:

The Trainee level Executives can directly join a laboratory or a hospital and earn somewhere between Rs.10 to 20,000 per month. However, a well experienced and skilled can obviously earn more, the government being the model employer offers salaries between 30,000 to 40.000 Rs, similar salary range is offered by the leading hospitals and laboratories in the country where the senior technologists earn more than 40,000 rupees.

In addition to this, many employers offer healthcare benefits and other allowances to their employees.

So, if working in a laboratory interests you, if the skills and opportunities mentioned above have caught your interest, if you are considering becoming a medical lab technologist the information below might be helpful.

How to become a medical laboratory technologist?

To become a medical lab technologist, you need to get admission in a college/university for Diploma/Advanced Diploma in MLT (also known as DMLT and ADMLT) or B.sc MLT Course (i.e. Bachelor of medical lab technology or BMLT) 

  • DMLT is primarily a 1-2 year program with 6 months of internship 
  • ADMLT is primarily a 2-year program with 6 months of internship 
  • BMLT is usually a 3-year program with 6 months to one-year internship

The courses in the program are taught as a combination of classroom lectures and laboratory practical sessions. This is to fully prepare you and equip you with the practical skills and theoretical knowledge you need in the line of work.

There are a few prerequisites/ eligibility criteria in the admission process which are almost common for degree and diploma courses

To take admission in DMLT, ADMLT or B.Sc. MLT in India you must have passed Class 12 from a recognised board.

Usually in most institutes in India, for the students to be accepted for this course, they must have scored 50% or above in the 12th class board exams.

These programs are offered at various institutions across India

Course curriculum

The course curriculum is so devised that the students are entirely transformed into responsible professionals at the end of the course. They have enough prowess of the subject , sense of responsibility, be patient centred approach, have the ability to apply the principles of basic science and evidence-based practice and the ability to communicate effectively and understand and apply the core concepts of clinical ethics and law in everyday practice and be able to execute his daily duties with professionalism and best character.

The technologist must have an in-depth knowledge of the basic functioning and structures of the body, the knowledge of diseases and disorders, the vast knowledge of pathogens and pathological conditions and much more.

In order to achieve this, the basic subjects in the course curriculum are:

  • Anatomy
  • Physiology
  • Pathology
  • Microbiology
  • Biochemistry
  • Medical ethics and communication for healthcare professionals
  • Hospital administration and training
  • Haematology
  • Histocytology
  • Biomedical Techniques
  • Advanced Medical diagnostics
  • Lab Management

These are the core subjects that one has to study. More advanced and in-depth study of these subjects with focus to specific and individual aspects of the subject are to be studied in the following years of course such as microbiology is then divided in second and third years of course into bacteriology, virology, mycology, parasitology, immunology and applied microbiology, similarly more advanced branches of pathology and biochemistry and other core subjects are also to be studied in further years.

It is imperative and natural that you choose the best paramedical institute for your study in paramedical courses, where you acquire all the skills, build and transform them into a career and to get the best learning opportunities to build a career in the healthcare industry.

Virohan institute of health and management sciences offers programs in most of the paramedical sciences, paramedical programs like Medical Laboratory Technician, Operation Theatre Technician, Hospital Administration and Radiology Technician are offered.

These healthcare courses are taught to you in such a way that you get the hands on experience, practical knowledge and insight to deal with the patients in real life right after finishing the course.

Prior to your admission you can go for career counselling at Virohan institute where through psychometric assessments and informed guidance advise you to take admission in a field of your interest and also guide you about the scope of that field. This expert counselling helps you understand what is best for you, enable you to decide for example, whether you should take admission in any of the one 1-year paramedical programs or advanced diploma programs in medical after 12th class and offer you a deep understanding of scope of the best job oriented healthcare programs before you make a decision.

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