Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Info on Medical Laboratory Technology (Health Science)

As I had observed and told during training in a government hospital, only MLT (Dip/BSc.), Biomed (BSc.) and postgraduate medical students (pursuing Masters in Pathology) are allowed for a full practical rotations in almost all the departments available in the government pathology lab. The reason for this is related with the subjects these students have studied.A government hospital commonly have under their pathology laboratory the following departments (some major hospital may even have more):

  • Biochemistry department (routine and non-routine biochemistry)
  • Hematology department
  • Serology department
  • Microbiology and parasitology department
  • Blood bank

As you can see, the subjects learned by MLTs and Biomed students are directly related with the departments stated above. Other practical students in the hospital from pure science program such as BSc.Biochemistry or BSc.Microbiology are not allowed to rotate to other departments that are not related to their study. As explained by the head MLT in the government hospital that I went for my training, the pure science students lack the knowledge in the relevant subjects for them to be able to understand and properly conduct tests in departments other than their own, therefore they are not allowed in other departments. (eg; Biochemist student - conduct practical at Biochemistry department)

All of the above however may not apply in a private laboratory such as Pathlab or Gribbles. I'm not familiar with their protocols. If you find MLT or Biomedical Science interesting, you should choose a good place to study and pursue the course if you wish.

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