gary_stocker (00:02.506)
Hello, welcome back to another episode of Medical Laboratory Science Career Guidance. My name is Gary Stocker. Among the many names that we call ourselves in the Medical Laboratory, there are a few that stand out as ones that would offer value for you to understand as you consider your career options as a Medical Laboratory Scientist. And I want to break those down in today's episode to give you some guidance on kind of the benefits, the benefits and drawbacks of each.

in addition to some of the things that you need to do to prepare for each. Let's just start with what I think is the most common entry level, believe it or not. And that's the Bachelor of Science with a major in Medical Laboratory Science. And there are dozens, if not scores, of colleges across the country that offer this. I can provide you guidance on how to do that. You can get that information in the description below. And here is the value of that 4 plus degree.

there is a lot of depth of science, of clinical science, that really makes you better from day one being a medical laboratory scientist. I'll talk about the associate's degree, the two-year degree in a minute, and this four-year degree is just more depth. In addition, that Bachelor of Science and the proper certification through the ASCP, the American Society of Clinical Pathologists, puts you in a position as your career grows to supervise the work of others.

An associate's degree, as we'll see in a minute, does not do that. And just in general, that traditional Bachelor of Science and medical laboratory science gives you a lot more opportunities for career growth. There are two, the most common way to get to that Bachelor of Science is traditional. You start college as an 18, 19 year old, you get 90 some odd credits of science and math, the gen eds that all colleges still require.

And in the last year, last year and a half, maybe the science, the clinical diagnostic, the clinical science piece has really come into play. It's called a 3 plus 1 model. That last year really focuses on the clinical skills and a significant part of that, if not all of it, is dedicated toward an internship. But I also want to follow up on something I spoke about in a previous podcast, and that is the 4 plus 1 model. If you're listening to this and you have

gary_stocker (02:24.982)
that Bachelor of Science are about to earn, that Bachelor of Science in Biology, maybe in Chemistry, maybe in Microbiology, maybe some other sciences. You can still get a career started in the Medical Laboratory Science. There's ways to do that. I would encourage you to reach out to me through the contact information in the description below, but colleges and sometimes employers will let you sit for a specialty exam.

a specialist certification in microbiology, or blood bank, or chemistry, or some of the others. Let's look at the associate's degree. Again, many community colleges throughout the country, not all, offer this two-year associate's degree, and it's called medical laboratory technician. So again, to back up, the four-year is medical laboratory scientist, the two-year is medical laboratory technician, and on occasion, it's called clinical laboratory technician.

In the workplace, for the most part, they both end up doing the same work, both jobs. The compensation is somewhat different for the bachelor's degree, you would expect that. But here's a way to look at that two-year associate's degree. First of all, the first year is the gen eds the community college requires and the science courses. There, of course, are a lot few of them because it's one-third of the time. The second year involves around the internship.

And it is very similar, and I think in many cases, almost identical to what the Bachelor of Science Medical Laboratory scientists are taking. Here's a way to think about that two-year associate degree. If you're looking for income, but you want a college education, look at the community colleges near you, and look at getting that two-year associate degree, starting your employment in a medical laboratory somewhere.

and let your employer provide you tuition reimbursement to get that bachelor's degree. Almost all, if not every healthcare provider out there has some form of tuition reimbursement, let them provide that the revenue, the cost coverage for that degree.

gary_stocker (04:41.154)
So in conclusion, the medical laboratory continues to offer more opportunities than there are people available. If you're looking for a stable career, for a career that you can grow in, medical laboratory science indeed provides meaningful work and it provides career growth. If you have questions or want to stay in touch with other podcasts, I provided that information in the description below. This is Gary Stocker with medical laboratory science career guidance.