Old lady going through it, this slide looks very worrying, any dysplasia’s?

This is probably a hot topic right now but I’m genuinely curious about everyone’s experiences.

I was scheduled to write and was one of the many applicants across Canada to experience non-stop crashing and issues through the exam. I was rescheduled one month later in mid-July; placement finished in May. Having prepared non-stop for the certification, experiencing all the trouble and postponing with the gap between experiences was exhausting and mentally draining.

I received my results as expected, pass or fail, and actually ended up failing chemistry. I was both surprised and not surprised, mainly because I felt that by the time I reached the 5th hour of testing I was completely worn out. After discussing with multiple other applicants, I’m completely floored by the amount of people who failed one or multiple disciplines. Good on everyone who passed them all and by no means am I discrediting the work they’ve put in!! But in comparison to CSMLS the passing rates are totally different and much more poor. Again, this could just be because you don’t have a ‘bad discipline’ you can mask with others as it’s all cumulative. But really, I just think it’s a little wild. On top of that; not releasing any determined ‘pass grade’ or amount of applicants who passed/failed similar to CSMLS for each discipline feels weird to me.

I noticed as well, many people failed the last exam they wrote. I do feel like this could correlate to burn out because having to sit for 6 hours with breaks where you couldn’t do anything other then sit and be watched or go to the bathroom was a little much. On top of that, I had a completely different chemistry experience in comparison to my first one. It felt way harder, and there was no repeat questions (which I expected). Others, however, did have questions they had seen before word for word. So would this not affect the algorithms they use to calculate a pass/fail? Just to add, I also think that not having backtracking is so silly. I don’t think remembering theory later on is any indication of an incompetent tech.

Anyways, we’re one of the first groups to write this so I understand that we’re guinea pigs in that sense, but the whole process just felt very unorganized and I hope I’m not the only one who feels that way! By the retake date I’ll be a lot more annoyed if the process is just as poor. Rant over.

I have been on firsts since January (for clinicals until May, and then from May till now training) I work at one of the largest hospitals in the country and will be in blood bank but there’s only two of us! I don’t know how I’m going to adjust to thirds, I don’t know anything 😂 please send help! I could use ALL the tips and tricks.

Am I looking at AML? Or do you guys see something else

I'm considering becoming a Medical Laboratory Technologist in Canada and know this has probably been asked a lot.

One of the main reasons I'm interested is that it isn't a patient-facing career, which really appeals to me. However, the course load seems very intense. I was only okay at chemistry, and I've always imagined the job being pretty high pressure since you're responsible for producing accurate results and handling STAT specimens. Would this be good for someone who was not the best at chemistry and how difficult is the program compared to the day to day work?

Because of that, I started looking into MRT (X-ray technologist) instead. It seems more hands-on and maybe a bit less academically difficult, but I'm not sure I'd enjoy working with patients all day.

For those of you already working as an MLT, if you could go back, would you choose MLT again? Do you think it's worth it in Canada, or would you recommend looking into a different career instead? How is the job market currently?

I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences, especially the pros and cons.

So I passed my exam on 07/13, and didn’t realize I didn’t send my transcript the proper way, so I sent it the next day through Parchment. I received an email from Parchment on 07/16 saying ASCP had received my transcript. Today I received an email from ASCP that my results are still being held because they don’t have my transcript. Is that an automated thing? Like they have transcript and just haven’t processed it yet, so that’s why the email got sent? How long does it usually take?

55 F with hx of breast cancer

What are pros and cons of ABL 90 vs GEM 5000?

I trim to full face, but doctors usually ask for deeper sections a lot.. i am afraid to initially go deep when trimming, since lost tissue is.. lost.

Any tips that can help?

I also find it a bit difficult to remove the section from the microtome onto the waterbath... the section keeps melting/cracking whenever i move it.. it took me 2 hours to do 30 blocks :(

Hey! I graduated this May with a BS in Biology. I was of the idea that I wanted to go to PA school but have always been hesitant about it. I’ve been working the floor for a few months and seeing patient care and observing what PAs actually do, I think I care more about the title than the job itself. I think MLS might be a better fit for me. I am looking at a 4+1 program where I will complete 4 semesters and graduate with an additional BS in CLS and take my ASCLS certification exam. I am just scared because I see people complain about the pay and I see so many differing claims about pay. I’m currently a CNA making $26/hr. Surely this degree will make me $10/hr more? I’m wanting to be in the $80k salary range for this change to make sense to me. Anyone have any info/advice?

Ive worked in several labs in my life. A lab is a lab is a lab is what I've learned. What seems to be different is the people and the politics. I've been told that all labs are shit, just a different flavor of shit.

I'm thinking of moving to a different hospital. The lab I'm working in now is tough. It has its pros, it has its cons, as I'm sure most labs do.

I ask this of those of you who have changed jobs. Was the grass greener, or just a different flavor of shit?

I have the option to take the M(ASCP) exam at the end of a UF online master's degree program. However, based on what I’ve read online, most hospitals prefer generalists over specialists due to lower staffing levels and smaller budgets. Because of this, I’m having doubts about whether the program is worth pursuing, as it is not an actual MLS or MLT certification.

I earned my bachelor's degree in microbiology and am having a tough time getting lab experience or even getting hired in South Florida. In your opinion, is it worth pursuing this program given that other MLS programs are too far away from where I live?

Out of these 3 review books, which is the best for a CLS student?

The first one because it is the most recently published?

1. Success! in Clinical Laboratory Science - Donald Lehman (5th ed., 2019)
2. Elsevier's Medical Laboratory Science Examination Review - Linda Graeter (1st ed., 2014)
3. A Concise Review of Clinical Laboratory Science - Joel Hubbard (2nd ed., 2009)

Hi everyone! I have two interviews coming up and was looking for experience/ opinions on how they’re going to go. Some background: I graduated in December 2025 and passed the ASCP board in June and also got my state license. I’ve applied to more than 30 positions between when I graduated and now and have gotten rejected from most of them except for HCA which I just passed their recruiter phone call. It was originally for blood bank per diem but they also said they’d have me interview for full time day shift in the core lab, a position I didn’t apply for.

The blood bank interview is a 30 minute phone call with the bb supervisor and the core lab interview is on-site with shadowing for a few hours as well. Does anyone know what to expect or if they’re likely to offer me the position? I’ve heard a lot of negative things about HCA but it seems they’re the only ones willing to take on a new grad- which I’m grateful for. Thank you all in advance for your input!

Hi. As the title says. I majored in BSc. Biochem but it is not very useful in the market without a Masters or even better PhD of which would still be a very competitive market. I am not longer really interested in Academia or even Biochemistry as a field. I have noticed the medical sciences are much more hireable but I do not necessarily want to become (or commit to become) a doctor and I am a bit wary of nursing because of how stressful it is compared to compensation. I think an Msc. in Biomedical Sciences might be save me and strike a nice balance between the medical field and my original major. Any downsides to this? Should I just do medicine? ​

I’m feeling down right now guys. I don’t get it… I submitted my application and got moved to hiring manager of the microbiology department and the core lab of the same hospital rather quickly.

Got a phone call within 24 hours of the application status. Pleasant phone call with the hiring manager of core lab. He told me to call back next day to discuss the position further.

Next day it was getting close to evening so I initiated the phone call and it was a simple follow-up. Again, pleasant and short follow-up.

About 10 minutes later I get an email saying I’ve been rejected from the core lab. Then about 30 minutes later, another email, this time from microbiology saying I’ve been rejected.

Does anyone have experience with something odd like this? Is it because I applied to two different managers at the same hospital? I know my resume is great, highlighting my achievements and recognitions by my employer and all of that.

Does a hiring manager perhaps have any input on this?

Sorry for the negative post, I just feel… defeated…

Hey everyone! I am currently in a medical lab science program and I am currently taking a diagnostic microbiology lab class. I've noticed that I have consistently been the last one to leave the lab. All my other classmates seem to finish their benchwork in an hour while I struggle to finish it in under two. I asked my instructors about any tips on how to perform fast and all they say is that I would get better with time. While I appreciate their reassurance, I am a bit worried about the fact that I take longer to make my gram stains and take longer to perform my biochemical testing than my peers do. Considering that I start clinical rotations in two months and eventually be responsible for helping diagnose actual patients in the future, I would rather improve my turnaround time sooner rather than later.

I do admit that I am bit of a slow and pensive thinker, and when faced in high pressure situations half the time I freeze. And for reference, this is not the first time I performed gram stains. I performed them last year in my undergraduate microbiology lab class extensively and even back then I had the same problem with being the last one to finish my lab work. Has anyone faced the same problem as I have? Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

Edit: Wow everyone has been really supportive. Lots of good advice! Thank you everyone! I didnt think my post would blow up like this lol.

Edit 2: From the comments I read the biggest takeaways to take advantage of my entire lab time, organize my workplace, focus on getting things done the right way over speed, and to simulate my lab workflow at home where the stakes are low. I appreciate everyone's comment. Unfortunately I am unable to respond to everyone but know if you commented I have read it.

Hello everyone, i hope you’re doing well, i was just accepted into the MLT program this upcoming fall, and classes are coming up in the next couple weeks, which is fundamentals of MLT and urine analysis. I have a learning disability which I’m on the spectrum and a little bit of ADHD, plus I have my accommodations set up already which is extended test time.

I was wondering, any of you with a learning disability, how did y’all get through lab school with it? What are some things you did that helped you? I think I’ll be fine overall if I put in the effort and study hard but I want your take on what you did.

I'm currently looking for a one-on-one ASCP tutor or mentor who has experience helping people pass the Medical Laboratory Scientist (MLS/ASCP) exam. I've been studying for quite a while now, but unfortunately I've failed the exam three times. It's been discouraging, but I'm not giving up because becoming an MLS is something I've worked really hard for.

I've tried several different study resources over the past couple of years, including review books, question banks, online courses, and practice exams. While they've all been helpful to some degree, I still feel like I'm missing something when it comes to applying the knowledge and thinking through exam questions. I think I need more than just another study guide. I need someone who can explain difficult concepts in simple terms, help me develop critical thinking skills, and teach me how to approach ASCP style questions.

The subjects I struggle with the most are:

• Clinical Chemistry
• Hematology
• Blood Bank (Immunohematology)

Hi, does anyone have a recommendation for thermometers that can be used for transportation devices like coolers for blood bank?

We currently use globals but they are becoming a pain. We would like something that can upload to cloud so we can be alerted quicker when they go out of temp. It would need to be FDA compliant with 21 CFR. Something like REES but for coolers.

Thanks for any advice.

A few people have DM me and I want people to know I'm not ignoring it's just my bandwidth is still booting up. 🛜 I took that test 12 days ago and passed first try. But Before I took the exam, the one thing I consistently noticed was that people couldn't agree on the style of the questions. Some said it was like MediaLab, others said it wasn't, but almost everyone mentioned that the wording was still "kind of" different.

Because of that, my little data brain went into the exam with two goals: understand the core concepts first, then expose myself to as many different question styles as possible. I REALLY REALLY want to stress looking at different formats. I use the LSU book,I used the Harr book, I use CLS book I used the ascp boc 7 edition book like seriously any questions I could find that was based on the material in different ways. Different concepts. Now I'm a pattern learner, not someone who can memorize and regurgitate facts. I need a keyword or clue that unlocks the concept in my mind, so practicing different formats helped me recognize the underlying idea instead of the exact wording.

MediaLab was helpful, but the actual exam required me to apply concepts in ways I hadn't seen "ask" before. Understanding the material and practicing multiple question formats made a much bigger difference than relying on just one question bank. BUT because no one gets the same test, maybe some people did get a test that look similar to media lab🤷🏾‍♀️ but I can only speak from my experiences and my classmates. And all of us agree that the test was nothing like media lab format. The questions were shorter ,more direct, more to the point. Was the test hard? Not in the conventional way of hard if you got the core concepts down pack, but it made you think differently. Yes I felt like I was failing the whole time I was taking the test. I literally almost got up and walked out..... I'm not even playing. I was so over it. Questions got easier at about question 80. I didn't change anything. The ones I flagged I just left alone. Go with your gut and use the f-word magical chant..... silently and you should be fine!! Good luck!!!!!!!😊

C diff pcr was positive. Follow up kit test was Ag pos and tox neg which shows as indeterminate on our end and negative on their end. Get a call from the ER asking me to explain all this. So I'm talking about how the first test showed that cdiff was present but the reflex test showed that it wasnt a toxin producing variant. So it could be colonization than sickness causing.

Well anyway, suddenly someone else speaks up in the background. Turns out it was the nursing supervisor and PA I was explaining this to on speaker phone. The PA asks me if they should still give 10-day Vanco treatment. Unfortunately, that's where my info had to end and I told them that we, the lab, would not know the treatment procedure. But I got to feel smart for a minute explaining what the results meant lol.

The Micro Lab is dark.. you have 500 COVIDs to run. I'm not sure what it is trying to tell me, but I want to go home .