Medical Laboratory Technician Courses Combine Labs and Theory

“The information we learned in the Medical Laboratory Technician program was very relevant and useful during my clinical internship,” says Adebayo Adeeko of Centennial College’s offering. “All the questions on OSMT examination were covered during the 10-month training at Centennial College.” This positive testimonial about the three-semester Medical Laboratory Technician program shows just how much insight students gain despite the short length of the offering.

But just what does attending the Medical Laboratory Technician courses result in? Graduates are eligible for certification as Medical Laboratory Assistants/ Technicians with the Ontario Society of Medical Laboratory Technologists and the Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science. In addition, Medical Lab Technicians work in hospital laboratories, public health laboratories, reference laboratories, biomedical companies, universities, industrial medical laboratories, pharmaceutical companies, forensic medicine, governments, veterinary labs and the armed forces. These Medical Lab Technicians specialize in one of five different areas: blood banking, chemistry, hematology, immunology, or microbiology.

To get you from student to professional, Centennial College’s Medical Laboratory Technician courses are a collaboration between the School of Community and Health Studies and School of Engineering Technology and Applied Science. In addition, representatives from hospitals, private laboratories and the Ministry of Health provide curriculum input, ensuring information taught is relevant. Specific courses in this offering include: Practical Haematology and Immunohaematology (introduces students to the formed elements of blood, and the routine tests in haematology and blood bank departments); Specimen Collection and Processing (assists students in learning proper techniques for the collection of blood, urine and fecal specimens. Students learn how to process specimens for the various tests and the importance of storage to ensure valid test results as well as standard precautions in handling biological specimens. This course provided opportunities to perform ECGs and set up Holter monitors); Applied Chemistry for the Medical Laboratory (course assists students in developing knowledge of chemistry as a basis to understand chemical compounds and enzyme reactions); and more.

The Medial Laboratory Technician courses are facilitated out of Centennial College’s Morningside campus, which is the most high-tech location out of the school’s four. This ensures students are getting hand-on practice in state-of-the-art labs.

To complement the Medical Laboratory Technician courses, students partake in a Clinical Internship, during which they apply theoretical knowledge in a clinical practice setting under the direction of a medical laboratory assistant. This experience is offered to ensure that Medical Lab Technician students have an easy transition into the workplace environment. Students will be given the opportunity to become proficient at specimen collection and handling and be able to function as an effective member of a medical laboratory team.

If you are considering applying to the Medical Laboratory Technician you must have completed at minimum an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) or equivalent or be 19 years of age or older. Additionally, you must have taken the compulsory English 12C or U or skills assessment, or equivalent; math 12C or U or skills assessment, or equivalent; Biology 11C or U or equivalent.