A Medical Laboratory Technician (MLT) performs routine clinical laboratory tests on blood, body fluids, tissues, and other specimens to provide data for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. They operate sophisticated laboratory instruments, perform manual testing, ensure quality control, and report accurate results to physicians and other healthcare providers. Unlike Medical Laboratory Scientists (MLS/CLS) who hold bachelor's degrees and perform more complex testing, MLTs typically hold associate degrees and work under the supervision of MLS or laboratory management, though their responsibilities often overlap in practice. This role exists within hospital clinical laboratories (core lab, stat lab), reference laboratories (Quest, LabCorp), physician office laboratories (POLs), urgent care centers, public health laboratories (state and local health departments), blood banks (donor screening and transfusion services), research laboratories (academic or clinical research), veterinary diagnostic laboratories, and correctional facility laboratories. MLTs work in departments including hematology, clinical chemistry, microbiology, immunology/serology, immunohematology (blood bank), urinalysis, coagulation, and molecular diagnostics.
RIASEC Type: Realistic (R) Investigative (I), Conventional (C)
Specimen Processing & Preparation. Receive, label, sort, and prepare patient specimens (blood, urine, stool, sputum, cerebrospinal fluid, tissue) for analysis. Verify specimen integrity (hemolysis, lipemia, icterus, contamination, adequate volume). Centrifuge blood samples to separate plasma or serum. Prepare blood smears and body fluid slides for microscopic examination
Core Skills, Laboratory Techniques: Venipuncture/phlebotomy (some roles), specimen processing, centrifugation, pipetting, dilution preparation, staining techniques (Gram, Wright-Giemsa, special stains), microscopy, Instrumentation Operation: Automated hematology analyzers (Sysmex, Beckman Coulter), chemistry analyzers (Roche, Abbott, Siemens), coagulation analyzers, immunoassay analyzers, blood gas analyzers, urinalysis analyzers, Quality Control: Levey-Jennings charts, Westgard rules, troubleshooting out-of-control runs, calibration verification, delta checks, Laboratory Information System (LIS): Result entry, result verification, querying patient history, critical value reporting, Specimen Rejection Criteria: Hemolysis, lipemia, icterus indices; clotted or insufficient volume; mislabeled or unlabeled specimens