MLT Application

The clinical laboratory environment requires the employee to have reasonable mobility and to lift weighted items. In addition, his/her coordination needs to be such so as to allow for fine manipulations and movements. Because laboratory work requires good visual acuity and color perception, students with severe color perception defects or partial vision defects which cannot be corrected with glasses or contact lens will find laboratory work very difficult, if not impossible. Students with correctable visual defects have in many instances been able to compensate for this problem and work successfully in the laboratory.
Students who are interested in the laboratory profession need to be emotionally, mentally, and physically capable of coping with the eight-hour day, handle work-place relationships, accept supervisory direction and the stress that is a part of the learning environment.
It is strongly recommended that those individuals with physical handicaps should visit a clinical laboratory and shadow a working technologist through activities of the laboratory, then the prospective student can accurately evaluate his/her potential and capabilities for a career in the clinical laboratory. Contact the program office for assistance in making such arrangements.
Criminal background checks and sexual offender checks will be required upon acceptance into the medical laboratory technician program for Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and all states of residence. Drug screening will also be required upon acceptance. Costs for all background, drug screens, and sexual offender checks are the responsibility of the student. Based
on a student’s criminal background history or drug confirmation testing, a clinical facility may impose exclusion from clinical experiences. Exclusion from a clinical experience may prohibit a student from completing the required clinical portion of a
course which would result in unsatisfactory progress in the medical laboratory technician program. Students may not hold NEO liable for their inability to complete clinicals due to a negative incident on a background, drug screen or sexual offender check. Clinical facilities may also require students to submit for random drug testing.
The Medical Laboratory Technician Program does not require students to take the national exam because it is not required in Oklahoma however, it may be a requirement for individual laboratories. The program director will encourage students to take the American Society of Clinical Pathologist MLT Board of Certification.
https://www.ascls.org/advocacy-issues/licensure
There are currently 11 states with laboratory personnel licensure (California, Hawaii, Florida, New York, North Dakota, Tennessee, Louisiana, Nevada, West Virginia, Montana, Georgia). Puerto Rico also has licensure. The components of the law
vary state-to-state, but usually includes an annual licensing fee (some are bi-annual), a provision for continuing education, a minimum education and professional competency requirements.
If a Medical Laboratory Scientist (MLS) or Medical Laboratory Technician (MLT) plans to locate in a state with licensure, that state should be contacted for specific information relative to that state's laboratory practice act. This contact should be made as early as possible after the location decision has been made.
For further information, contact the Medical Laboratory Technician Program Director at mitzie@neo.edu or by phone 918-540-6307.