Where can I learn more about the field?

I am considering studying to be a medical technologist. Are there any good websites, books, etc. that give a good overview of what medical technicians do and how to get into the field?

The ascp and cap websites..
If you are a young person though I wouldn't consider the field.It doesn't pay well enough and is too aggrivating.

Before someone chimes in I am way too old to go back to school and start over in another field.So they don't need to bother making that suggestion.

Also, check out youtube about this field.
Don't let others discourage you. This is a great field with a lot of areas for growth. And they are not laying off medtechs!
Good Luck

Greg in Boulder, Colorado said: I am considering studying to be a medical technologist. Are there any good websites, books, etc. that give a good overview of what medical technicians do and how to get into the field?

You can just do searches on the field to get an idea of it. If you do consider the lab, try to be a technologist and not a technician because there is a difference.

There is no standards in this field hence low pay, if they had standards this would be a good career.

No standards = mlt, Amt, military trained = low pay

Standards entry level = BS MT ASCP

There ARE standards but they're not catered to one exclusive rich uppity organization.
Texas has a stupid 7 year limit on science and math courses so starting over is the only option for MT schools here. There are 2 online MT schools but you need to have at least a MLT to enter. The online schools do not have a time limit on any courses and are approved by all the pseudo governing bodies. It's pretty obvious that the MT profession is insecure. Putting up with people who think this should be some kind of highly paid hospital profession will be your only downside. It is a good stable job with good pay but you can't sit on your butt all day.
Lab Gripes, find another profession where you will be truly appreciated. Please. The main stress in the lab is all the bitching and moaning.

Larry since you are in the Dallas area you know that there is a MT school in fort worth that is geared toward people that just graduated with their chemistry or biology degree, this is a year long course with clinicals at the end. Guess what Larry, the MT program there is geared to passing the ASCP.

So if and when Gary goes to a MT school, his clinical instructors in school will also tell him that all this course work is geared to pass the ASCP. If we had more interest in the field and had a surplus, they wouldn't hire people like you, that is happy to have just a AS degree that thinks this is the only easy career.

As a MT, I might use only 10% of the theory I learned in school (which equates you to thinking this is a easy career) But so do other professions, pharmacy has all the interactions built in the computer system, and physical therapy has a flow chart on different strength training. There are other easy professions that pay well because they have standards in the profession and a AS degree could never work as a equivilant even though the job is "easy".

So to the intial poster Gary, if you go to a MT/CLS program, you will find out the program is going to be based on passing the ASCP, and that most of the directors have this same certification and degree. When you get into the field you will run into people like Larry, but he will never know how difficult the program was an how much you needed to study to pass the ASCP.

So good luck, this

Ricky in Plano, Texas said: Larry since you are in the Dallas area you know that there is a MT school in fort worth that is geared toward people that just graduated with their chemistry or biology degree, this is a year long course with clinicals at the end. Guess what Larry, the MT program there is geared to passing the ASCP.

So if and when Gary goes to a MT school, his clinical instructors in school will also tell him that all this course work is geared to pass the ASCP. If we had more interest in the field and had a surplus, they wouldn't hire people like you, that is happy to have just a AS degree that thinks this is the only easy career.

As a MT, I might use only 10% of the theory I learned in school (which equates you to thinking this is a easy career) But so do other professions, pharmacy has all the interactions built in the computer system, and physical therapy has a flow chart on different strength training. There are other easy professions that pay well because they have standards in the profession and a AS degree could never work as a equivilant even though the job is "easy".

So to the intial poster Gary, if you go to a MT/CLS program, you will find out the program is going to be based on passing the ASCP, and that most of the directors have this same certification and degree. When you get into the field you will run into people like Larry, but he will never know how difficult the program was an how much you needed to study to pass the ASCP.

So good luck, this

What is the name of the school in Ft. Worth? Is it the Tarleton State
University clinical school?

Yes Tarlenton state, if you already have your bio or chemistry or micro degree, it's one FULL year no breaks, clinicals. They have a high pass rate for the ASCP, you take a concise ASCP review course before you graduate, I think it's a actual class you need to pass before you graudate. But the pass rate is high.

So yes Larry schools base their course work on the ASCP exam. Call any MT/CLS program and everyone will tell you the same, I am sorry you are so insecure bc you do not have your ASCP.

Larry in Richardson, Texas said: There ARE standards but they're not catered to one exclusive rich uppity organization.
Texas has a stupid 7 year limit on science and math courses so starting over is the only option for MT schools here. There are 2 online MT schools but you need to have at least a MLT to enter. The online schools do not have a time limit on any courses and are approved by all the pseudo governing bodies. It's pretty obvious that the MT profession is insecure. Putting up with people who think this should be some kind of highly paid hospital profession will be your only downside. It is a good stable job with good pay but you can't sit on your butt all day.
Lab Gripes, find another profession where you will be truly appreciated. Please. The main stress in the lab is all the bitching and moaning.

The main stress in bad management which is endemic in this field...Another major stress of course is low pay while another is lack of recognition from others..from doctors, nurses,hospital administrators and even from patients who often don't understand /haven't been told by their doctor why the testing is being done or what it means.

Like I said..some of us are too old to start over in another profession.

I would take a look at this new website that has information on medical technician jobs and roles. www.labtechcareer.com. It gave me a good overview of what's out there.

I don't care what Angrywolf said about the misery of being an MT. I'm one year away from sitting my exams, and I intend to have a great time as an MT. But then, I'm the one who goes into withdrawals if I don't see black counters (lab benches) or smell lab smells for more than a month. I just like doing laboratory work, and I am switching to being an MT because I got tired of wondering if my P.I.'s grant(s) would be funded so I had a job. My P.I.'s were great--it's just that grants are tied to federal budget politics, and that means my job depended on what Senator X and Representative Y thought was important today.

And to Larry in Texas, the 7-year limit is probably somewhat flexible. Even though I took biochemistry in 1996 and didn't even apply to the MT/CLS program until 2007, my work history (including publication history and letters of recommendation) were taken into account and I was allowed credit for my old science prerequisites. Now, if I'd gone into retail banking, they wouldn't have been accepted. My instructors have discovered that no, I didn't forget the material I studied so long ago, and that I'm a bit of an enfant terrible in the lab.

I think that MT's should be more highly paid, especially after picking up a pathology board exam review intended for medical students and being able to answer all of the hematology and bacteriology (about a hundred total) questions cold. If we are supposed to know all this stuff, then we shouldn't be treated like dimwits, or paid like dimwits. Unlike "House", we know that a brain biopsy is NOT a first-line diagnostic test, and that 80% of all medical decisions are based at least in part on lab results. But I'm okay with MT pay scale, and it's worth it to me to NOT have to deal directly with patients.

OMG. Where do I begin. Been a Med Tech for 30 years and worked all over the country as a perm and temp...Generalist and BB.
If you're a normal non-anal person do NOT go into this field. Half the people I've worked with are nutcases, anti-social or control freaks to the nth degree. They will drive you insane. Management is almost non-existent and stress is optimal. Pay has been so-so or terrible until quite recently. The average age of a med tech is 52-53 now. I would never, NEVER recommend this field to any youngster.
No respect for techs and everyone will attempt to tell you what to do, when to do it and how to do it. Thank God for alcohol.

Zeta potential, well..I'm a nut case, anti-social, insane with the papers to prove it. And I'm anal. In spite of that, I'm not horribly uptight. That's why I think it will be a good fit for me.

That, and a lot of laboratory tasks just suck me right in and I don't hear or see anything except what I'm working on until the day is done. Put me in front of a microscope with some slides, and I'm "gone" for 2 to 3 hours easy. It's really hard for people to irritate me if I can't hear or see them...

Hey then Lisa - go for it. If you can tune it out and take abuse, you'll do just fine. ;-)
Hope your future employer has a good drug plan dear.

I don't need a good drug plan. I have the VA, and my meds are now adjusted to perfection. I'm a master at tuning out. You can't be verbally abused if you can't hear or see the abuser.