School of Health Sciences - Clinical Laboratory Sciences (Medical Technology)
Undergraduate Major
What is Clinical Laboratory Sciences?
Clinical Laboratory Sciences or Medical Technology is a branch of medicine concerned with the performance of clinical tests that provide information to aid physicians in the diagnosis and treatment of disease and the maintenance of wellness. Medical technologists perform laboratory procedures that reveal normal and abnormal conditions in the blood and other body fluids and tissues of medical patients. A recent article in the Toledo Blade underscored the need for more medical technologists.
What do Medical Technologists do?
Medical technologists become adept in the operation and maintenance of sophisticated types of laboratory equipment, including chemical analyzers and electronic cell counters.
What do I need?
Personal qualifications for a career in medical technology include interest and ability in the sciences, sound judgment, and good power of observation.
The Purdue Clinical Laboratory Sciences Major
The medical technology curriculum is structured so that you study for three years at Purdue and one year at an affiliated school of medical technology. Known as the "three-plus-one" program, this plan of study allows you to complete, by the end of your junior year, the coursework required for admission to a hospital-based training program during your senior year. The first three years provide a broadly based background in the sciences and mathematics. Major emphasis will be placed on biological sciences and chemistry. The fourth year consists of combined classroom and laboratory studies that provide experience in clinical chemistry, hematology, microbiology, serology, histology, urinalysis, parasitology, and instrumentation. Purdue's medical technology curriculum meets the requirements adopted by the American Medical Association Council on Medical Education and the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS).
Completion of prerequisite courses at Purdue does not guarantee admission to an affiliated hospital program. In general, acceptance is based on your academic performance, biographical information, letters of recommendation, motivation, aptitude, work experience, and your performance during admission interviews conducted by the respective hospital's admission staff. You should consult with your academic adviser early in your academic program to plan for an alternative four-year major in case you are not accepted for admission to a hospital program at the end of your junior year. A student who is not accepted to a hospital school at the end of the junior year may be able to complete a bachelor's degree with a major in another area within the School of Health Sciences.
Some students complete a four-year B.S. program before entering the year of training at a school of medical technology. Successful completion of the three-plus-one program meets the requirements for the B.S. degree from Purdue University. Upon completion of the medical technology program, you become eligible to take the national registry examination in medical technology for certification by the American Society of Clinical Pathologists (ASCP) and other certifying agencies. Medical technology also provides a good background for an M.S. degree in areas such as environmental health, microbiology, clinical chemistry, pathology, immunology, business, health physics, or industrial hygiene.
For students who decide on a career in medicine, the medical technology degree is excellent preparation. Specific premedical school requirements are discussed under the general health sciences major. The senior year spent in the hospital provides the student with an understanding of clinical diagnostic skills that is not available through any other degree program.
Students interested in considering a career in areas in which radioactivity and radiation are used in diagnosis and/or treatment of disease may wish to select certain courses as electives during their six semesters at Purdue. For example, such courses as NUPH 412, Medical Applications of Radiation, and NUPH 414, Nuclear Pharmacy Laboratory, provide an excellent background for students interested in nuclear medicine technology program for their fourth year of education toward the B.S. degree. Students may wish to consult their academic advisers on opportunities and courses in this area of study.
All students working toward the B.S. degree must complete the degree requirements of 128 credit hours presented in the medical technology plan of study. The professional (senior) year of the medical technology program consists of 12 months of clinical training at an approved hospital program. Fourth-year clinical students will register as full-time Purdue students and upon successful completion of their clinical training will receive 32 credit hours through the School of Health Sciences.
Clinical Laboratory Sciences students accepted into professional schools: