No, you don't have to go for another whole Baccalaureate, you already have one. That plus med tech training puts you in another ballpark, I think, re things you do, pay scale, and so on.
When I got my Landscape architecture licensing, I qualified because I had a BA (in bacteriology, clearly not a stepping stone, heh) and a certificate for landscape architecture, which is a piece of paper for a four year non degree extension program. Together they gave me the basic qualification.
ASMT is the american society of medical technologists. I am probably misremembering what the certification is through (it was, gag, 1965). Will do some more googling.
Yeah, I looked into that before, and to me it looked like the main difference I really see is that medical technologists are basically supervisors, and medical techicians aren't. Is that what you get from that too, Osso? Is there more to it? Cuz I don't really care to be in charge.
I ended up not wanting to be in charge either, I prefer the doing to management, but you might get better assignments or have help in being hired in the first place..
In any case, I don't think you have to do anything different, you already have the BA.
I'm talking before I read more though, so I'll be quiet for a while.
Okay, now you've confused me. I have looked into a bunch of programs in NYS. I just thought that a two-year Medical Technology degree would only get me to lab technician status.
Like for instance,
this one.
Is this what you are talking about when you say "two-year ASMT" degree?
Ah, I agree with the ASCP med technologist description, that the key component is trouble-shooting/problem solving. That's what I liked about both my research and clinical lab jobs, though I was involved in more of it in research.
I can see why not worrying about problem solving has appeal though.
Still have to look up about if the tests are any different for you. Maybe the internship is different - there is, or used to be one, for technologists.
That NYS site confused me because of the back on forth on technician and technologist, and technology.
I'd do what I think it was J_B suggested - walk in to the main desk at a big clinical lab at a med center in NYC and ask for an appointment if pretty please possible with a laboratory manager. Not that you want to be a manager, but that they should be able to clarify if there are different tests (I doubt it, that Nlllllllllllcssss site was talking about ASCP tests) and internships (maybe, maybe not), plus perhaps show you around or have someone else show you around.
I suspect the only diff is that your degree makes them think you are more competent for problem solving and potential management; perhaps it gets you more money in the door.
Not all routine labwork is uninteresting. I loved doing fluorescence microscopy, and I enjoyed HLA (white cell) typing, for example.
I don't think it sounds boring at all. As long as they let you wear headphones. Hehehe...
It's the same thing every single day, until a new test comes along, and then it's a little different for a week, and then it's the same thing every single day. And generally without any sort of human face or voice attached to it. I can't see doing it for the rest of my working life.
And then there's lab work...
(drum sting here)
I'm not you and you're not me, Kicky, so obviously what I say next is not meant as advice but merely an inner reflection. I know that if my two choices were bartender or lab technician, I'd go for the bartending gig myself. At least you get to meet new and sometimes interesting people in that line of work. But, then, I'm a people person. Maybe you're not.
Hi Kicky,
ASCP has a number of certifications including technologist, MT(ASCP), technician, MLT(ASCP) and specialties such as SBB, SM, SC, SH for specialty in blood banking, microbiology, chemistry, and hemotology. Most techs take the ASCP exams vs the NCCLS exams.
The technician certification allows you to work in a clinical laboratory, perform tests of a routine nature under direct supervision of a technologist or qualified supervisor. You would not be allowed to take call (sometimes necessary in a smaller lab), work unsupervised, or perform procedures which require independent judgement. These guidelines are specified by CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act) and every laboratory must be CLIA certified.
You could qualify for the MLT exam quite quickly, and then because you have a BS you could qualify for the MT exam once you have enough lab experience. The technologist qualification is more than just the opportunity to be a supervisor. That was the case prior to CLIA, but there's much greater differences now.
Thanks for the more recent knowledge, J_B...
Well, I went to a nearby college today, and they told me that it would take three semesters for me to get this degree/certificate. I'm really considering this. The problem is logistical. There are NO f*cking colleges offering the program in NYC itself. This college (Farmingdale) is in Long Island, which would mean I'd have to move out there and get a car and live like a (heavens no!) suburbanite. Plus, finding some income while I was going to school would not be a simple thing. I guess I could bartend while I went to school, but I'd have to find just the right situation for that to be feasible. But the big upside is that I would still be near my Manhattan, where my heart wants to be.
Or, I could move to Rochester, where I would have to drive about an hour each way to Erie Comm. College. The advantage of that would be that I'd be able to work with my brother and father, with very flexible hours, and I could live with my parents or brother's family for as long as I could take it, saving me a lot of money in rent.
The downside is that I would feel like the ultimate loser living with my parents again. And I would have to deal with that f*cking jesus-freak controlling bitch sister-in-law of mine.
I guess if I didn't live with my parents or my brother, it might be better, but then it would really be almost the same situation as living in Queens and going to this school. I guess I have to decide how much money it's worth for me to stay near NYC.
Or I might just change my mind tomorrow, buy a trailer in some podunk Florida town, work as a clerk at the local Gas 'n' Sip, and become a Reality-TV-addicted stoner.
Medical Technologists
If you want more information about medical technologists - talk to med techs, see what they do, and how to become one... go to:
http://www.medicaltechnologists.org
My sister worked as a MT (ASCP) for many years until the job became so automated that all she did was run machines all day. She missed the patient contact, so she went back to school and got her RN.
MT is a good job, though, if you don't mind working in a closed lab with the same people every day.
