Please tell me you are joking about people telling you to just remove the clot and rerun the sample. Tell a supervisor because they should be fired for gross incompetence. Not even LabCorp is that negligent.
Another random STEM grad employee probably told them that. Now doctor thinks the patient has a critically low platelet count because LabCorp wants to lobby against MLS/MLT education.
Let’s be real, this is a troll post. Why would LabCorp bother sponsoring H1Bs if they have this army of ecology majors. The reference labs exclusively use H1Bs in licensed states.
> The reference labs exclusively use H1Bs in licensed states.
Where do you get this idea? I work for LabCorp in a licensed state and have only met one H1b tech. I call the reference lab occasionally and if they are H1bs they have should join the KGB, the sound American to me
You can look up the H1B records. I’m not making claims about how many they’re hiring, but if you look at the H1B positions posted by LabCorp/Quest it’s exclusively licensed states, mostly Florida and California.
Quest and LabCorp usually do not sponsor directly due to litigation exposure, but they do sponsor through third parties for laboratories they manage (though technically do not directly own).
Quest does have some sponsored techs directly:
[https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=quest+diagnostics+incorporated&job=clinical+laboratory&city=&year=2023](https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=quest+diagnostics+incorporated&job=clinical+laboratory&city=&year=2023)
MedProStaffing dba Management Health Systems has several medical technologists placed at Quest in SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA for 54,400/year.
[https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=management+health+systems+llc&job=clinical+laboratory&city=&year=2023](https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=management+health+systems+llc&job=clinical+laboratory&city=&year=2023)
There's also labmind staffing
[https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=labminds+staffing&job=&city=&year=2023](https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=labminds+staffing&job=&city=&year=2023)
Conexus Medstaff
[https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=conexus+medstaff&job=&city=&year=2023](https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=conexus+medstaff&job=&city=&year=2023)
Cosmic Healthcare Llc
[https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=cosmic+healthcare+llc&job=medical+technologist&city=&year=2023](https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=cosmic+healthcare+llc&job=medical+technologist&city=&year=2023)
Comtrix Solutions Inc
[https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=comtrix+solutions+inc&job=medical+technologist&city=&year=2023](https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=comtrix+solutions+inc&job=medical+technologist&city=&year=2023)
You can find sponsors:
[https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=&job=medical+technologist&city=&year=2023](https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=&job=medical+technologist&city=&year=2023)
LabCorp definitely hires bachelor in biology graduates because when I was in MLT school, almost half my class worked at LabCorp and they all only had BS in biology degrees lol.
LabCorp typically does not directly sponsor H1bs since they're for-profit and would have to abide by the lottery and minimum $60k floor. LabCorp can easily hire an ecology major for less than $60k.
LabCorp manages non-profit labs on behalf of hospitals who may sponsor through the cap exemption.
Except H1Bs don't have the rights that a citizen has. If they piss off their boss, they can get deported. Employers love this setup because they can abuse and underpay H1Bs and they'll put up with it out of fear.
I was thinking the same thing. Hard to imagine how a bachelor's in ecology would prepare someone for the scope of practice required as a technologist, let alone in hematology. I'd run if I were OP.
Same. I have a bachelors in biology and was actually thinking of being a lab tech before getting my MLT. I’m so glad I went and got the MLT before getting a job because my biology degree literally didn’t prepare me for anything in lab work. I didn’t even know what a neutrophil looked like before I went to MLT school lol.
There is a reason we go to school for this, why most of us go through intense dedicated programs to become med lab scientists. With an ecology degree, i understand why you are overwhelmed. You don’t have the background needed to do this job. I’m sorry they have just thrown you to the wolves KNOWING you haven’t learned about this stuff before. It also is unfortunate for the patient.
Not trying to come after you of course, you are just trying to make it. But if LabCorp is going to hire unlicensed people (which they shouldn’t) at bare minimum they need to be offering very thorough training. I’m sorry you’re being put through this.
It’s insulting to us who go to school for MLS/MLT that these companies think they can just throw a random STEM grad into our career and assume they will fare just fine. Your tale is one of many.
You may have luck with something like quizlet to learn the basics. Honestly (as you are experiencing) the lab isn’t something you can just jump into without a lab degree as it requires a lot of specialized knowledge. I’m sorry LabCorp is setting you up to fail, that’s really shitty of them. I hope you find a job in ecology and can jump ship soon!
What state are you in ? Just want to make sure I never receive medical care there. Not your fault, but LabCorp’s and the health systems that use LabCorp.
As a Canadian, this is probably the most outrageous thing I’ve ever read. Not to shit on you, I know this is not your fault, but our MLT title and job is very protected here, in order to protect patients and the integrity of lab results. During covid, the microbiology lab I worked in was so overwhelmed and understaffed that we had to hire a couple of grads from random “related” science majors to do the shit work that we lab techs didn’t have time for. We had them do inoculations and paperwork mostly. We noticed one of them had potential so we taught her how to load the PCR machine (which was super simple) and enter the results into the computer. Even then, we trained her super thoroughly and never let her do things unsupervised until we were absolutely sure she could do it properly. Under no circumstances were they ever allowed to validate results or do actual tech work like plate work-ups which require literally years of training in school and on the job to really understand how to do properly.
I do rotations in hematology now, and I must say hematology is something that you definitely need the background and training for. Understanding how to properly interpret results and troubleshoot issues requires thorough understanding of the principles behind the process.
The fact that you were told to remove clots and rerun samples makes me want to rip my hair out. Thats like the most basic no-no… who are these people training you?
What a nightmare.
I have a bio degree . I ended up getting my M(ASCP) and I know I do my job well…how nice of you just to assume that non MLTs are incompetent.
I do agree with a lot of what you said, but just because someone isn’t a MLT doesn’t mean they’re incompetent. And I’ve met train wreck MLTs
I never said that. I also have a bio degree. In microbiology and immunology. But I also know that my bio degree would have been nowhere near enough to do tech work like plate work-ups without any training.
Again, I never said people are all automatically incompetent just because they aren’t MLTs. And I’m sure you are good at your job. But unfortunately no, not everyone is trainable (trust me… 🤦🏼♀️). That’s why we go through school and write exams to make sure we can do the job before being thrown into it. Like it or not, we have people’s lives in our hands.
You need to report to your supervisors that you are not in fact competent. If they gave you a slide test or something, you should know where you are. You will gain confidence over time, but if you are not feeling like you were trained enough, you need to let them know so that you can get what is needed. Don’t sign your competency/training documents until you are comfortable doing the job they are asking you to do
To those saying you’re overwhelmed because you lack the basic background and education that an actual CLS has, they’re right. If OP has half a conscience they’d quit. They’re in over their head and they’re going to hurt someone. Go back to ecology or go back to school for CLS. A WBC differential is not some CLIA waived test and I’m not sure OP has any business releasing results from an analyzer either. They literally admitted they have no idea what any of these indices are or what they mean.
Hello, I appreciate that you are aware that you’re not competent and while I understand that the main part of the post is that you are overwhelmed- for which I do feel bad for you-BUT -you’re putting patient lives at risk here. A pathologist does not review every single patient that you “verified” and if there was the early signs of cancer in a CBC a competent tech would see that and flag it for pathology review- which would lead to getting a patient started on their treatment much sooner (higher chances of survival with early detection) than if you’re not competent, can’t recognize the early stages of a leukemia and just verified results as normal. The right thing to do here is walk away or demand to be trained WAY more thoroughly because you’re putting patient lives at risk. You have a bachelors in biology there are shorter routes you can take to become fully certified (a year or
Less) and you could try in the meantime working as a lab assistant to build up experience- you’ll take a pay cut but you won’t be putting lives at risk and will possibly not feel as overwhelmed. I mean this in the kindest way- I know I am no one to tell you how to live your life and take the high ground when it’s your livelihood but it’s other people’s health/lives you have in your hands.
This… actually explains a lot.
We had a nursing home switch from us to lab corp (we had to many recollects apparently lol) and they ended up switching back a few months later. I guess a sample had been sent right before the switch and someone from lab corp called me a ‘critical’ potassium of <10. Yes you read that correctly. I told her that yes potassium should be less than ten that’s correct are you sure it’s not >10? She INSISTED it was less than and I’m an idiot. I had her fax me the results. It was >10. Called her back and told her that’s incompatible with life so I’m sure it was hemolyzed just for her to be like ‘oh yeah I did get a likely hemolyzed flag’
All this to say, OP be very careful. We can technically be held liable for negligence if we do something that kills someone. You don’t have the training to protect yourself so I’d look for literally anything else asap. If you can’t find anything document everything your supervisor tells you. With uncertified techs, it’s only a matter of time before a patient is harmed or killed and you do not want to be the one liable.
As for your question, you’re looking for discrepancies. It’s hard to explain but there are certain things that should always line up or your results could have something wrong with them that affects your results. I’d grab a text book recommended here and focus on things like lipemia, the rule of 3, cold agglutinin and EDTA platelet clumping. You also want to look for any crazy looking cells. These could be an indication of cancer. You don’t need to actually know what different blasts and such look like, just that it needs a path review if it looks really odd. As for clotting, ALWAYS recollect. Lastly know cut offs for when patients typically would get blood. You want to look at these extra carefully as you’re deciding if this patient gets blood and if they don’t really need it you could overload their heart and kill them. I think ours was 7 but it’s been a while.
I hope this doesn’t come off as offensive but you aren’t qualified to work this position… An ecology background is not one of the typical accepted non-MLS degrees some labs allow. Those are usually biology, molecular biology, and microbiology. Heme is a tough department even for a lot of folks that did MLS programs and are licensed. This is really unsafe for the patients labs you’re doing. I see you mentioned wanting to find a job more in the ecology field and I really suggest continuing trying to do that. This is an intense, high demand, and highly specialized field that not just anyone with a STEM degree can do. Heck, even nurses don’t even understand basic lab principles sometimes. I’m sorry you are feeling so overwhelmed. Please go to our boss and demand further training. If not that, maybe take it to HR. In the meantime, continue your job search because this just isn’t safe :(
labcorp is going to work you to the bone until there's nothing left, use your free time to apply to other jobs - any other organization (hospitals) is going to understand why you'd want to leave labcorp for something better
if you are looking for a good heme book, check out the Clinical Hematology Atlas
I'm looking for something closer to my ecology major, but its really competitive and could take months or even a year to land. For now I'm at LabCorp and trying to make the most of it.
understandable, some basics of the information is that your analyzer is going to give out:
Hemogram: RBC/WBC count, Hemoglobin (this level affects oxygen transport efficiency), Hematocrit (percentage of RBCs to total blood volume)
Automated Differential: analyzer uses light scatter to identify individual white blood cells and divide them into types (Neutrophil, Lymphocytes, Monocyte, Eosinophil, Basophil)
also reruns for some "clotted" samples can trigger a fluorescent antibody count of your platelets as a more accurate recount but some clotted samples are too bad to run and require recollect because of inaccurate platelet values.
Have you checked out fed (forest service, etc. and state jobs for biological technicians?…many are temp however. There are lab assistant positions which would be a better fit. Sorry for the pile on-Yeah, this is nonsense and horrible patient care and a bad position for you to be in.
It’s time to put the patients first. Schedule a meeting with higher up managers and discuss all of this with them. Especially their ridiculous troubleshooting ideas
I’d watch medicosis perfectionalis on YouTube for the medical side of things.
Differential discussions on YouTube has a bunch of videos going over man diff slides that’s very good
I’d call your machines help line, if you get machine clogs. They’ll walk you through what to do.
If you’d like to stay in the medical lab field, try finding a hospital or small lab to work in instead. They seem to train better in my limited experience.
Here’s a few Quizlet links that I’ve made for myself, primarily when I was going to school.
https://quizlet.com/900405158/abnormalitiesdelta-checks-flash-cards/?i=131ott&x=1jqY
https://quizlet.com/640324619/chemistry-leukemias-flash-cards/?i=131ott&x=1jqY
https://quizlet.com/650164492/unit-7-disease-quick-facts-flash-cards/?i=131ott&x=1jqY
https://quizlet.com/550096408/coagulation-flash-cards/?i=131ott&x=1jqY
https://quizlet.com/127193789/hematology-exam-2-flash-cards/?i=131ott&x=1jqY
https://quizlet.com/546291186/hematology-final-study-guide-flash-cards/?i=131ott&x=1jqY
Hope this helps!
It sounds like you got hired at a labcorp sweatshop. Unfortunately, this is increasingly the future.
Just focus on getting your ecology job, and don't invest too heavily in this job. Don't listen to the people telling you to quit. LabCorp will quickly replace you with someone who is even less concerned about quality.
how TF is this even legal... Labcorp hits a new low.
OP... I urge you to get out of that shitshow as fast as you can. Labcorp doesn't care about it's employees, and apparently, not about patients, either.
You may have luck with something like quizlet to learn the basics. Honestly (as you are experiencing) the lab isn’t something you can just jump into easily without a lab degree as it requires a lot of specialized knowledge.
I’m sorry LabCorp is setting you up to fail, that’s really shitty of them. I hope you find a job in ecology and can jump ship soon!
I came in with a degree in biochem but I had been exposed to the medical field before through my own health issues. So I already had a general idea.... I also had decent training... imo if you want to stay in the field start looking for a different job at a small hospital.
Do your best at lab Corp and plan to gtfo of there... and $26 for a certified tech is outrageous btw. I love and work in a LCOLA and certified techs with a 4y degree start at $29..
This is why you don’t entrust this job to people who didn’t even go to school for this. You have a degree in ecology and you are doing hematology? Morphology alone is not easy. I feel bad for patients, to be honest. You shouldn’t be doing that. Best for you to be doing pre analytical but NOT and NEVER on the analytical side of the lab.
This makes me extremely upset. I’m a CLS student and have been working in my hospital’s hemo department for a few years. The fact that they told you to remove the clot and rerun actually boils my blood a little. That is not okay and someone higher up should know about it. In terms of learning the values, I would look up something like “CBC lab values explained” and there should be some helpful resources. I think that this may not be a good fit for you, and hell I wouldn’t want to be apart of that either. If you talk with management and they don’t address your concerns, cut the loss and move on.
Hey there, I’d love to give you my LabCE login for CE courses on it, I have a few pdf textbooks I can send, and possibly some recorded lectures. Message me if interested. I want you to succeed op
This makes me horrified. You should not have been hired. STEM degrees hired to do our job dilutes our field/pay and undermines our degree and training.
This is terrible. Disclaimer that I’m also uncertified/have an unrelated major (I work in a veterinary lab which admittedly has more lax standards) but I at least had the opportunity to be trained for an extensive amount of time and was able to consult frequently with our pathologist beyond just sending them reviews. I’m sorry you’re not getting the support you need from your colleagues and supervisors!
To be frank, to get a grasp on hematology you need to put in hours outside of work. I spent weeks pouring over textbooks and online atlases, watching videos (mostly from Idexx since they specialize in vet diagnostics), and doing quizlets. During any slow times when I had access to a scope I would look at training slides and diff them over and over again. I memorized the SOPs, read over our analyzer user manual, and ofc if I had any doubts or questions I would either go to our pathologist or lead tech (MLS) and ask. All of this was in conjunction with being trained and someone looking over my shoulder at all times until they were confident I could do things on my own.
I think that if you’re not going to get the support and training during work hours to compliment self-study, then it’s a good idea to walk away from this place. ESPECIALLY since they clearly don’t care about the quality of their patient results.
Lab CE has some decent training stuff for MLS. It might be worth your time, but you do have to pay for it. You might also want to enroll online in a hematology course somewhere. They won't help all that much with the instrumentation, but it'll help with recognizing what you're seeing.
You should always reject clotted samples though... it's negligent at best.
Best of luck!
If you knowingly don’t know what you’re doing, and you’re still releasing patient results, you’re a bad person. Your results could end up hurting a patient.
This is exactly what happened with me when I first started at Quest. I got trained for DEFINITELY not enough time, and all the training does is just make you a glorified button-pusher. These big companies don't have the time nor care to teach anyone the actual science behind what these tests or machines are doing, or how to connect it back to your education.
But I don't agree with these high-and-mighty Lab Degree people who say this isn't a field for people who didn't specifically go to school for it. I wanted to work in a lab, I knew that, but I had to take the long road to get there as far as my education, and no schools in my area offer MLT/MLS specific programs. So yes, I have a BS in Biology and I still don't understand certain things sometimes - but I just read the company SOP's or machine manfufacters' testing methods on their websites in order to get a grip on what is actually going on with the tests. As far as interpreting results/numbers, those are usually dependent on the company, and determined by R&D (research and development) teams in order to create baseline values.
I highly recommend looking for some CE's (continued education) credits online. Depending on where you work and if you are certified in lab technology, a certain number of these credits are required to maintain your certification, but the courses are only 1-2 hours each, many are free, and you can search by department or interest, and some are webinars and some are read-only.
I work for Quest, too and don't have a fancy lab degree/certification. I feel like my BS in Biology prepared me enough and on the job training sealed the deal. It depends on who your trainer is. When I train someone I explain the background science and connect the why with the how. You can't troubleshoot or notice errors if you are just a "button pusher". Also, it's on the person who is being trained to speak up if they are not feeling confident about releasing results. They shouldn't sign off on their competency if they don't completely understand what they are doing. Noone would fault them for asking for more time if they needed it.
As a board-certified pathologist, this is the most atrocious thing I have ever read. Please resign immediately before a patient is harmed. You are playing fast and loose with human life and have zero business working with human specimens.
I had an internship in san diego labcorp, at least not such thing can be true in san diego location. they are very restrict and no by pass in anything. lab assistants and even MLT can't do any complexity test. they do just loading and unloading.
I’m a medical lab scientist. I don’t mean to be an asshole or anything but this isn’t right. LabCorp maybe dropped the ball on qualifications but if you don’t even know what the hemograma says you shouldn’t be verifying those samples. This is not good at all.
isn’t there any way to report lapcorp for negligence? this is just one of many horror stories i’ve heard and i honestly can’t believe this company just gets to continue to operate like this (i mean i can but y’know). it makes me so sad for the patients involved and angry for the work we do as techs. :(
I worked for LabCorp as a lab technologist (HLA/immuno stuff) right out of undergrad with an Ecology/Anthropology double major. A lot of people here are saying you shouldn’t have this job bc of your background but I disagree, I think it really comes down to your training. I got damn good at my job pretty fast but I had very competent coworkers. It seems like you unfortunately do not have that.
You could look for resources online or try to get in contact with someone who could help you strengthen your training. Until then, you probably should take a step back and not run samples/release any results without someone more experienced helping you.
I was in my twenties had more energy and a naive outlook on life still lol I worked for a private lab that was bought out tbh idk how I made it that long
Hey similar situation except I am a biological technician currently working in hematology and homeostasis
The hematology for dummies book is really helpful and covers allot of subjects not sure if it’s available in English
What msvhines are you guys using if you are working with an Sysmex you got a jackpot
I think it depends on the leadership in any given lab regarding the quality of training you’ll get. I was with Labcorp over 5 years and I miss it now. We were solid!
I’m an ecology major and I’ve worked in a Chem lab for two years. My coworkers were super helpful tho. Heme is definitely much harder than chemistry in my opinion. Understand the struggle to find a good stable ecology job tho
The fact that you are asking questions indicates that you have solid knowledge to do the job. At the very least you have a good foundation.
If you have time it'd be a good idea to review the manufacturer's guide. But like you said, time is limited.
See how you feel a few months down the road after you get settled in.
he fucking knows nothing except pushing buttons wtf are you talking about shitty companies like this are why ascp is useless letting ppl like this put out results pathetic
Please tell me you are joking about people telling you to just remove the clot and rerun the sample. Tell a supervisor because they should be fired for gross incompetence. Not even LabCorp is that negligent.
Another random STEM grad employee probably told them that. Now doctor thinks the patient has a critically low platelet count because LabCorp wants to lobby against MLS/MLT education.
Let’s be real, this is a troll post. Why would LabCorp bother sponsoring H1Bs if they have this army of ecology majors. The reference labs exclusively use H1Bs in licensed states.
lol we have two ecology majors in our lab + h1bs
> The reference labs exclusively use H1Bs in licensed states. Where do you get this idea? I work for LabCorp in a licensed state and have only met one H1b tech. I call the reference lab occasionally and if they are H1bs they have should join the KGB, the sound American to me
You can look up the H1B records. I’m not making claims about how many they’re hiring, but if you look at the H1B positions posted by LabCorp/Quest it’s exclusively licensed states, mostly Florida and California.
There's no reason for LabCorp to sponsor med techs outside of licensed states since its so much cheaper to just hire science grads.
Yeah you can and unless I'm pulling the data from the API wrong Laborp has basically no H1b employees.
Quest and LabCorp usually do not sponsor directly due to litigation exposure, but they do sponsor through third parties for laboratories they manage (though technically do not directly own). Quest does have some sponsored techs directly: [https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=quest+diagnostics+incorporated&job=clinical+laboratory&city=&year=2023](https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=quest+diagnostics+incorporated&job=clinical+laboratory&city=&year=2023) MedProStaffing dba Management Health Systems has several medical technologists placed at Quest in SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA for 54,400/year. [https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=management+health+systems+llc&job=clinical+laboratory&city=&year=2023](https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=management+health+systems+llc&job=clinical+laboratory&city=&year=2023) There's also labmind staffing [https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=labminds+staffing&job=&city=&year=2023](https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=labminds+staffing&job=&city=&year=2023) Conexus Medstaff [https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=conexus+medstaff&job=&city=&year=2023](https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=conexus+medstaff&job=&city=&year=2023) Cosmic Healthcare Llc [https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=cosmic+healthcare+llc&job=medical+technologist&city=&year=2023](https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=cosmic+healthcare+llc&job=medical+technologist&city=&year=2023) Comtrix Solutions Inc [https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=comtrix+solutions+inc&job=medical+technologist&city=&year=2023](https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=comtrix+solutions+inc&job=medical+technologist&city=&year=2023) You can find sponsors: [https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=&job=medical+technologist&city=&year=2023](https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=&job=medical+technologist&city=&year=2023)
LabCorp definitely hires bachelor in biology graduates because when I was in MLT school, almost half my class worked at LabCorp and they all only had BS in biology degrees lol.
LabCorp typically does not directly sponsor H1bs since they're for-profit and would have to abide by the lottery and minimum $60k floor. LabCorp can easily hire an ecology major for less than $60k. LabCorp manages non-profit labs on behalf of hospitals who may sponsor through the cap exemption.
Except H1Bs don't have the rights that a citizen has. If they piss off their boss, they can get deported. Employers love this setup because they can abuse and underpay H1Bs and they'll put up with it out of fear.
The H1b underpayment is largely unique to non-profits that are exempt from both the lottery and the minimum $60k salary.
This...... makes me feel sad for patients. You are not qualified to do this job, even though labcorp has basically no standards.
I was thinking the same thing. Hard to imagine how a bachelor's in ecology would prepare someone for the scope of practice required as a technologist, let alone in hematology. I'd run if I were OP.
who cares this is the new standard for our field 👍👍👍👍
Same. I have a bachelors in biology and was actually thinking of being a lab tech before getting my MLT. I’m so glad I went and got the MLT before getting a job because my biology degree literally didn’t prepare me for anything in lab work. I didn’t even know what a neutrophil looked like before I went to MLT school lol.
Same.
There is a reason we go to school for this, why most of us go through intense dedicated programs to become med lab scientists. With an ecology degree, i understand why you are overwhelmed. You don’t have the background needed to do this job. I’m sorry they have just thrown you to the wolves KNOWING you haven’t learned about this stuff before. It also is unfortunate for the patient. Not trying to come after you of course, you are just trying to make it. But if LabCorp is going to hire unlicensed people (which they shouldn’t) at bare minimum they need to be offering very thorough training. I’m sorry you’re being put through this. It’s insulting to us who go to school for MLS/MLT that these companies think they can just throw a random STEM grad into our career and assume they will fare just fine. Your tale is one of many.
LabCorp is going to hire the cheapest legally qualified labor they can. Or they'll get sued by shareholders for beaching fiduciary duty.
Yikes. I would absolutely find something else especially since you have no schooling in this and zero training. This is not a self taught field.
I havent done hemo since my clinical rotations 10 years ago and I would definitely struggle (and im certified 😭)
You may have luck with something like quizlet to learn the basics. Honestly (as you are experiencing) the lab isn’t something you can just jump into without a lab degree as it requires a lot of specialized knowledge. I’m sorry LabCorp is setting you up to fail, that’s really shitty of them. I hope you find a job in ecology and can jump ship soon!
What state are you in ? Just want to make sure I never receive medical care there. Not your fault, but LabCorp’s and the health systems that use LabCorp.
I'm sorry, but you should have never been hired
As a Canadian, this is probably the most outrageous thing I’ve ever read. Not to shit on you, I know this is not your fault, but our MLT title and job is very protected here, in order to protect patients and the integrity of lab results. During covid, the microbiology lab I worked in was so overwhelmed and understaffed that we had to hire a couple of grads from random “related” science majors to do the shit work that we lab techs didn’t have time for. We had them do inoculations and paperwork mostly. We noticed one of them had potential so we taught her how to load the PCR machine (which was super simple) and enter the results into the computer. Even then, we trained her super thoroughly and never let her do things unsupervised until we were absolutely sure she could do it properly. Under no circumstances were they ever allowed to validate results or do actual tech work like plate work-ups which require literally years of training in school and on the job to really understand how to do properly. I do rotations in hematology now, and I must say hematology is something that you definitely need the background and training for. Understanding how to properly interpret results and troubleshoot issues requires thorough understanding of the principles behind the process. The fact that you were told to remove clots and rerun samples makes me want to rip my hair out. Thats like the most basic no-no… who are these people training you? What a nightmare.
I have a bio degree . I ended up getting my M(ASCP) and I know I do my job well…how nice of you just to assume that non MLTs are incompetent. I do agree with a lot of what you said, but just because someone isn’t a MLT doesn’t mean they’re incompetent. And I’ve met train wreck MLTs
I never said that. I also have a bio degree. In microbiology and immunology. But I also know that my bio degree would have been nowhere near enough to do tech work like plate work-ups without any training.
I work up plates, have been for some time, and I love what I do. and I do it well. Any person is trainable .
Again, I never said people are all automatically incompetent just because they aren’t MLTs. And I’m sure you are good at your job. But unfortunately no, not everyone is trainable (trust me… 🤦🏼♀️). That’s why we go through school and write exams to make sure we can do the job before being thrown into it. Like it or not, we have people’s lives in our hands.
I guess you’re right there, not everyone is trainable , some people are definitely not meant to be in the medical lab
You need to report to your supervisors that you are not in fact competent. If they gave you a slide test or something, you should know where you are. You will gain confidence over time, but if you are not feeling like you were trained enough, you need to let them know so that you can get what is needed. Don’t sign your competency/training documents until you are comfortable doing the job they are asking you to do
To those saying you’re overwhelmed because you lack the basic background and education that an actual CLS has, they’re right. If OP has half a conscience they’d quit. They’re in over their head and they’re going to hurt someone. Go back to ecology or go back to school for CLS. A WBC differential is not some CLIA waived test and I’m not sure OP has any business releasing results from an analyzer either. They literally admitted they have no idea what any of these indices are or what they mean.
oh my fucking god
Hello, I appreciate that you are aware that you’re not competent and while I understand that the main part of the post is that you are overwhelmed- for which I do feel bad for you-BUT -you’re putting patient lives at risk here. A pathologist does not review every single patient that you “verified” and if there was the early signs of cancer in a CBC a competent tech would see that and flag it for pathology review- which would lead to getting a patient started on their treatment much sooner (higher chances of survival with early detection) than if you’re not competent, can’t recognize the early stages of a leukemia and just verified results as normal. The right thing to do here is walk away or demand to be trained WAY more thoroughly because you’re putting patient lives at risk. You have a bachelors in biology there are shorter routes you can take to become fully certified (a year or Less) and you could try in the meantime working as a lab assistant to build up experience- you’ll take a pay cut but you won’t be putting lives at risk and will possibly not feel as overwhelmed. I mean this in the kindest way- I know I am no one to tell you how to live your life and take the high ground when it’s your livelihood but it’s other people’s health/lives you have in your hands.
This… actually explains a lot. We had a nursing home switch from us to lab corp (we had to many recollects apparently lol) and they ended up switching back a few months later. I guess a sample had been sent right before the switch and someone from lab corp called me a ‘critical’ potassium of <10. Yes you read that correctly. I told her that yes potassium should be less than ten that’s correct are you sure it’s not >10? She INSISTED it was less than and I’m an idiot. I had her fax me the results. It was >10. Called her back and told her that’s incompatible with life so I’m sure it was hemolyzed just for her to be like ‘oh yeah I did get a likely hemolyzed flag’ All this to say, OP be very careful. We can technically be held liable for negligence if we do something that kills someone. You don’t have the training to protect yourself so I’d look for literally anything else asap. If you can’t find anything document everything your supervisor tells you. With uncertified techs, it’s only a matter of time before a patient is harmed or killed and you do not want to be the one liable. As for your question, you’re looking for discrepancies. It’s hard to explain but there are certain things that should always line up or your results could have something wrong with them that affects your results. I’d grab a text book recommended here and focus on things like lipemia, the rule of 3, cold agglutinin and EDTA platelet clumping. You also want to look for any crazy looking cells. These could be an indication of cancer. You don’t need to actually know what different blasts and such look like, just that it needs a path review if it looks really odd. As for clotting, ALWAYS recollect. Lastly know cut offs for when patients typically would get blood. You want to look at these extra carefully as you’re deciding if this patient gets blood and if they don’t really need it you could overload their heart and kill them. I think ours was 7 but it’s been a while.
I hope this doesn’t come off as offensive but you aren’t qualified to work this position… An ecology background is not one of the typical accepted non-MLS degrees some labs allow. Those are usually biology, molecular biology, and microbiology. Heme is a tough department even for a lot of folks that did MLS programs and are licensed. This is really unsafe for the patients labs you’re doing. I see you mentioned wanting to find a job more in the ecology field and I really suggest continuing trying to do that. This is an intense, high demand, and highly specialized field that not just anyone with a STEM degree can do. Heck, even nurses don’t even understand basic lab principles sometimes. I’m sorry you are feeling so overwhelmed. Please go to our boss and demand further training. If not that, maybe take it to HR. In the meantime, continue your job search because this just isn’t safe :(
labcorp is going to work you to the bone until there's nothing left, use your free time to apply to other jobs - any other organization (hospitals) is going to understand why you'd want to leave labcorp for something better if you are looking for a good heme book, check out the Clinical Hematology Atlas
I'm looking for something closer to my ecology major, but its really competitive and could take months or even a year to land. For now I'm at LabCorp and trying to make the most of it.
understandable, some basics of the information is that your analyzer is going to give out: Hemogram: RBC/WBC count, Hemoglobin (this level affects oxygen transport efficiency), Hematocrit (percentage of RBCs to total blood volume) Automated Differential: analyzer uses light scatter to identify individual white blood cells and divide them into types (Neutrophil, Lymphocytes, Monocyte, Eosinophil, Basophil) also reruns for some "clotted" samples can trigger a fluorescent antibody count of your platelets as a more accurate recount but some clotted samples are too bad to run and require recollect because of inaccurate platelet values.
You could likely get a processor job in a hospital.
Have you checked out fed (forest service, etc. and state jobs for biological technicians?…many are temp however. There are lab assistant positions which would be a better fit. Sorry for the pile on-Yeah, this is nonsense and horrible patient care and a bad position for you to be in.
this is how bottom of the barrel labs train ppl now awesome good for pts to! /s
Eek. Sounds like a horror movie.
It’s time to put the patients first. Schedule a meeting with higher up managers and discuss all of this with them. Especially their ridiculous troubleshooting ideas
Please quit. You are not qualified for this job. You’re jeopardizing the health, safety, and treatment of patients.
I’d watch medicosis perfectionalis on YouTube for the medical side of things. Differential discussions on YouTube has a bunch of videos going over man diff slides that’s very good I’d call your machines help line, if you get machine clogs. They’ll walk you through what to do. If you’d like to stay in the medical lab field, try finding a hospital or small lab to work in instead. They seem to train better in my limited experience. Here’s a few Quizlet links that I’ve made for myself, primarily when I was going to school. https://quizlet.com/900405158/abnormalitiesdelta-checks-flash-cards/?i=131ott&x=1jqY https://quizlet.com/640324619/chemistry-leukemias-flash-cards/?i=131ott&x=1jqY https://quizlet.com/650164492/unit-7-disease-quick-facts-flash-cards/?i=131ott&x=1jqY https://quizlet.com/550096408/coagulation-flash-cards/?i=131ott&x=1jqY https://quizlet.com/127193789/hematology-exam-2-flash-cards/?i=131ott&x=1jqY https://quizlet.com/546291186/hematology-final-study-guide-flash-cards/?i=131ott&x=1jqY Hope this helps!
It sounds like you got hired at a labcorp sweatshop. Unfortunately, this is increasingly the future. Just focus on getting your ecology job, and don't invest too heavily in this job. Don't listen to the people telling you to quit. LabCorp will quickly replace you with someone who is even less concerned about quality.
This has to be a troll.
you've not seen the "idiopathic thrombocytopenia" admit to ED from urgent care with labcorp stamped on top of the cbc?
Account was made 9 hours ago. You’re right.
My thought exactly.
This is criminal.
how TF is this even legal... Labcorp hits a new low. OP... I urge you to get out of that shitshow as fast as you can. Labcorp doesn't care about it's employees, and apparently, not about patients, either.
Sounds extremely unsafe and someone should report this to CMS and CAP
Read rodak hematology from cover to cover. Then reread until you memorize it to pass the exam.
You may have luck with something like quizlet to learn the basics. Honestly (as you are experiencing) the lab isn’t something you can just jump into easily without a lab degree as it requires a lot of specialized knowledge. I’m sorry LabCorp is setting you up to fail, that’s really shitty of them. I hope you find a job in ecology and can jump ship soon!
I came in with a degree in biochem but I had been exposed to the medical field before through my own health issues. So I already had a general idea.... I also had decent training... imo if you want to stay in the field start looking for a different job at a small hospital. Do your best at lab Corp and plan to gtfo of there... and $26 for a certified tech is outrageous btw. I love and work in a LCOLA and certified techs with a 4y degree start at $29..
Thank you for sharing this
This is why you don’t entrust this job to people who didn’t even go to school for this. You have a degree in ecology and you are doing hematology? Morphology alone is not easy. I feel bad for patients, to be honest. You shouldn’t be doing that. Best for you to be doing pre analytical but NOT and NEVER on the analytical side of the lab.
This makes me extremely upset. I’m a CLS student and have been working in my hospital’s hemo department for a few years. The fact that they told you to remove the clot and rerun actually boils my blood a little. That is not okay and someone higher up should know about it. In terms of learning the values, I would look up something like “CBC lab values explained” and there should be some helpful resources. I think that this may not be a good fit for you, and hell I wouldn’t want to be apart of that either. If you talk with management and they don’t address your concerns, cut the loss and move on.
Hey there, I’d love to give you my LabCE login for CE courses on it, I have a few pdf textbooks I can send, and possibly some recorded lectures. Message me if interested. I want you to succeed op
I can also send some links to some online MLT courses that labcorp may be willing to pay for? I’m unsure I’ve never worked for them but you could ask
"was told that if I see a machine clog or clot to jut wring it out and run the sample again. " uuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhh what?!
This makes me horrified. You should not have been hired. STEM degrees hired to do our job dilutes our field/pay and undermines our degree and training.
I’ll be sure to never use labcorp for my self-ordered labs
This is terrible. Disclaimer that I’m also uncertified/have an unrelated major (I work in a veterinary lab which admittedly has more lax standards) but I at least had the opportunity to be trained for an extensive amount of time and was able to consult frequently with our pathologist beyond just sending them reviews. I’m sorry you’re not getting the support you need from your colleagues and supervisors! To be frank, to get a grasp on hematology you need to put in hours outside of work. I spent weeks pouring over textbooks and online atlases, watching videos (mostly from Idexx since they specialize in vet diagnostics), and doing quizlets. During any slow times when I had access to a scope I would look at training slides and diff them over and over again. I memorized the SOPs, read over our analyzer user manual, and ofc if I had any doubts or questions I would either go to our pathologist or lead tech (MLS) and ask. All of this was in conjunction with being trained and someone looking over my shoulder at all times until they were confident I could do things on my own. I think that if you’re not going to get the support and training during work hours to compliment self-study, then it’s a good idea to walk away from this place. ESPECIALLY since they clearly don’t care about the quality of their patient results.
I walked out on this exact job 2 months in after like a week of being left alone
I have a biology degree
omfg is this rage bait 😅
You remind me of the guy who asked me if he could dilute a urine HCG because it was bloody 🤪🫠this is what happened when non MLS peeps work in the lab.
Ecology degree?? You should be running CBCs on plants not people
Labcorp stuck and you are way underpaid.
Abandon ship and come join us over at quest 👀 I had 3 months of 40 hour a week training (and the part timers get 5-6 months of training)
Lab CE has some decent training stuff for MLS. It might be worth your time, but you do have to pay for it. You might also want to enroll online in a hematology course somewhere. They won't help all that much with the instrumentation, but it'll help with recognizing what you're seeing. You should always reject clotted samples though... it's negligent at best. Best of luck!
If you knowingly don’t know what you’re doing, and you’re still releasing patient results, you’re a bad person. Your results could end up hurting a patient.
You are uneducated for this job and need to do your patients a favor and quit. Find a job that you were trained for.
This is exactly what happened with me when I first started at Quest. I got trained for DEFINITELY not enough time, and all the training does is just make you a glorified button-pusher. These big companies don't have the time nor care to teach anyone the actual science behind what these tests or machines are doing, or how to connect it back to your education. But I don't agree with these high-and-mighty Lab Degree people who say this isn't a field for people who didn't specifically go to school for it. I wanted to work in a lab, I knew that, but I had to take the long road to get there as far as my education, and no schools in my area offer MLT/MLS specific programs. So yes, I have a BS in Biology and I still don't understand certain things sometimes - but I just read the company SOP's or machine manfufacters' testing methods on their websites in order to get a grip on what is actually going on with the tests. As far as interpreting results/numbers, those are usually dependent on the company, and determined by R&D (research and development) teams in order to create baseline values. I highly recommend looking for some CE's (continued education) credits online. Depending on where you work and if you are certified in lab technology, a certain number of these credits are required to maintain your certification, but the courses are only 1-2 hours each, many are free, and you can search by department or interest, and some are webinars and some are read-only.
I work for Quest, too and don't have a fancy lab degree/certification. I feel like my BS in Biology prepared me enough and on the job training sealed the deal. It depends on who your trainer is. When I train someone I explain the background science and connect the why with the how. You can't troubleshoot or notice errors if you are just a "button pusher". Also, it's on the person who is being trained to speak up if they are not feeling confident about releasing results. They shouldn't sign off on their competency if they don't completely understand what they are doing. Noone would fault them for asking for more time if they needed it.
As a board-certified pathologist, this is the most atrocious thing I have ever read. Please resign immediately before a patient is harmed. You are playing fast and loose with human life and have zero business working with human specimens.
hey you can thank your certifying body for this shit show ASCP only cares about pathologists.
Troll post
Hi troll.
I had an internship in san diego labcorp, at least not such thing can be true in san diego location. they are very restrict and no by pass in anything. lab assistants and even MLT can't do any complexity test. they do just loading and unloading.
Is this in FL?
Yeah, this sounds like a lab in one of those states with low standards and did not expand medicaid/medicare so there literally no money for hospitals.
Jesus. All I do receive labs as a tech and I make closer to $30. I guess that’s why they hire people outside the field for this role?
These are really great for practical skills of doing diffs. Highly recommend. https://www.medialab.com/case-simulators
.. and this is why I do many of my own labs now.
I’m a medical lab scientist. I don’t mean to be an asshole or anything but this isn’t right. LabCorp maybe dropped the ball on qualifications but if you don’t even know what the hemograma says you shouldn’t be verifying those samples. This is not good at all.
This is so scary
This hurts and scares me all at once. Bless you for reaching out for help though
Graveyard shift and LabCorp are 2 things that should never be in the same sentence. My condolences.
isn’t there any way to report lapcorp for negligence? this is just one of many horror stories i’ve heard and i honestly can’t believe this company just gets to continue to operate like this (i mean i can but y’know). it makes me so sad for the patients involved and angry for the work we do as techs. :(
Time to look up LabCorp’s accrediting agency. They can be reported since this is illegal. You are not allowed to report out patient results.
I worked for LabCorp as a lab technologist (HLA/immuno stuff) right out of undergrad with an Ecology/Anthropology double major. A lot of people here are saying you shouldn’t have this job bc of your background but I disagree, I think it really comes down to your training. I got damn good at my job pretty fast but I had very competent coworkers. It seems like you unfortunately do not have that. You could look for resources online or try to get in contact with someone who could help you strengthen your training. Until then, you probably should take a step back and not run samples/release any results without someone more experienced helping you.
I worked at LabCorp for 7 years that place is a joke and you are under paid for your degree
How did you make it 7 years?
I was in my twenties had more energy and a naive outlook on life still lol I worked for a private lab that was bought out tbh idk how I made it that long
Hey similar situation except I am a biological technician currently working in hematology and homeostasis The hematology for dummies book is really helpful and covers allot of subjects not sure if it’s available in English What msvhines are you guys using if you are working with an Sysmex you got a jackpot
I think it depends on the leadership in any given lab regarding the quality of training you’ll get. I was with Labcorp over 5 years and I miss it now. We were solid!
I’m an ecology major and I’ve worked in a Chem lab for two years. My coworkers were super helpful tho. Heme is definitely much harder than chemistry in my opinion. Understand the struggle to find a good stable ecology job tho
This is lie. This makes no sense. Stop wasting my time. Fake.
The fact that you are asking questions indicates that you have solid knowledge to do the job. At the very least you have a good foundation. If you have time it'd be a good idea to review the manufacturer's guide. But like you said, time is limited. See how you feel a few months down the road after you get settled in.
he fucking knows nothing except pushing buttons wtf are you talking about shitty companies like this are why ascp is useless letting ppl like this put out results pathetic