Medical Laboratory Technology

    What Our Graduates Are Saying

    Hello, my name is Allan. I graduated from Montgomery County Community College’s Medical Laboratory Technician program in 2005. During the two years I spent in the program I learned the science and practical skills necessary for working in a variety of laboratory departments including Blood Bank, Hematology, Chemistry, and Microbiology.

    During this time, I also met many great people and I had some wonderful teachers, who really cared that my classmates and I succeeded.

    About four months before graduation, I was offered a full-time first-shift position at the hospital where I was doing my clinical rotation. This very fact reflects both the quality of the lab tech program here at Montgomery County Community College and the vast demand that the laboratory science field has for new employees.

    At work I’m constantly performing dilutions on specimens that are above the technical range of our instruments. I use volumetric glassware to reconstitute some of the reagents that our analyzers use. This and the general knowledge I picked up in school assist me in doing my job and in troubleshooting abnormal situations. For example, the knowledge I learned in school about how certain anticoagulants and substances could affect body chemistries enables me to pick up on EDTA and pick line contamination. I’ve been told that many new techs don’t pick up on abnormal situations so soon fresh out of school, which only goes to show that this program has given me the analytical skills to tackle whatever I may face in the laboratory setting.

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    Hi! My name is Eve, and I am a 2002 graduate from the Medical Laboratory Technician program here at Montgomery County Community College. The training I received here was amazing.

    Upon graduation I was able to make a smooth transition from being a student to being a part of the work force. I am well respected by my co-workers for the knowledge I brought with me.

    Right now, the demand is high for well-trained MLT’s. With many techs getting ready for retirement, that need will certainly increase. For instance, I was hired two months before my graduation.

    The teachers here at MCCC really care about their students, and want to see us succeed; as a matter of fact I work with one of my instructors at Phoenixville Hospital where I’ve been working since graduation.

    I really love being a tech, so I am currently taking on-line courses to complete my bachelor’s degree and become a Medical Technologist. I’m always learning something new, and I get great satisfaction out of knowing that I’m helping people everyday.

    So, if you’re thinking about enrolling in the MLT program here at Montgomery County Community College, I say go for it. It’s a lot of work, but the benefits are endless.

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    Hello, my name is Megan and I started out as a biology major at Montgomery County Community College. I graduated with my Associate's degree in biology in 1999. During my studies as a biology major I took an intro microbiology class. I enjoyed this class so much that it became my bridge into starting the Medical Laboratory Technician Program.

    Looking back on my experiences in the MLT program I had so much fun, but don’t get me wrong….it was also A LOT of work. I can remember thinking it was almost impossible to get through the course work, but my teachers were always there when I needed help. Also, my class size was smaller, which resulted in me doing very well because we all became close and would help each other out. This program also made me become more active in the campus community by participating in pretzel sales and performing laboratory testing at events like Community Day.

    In 2001 I graduated with my Associate's degree in this field. Shortly after I took my boards from the American Society of Clinical Pathologists and passed! The best part of graduating from this program was all the possible job opportunities. I ended up taking a job with a local laboratory that performs both clinical and forensic toxicology testing.

    A year after graduating Montgomery County Community College I decided to further my education by working part-time towards my Bachelor's degree in Medical Technology. I returned back to MCCC to take a few more courses then I transferred to Gwynedd-Mercy College because MC3 has a degree affiliation with GMC which means that all my courses and credits transferred over with no problems. I am proud to say that in May of 2005 I graduated with my Bachelor's in Medical Technology and again became ASCP certified. I also currently sit on the advisory committee for the MLT program. I think that this profession is exciting because of the various opportunities in can provide!

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    Hi, I’m Jeff Cohen and I’m Jean Cohen. We graduated from the MLT program in the class of 1994. Debbie thought it might be a good idea for us to tell of our experiences, not just because we met at school and subsequently got married, but because of the different paths our careers have taken since graduation. I guess that’s the message we want to send out, that with your MLT degree from MCCC you will be afforded a diversity of career opportunities. Upon graduation I worked for 5 years as a tech at Mercy Suburban Hospital, transferring to Lankanau Hospital where I became a 2nd shift assistant Supervisor. I was quite happy and my career was on track when I found an opportunity to interview at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, getting accepted in a position as Research Scientist, where I have now worked for the past 5 years and it’s been fantastic. I took a different path with my degree, first working in the in-house laboratory in an Oncologist office, where I also got to utilize my phlebotomy skills. I did that for 4 years until a merger closed the office lab. I then found that MLT’s can transition into data analysis for the pharmaceutical industry, which I have been performing successfully for the past 5 years, first at Sanofi SyntheLabo and currently as a manager at Covalent Group. My ability to read and interpret lab results is utilized in the analysis of data from Phase 1-4 drug trials. As you can see from our experiences there are many career opportunities afforded students with an MLT degree from MCCC, and the strong science background you receive enables you to easily continue schooling to go after a Medical technologist degree or a Bachelor of Science. I enjoyed my experiences at the hospital so much I continue to work there 1 weekend a month, and the pay is excellent.