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What is the best way to start preparing for a MLS/CLS career as a sophmore in college?

Hi! I'm entering my sophomore year of undergrad. What tips would best help me prepare for my career in MLS programs before I graduate?

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Matthew’s Answer

If you haven’t already see if you can do a job shadow at your local hospital. Yes you will do an internship but you will be closer to being done at that point. Make sure this is really what you want to do. A lot of people leave the field after a few years because it isn’t what they thought it would be. Low pay, lack of respect from doctors and nurses, shift work, working on weekends and holidays are a few reasons why so many leave the field.
Otherwise you can review medical terminology. Some good resources are the Cell atlas app for blood cell identification (they have a quiz/game), bbguy.org to learn more about blood bank, and microbiologyinpictures.com . You can also get an ASCP BOR study guide to start reviewing for the registry exam but a lot might not make sense at this point.
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Thomas’s Answer

My advice is to thoroughly study and focus on your microbiology, anatomy and physiology, and chemistry classes. The certification exam may seem like a huge challenge, but with dedication and hard work, you can certainly overcome it.

Thomas recommends the following next steps:

after I would look to practice questions . there are a ton of Quizzes for MLS that people have made.
lastly, don't get discouraged. The medical laboratory is changing drastically due to a lot of techs aging out of the work force. there is a lot of opportunity for new techs.
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LaTausha’s Answer

You should check in with your advisor every semster to make sure you're on track and have taken all prereqs to proceed. By now you may have taken or should be prepared to take general /organic chemistry, physics, biology, genetics, anatomy and physiology, statistics. Next year and the following years you should be diving into your clincal coursework clincal chemistry, clinical micro, clinical hematology, immunology, immunohematology, phlebotomy. A class in quality control or quality assurance.
In most cases, the clinical classes need to completed prior to on-site clinical rotations (real world traing experience)
Eventually you'll need to take the certification exam. I advise you do it soon after graduation. It's favorable to already have a date scheduled when you're interviewing.
Good luck
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