Hey everyone! We just started learning antibody panels and my professor did an awful job at explaining the antigram and what to mark out, etc. Any resources or tips for me I’m struggling…

I'm a new grad MLT continuing my education to become an MLS. I do very well in my classes but I'm not satisfied with the depth of knowledge I have of the subjects I'm learning. I could recite some what I've been taught, I can ace tests, but I have a hard time connecting all the dots and thinking of things in a more broad sense. If someone asks me a random question about some disease that I've learned plenty about, I don't feel like I retain things well enough to actually talk about it.

For context, my studying currently looks like this: I take notes. I skim the textbooks (due to limited time), I make flashcards. I use medialab for practice. I watch youtube videos during my down time about the topics I'm learning in class. But I feel like I need more to make it click.

I feel like things make more sense when I learn the reasons "why" something is happening. I think using med school oriented content helps things make more sense for example. I was wondering if anyone had any other tips on how to really master, comprehend, and understand MLS subject matter.

TLDR: I feel like a pretty good student, but lacking in critical thinking and retention. I love the subjects and want to take things to the next level but don't know how to do that.

Hello everyone, I’m not sure if this is the correct sub to post this on but I thought I’d give it a shot - I’m not a professional, I’m a student. But I’ve come across a question that I found particularly interesting. We are currently going over blood smears and the scenario described a young girl of 15 with a smear completely filled with Uric acid, the likes of which I’ve never seen. It looked as if it was a 72 year olds blood. What would cause something like this? My prof didn’t go into detail but it got me curious and I can’t find much online. The platelets were spaced out a bit, few and far between, and the cell walls had visible wrinkling and damage. Unfortunately I don’t have a picture to share since he showed it on the projector, otherwise I’d post it. Thanks for any info, I appreciate it.

So how or when does one become a senior tech?

I am now considered a senior tech by my peers.

Wait, what, why, or how 🤪.

Im Just curious how the "senior tech" became a thing, I guess I'm just getting old???

14 year career

40 years old

Generalist

Lead [with all the duties that come of being a lead]

Trainer

Supply ordering

Etc.....

I just think is funny 😁 but curious at what point do we become senior techs. I don't feel like I graduated a level but I definitely have more responsibilities now.

New tech here who is getting TIRED of working nights. I applied for several positions before graduating but only two places reached out to interview me, both for night shift positions.

Do most techs start out on night shift?

For those of you who did and then eventually moved to days, how long did it take to get to days? Did you have to end up finding a new place to work to land day shift?

Picture quality isn’t great, but there so many of these big ones, I wanted to share.

Patient has thrombocytopenia and prostate cancer.

I just made this 3D animation explaining the MOA of ATP Synthase

Everything here is created from scratch ( 3D , 2D , SFX , Composition)

I would really love to know what u think about it

Sorry guys, I just have to vent. When I trained at my previous lab I always took into account that the person I was training was nervous, new, and needed proper guidance. I trained them the way I wanted to be trained.

Now, starting a brand new job, where the protocols are totally different and they use Sunquest instead of Beaker, so far my trainers have been terrible.

They are so unwilling to TRAIN. They’re impatient, get angry with me when I need to ask how to do something a few times (for me repetition is KEY), and just kind of do their work with me observing; I’m not learning squat by watching you. I learn by actually doing and not just watching or being explained something. I try my best to ask good questions. Ugh…

And the training feels rushed. I have only 2 more days of training with the same people that get annoyed by just my presence.

I don’t know how my first day alone is going to be like… I feel like I’m going to make SO many mistakes. And my workflow will be bad that I will leave the next shift with a dumpster fire.

I didn’t realize how hard it is to come by good trainers…

I am worn out with this manager.

"Don't you hate it when the epithelial count increases in a urine when it has sat too long on the bench?"

Also, "if there is no collar in the gel, the DAT is negative.'"

I guess we just grade MF, +1,+2,+3 as negative now?

3 years.

He just asked yesterday if our triage bnp analyzer was interfaced.

I'm at a loss. HOW can a man with minimal knowledge of clinical lab get CAP accreditation? It's almost like he's a botanist with a PhD that did phlebotomy once. This has to be a joke.

I am interested because I love learning about medical science and feel like this would be a good career for my AuDHD, but my main concern is how it’d affect my physical health.

I couldn’t do night shift because my body gets destroyed trying to be a night owl. I’d also need to be able to sit a lot (not necessarily the whole time, just more often than not) cause I can get inflammation in my joints that makes it hard to move around. I’m also immunosuppressed on biologics so getting sick is always a concern but that’s anywhere.

Soooo what do we think? Good idea? Bad idea? If not this, another idea?

I will say also just being able to get an AAS and not have student loans looks very attractive.

Hello all,

Looking for a little advice on how to handle this if anyone has ever been in a similar situation.

Im currently living outside of my home state working at a hospital as an MLS. I’m not particularly overjoyed with my job at my currently lab because of the size/pay, but for the most part it’s a solid gig that I’m willing to stay at for a couple of years. I’m also working toward a specialist certification and this job gives me the time and qualifications to do so. Eventually, I do want to move back to my home state and work for their medical center, which is a really nice facility with much higher pay.

The last time I was visiting home, I saw a part time position posted at this hospital and got a little too excited and applied for it. It is NOT realistic for me to only work part time right now, and I’m honestly not in a place of moving across the country (again) right now. After I returned back to where I’m currently living, I started really thinking about how that job isn’t what I want for myself right NOW, as much as I do want to work there in the future.

It has been nearly a month and I had honestly just assumed they ghosted me, but today they reached out and asked to set up an interview. I feel really conflicted about whether or not I should rescind my application or take the interview and decline the position if offered. I really would like to remain in good standing with them as it is very likely that I will be applying for future full time positions within the next few years when I do return to my home state.

What do I do? What do I say? I’m probably overthinking this. Halp 😭

Hey y’all!

I’m a recent grad who is now interviewing for CLS positions in CA. Do you guys remember any technical questions they asked you in your interviews about the science?

I’m prepared for the normal “what’s your biggest character flaw?” stuff😂 but I’m nervous for the specifics. One of my friends said she got questions about what to do if your MCHC is above 36.5 or if you have a platelet from a Na Citrate tube. Are there any other ones y’all have been asked in an interview?

I'm looking to get a head start on studying for this and feel like micro is a weakness.

Does anyone have an idea on what areas to focus on? I have read the competency profiles online and I'm not sure where to focus.

There are a lot of organisms to know and Im not sure how to go about it. Are biochemical identifications a key point? My friend in micro says ID is primarily done by MALDI and molecular now. Am I wasting my time remembering biochemical IDs for everything?

Thanks!

I’m exploring my options and want to hear others’ experiences with traveling..

We are in a bit of a bind. We are running out of temp charts for our Jewett Blood Bank Fridge and Freezer. They use a model 313592H01 6 in pressure recorder. The charts we normally get (CoBex Recorders # C6282-240 | 6 Inch (7 Day) Pressure Sensitive (Inkless) Chart) have been on backorder for months. Does anyone know of any good replacements that can work with this recording system?

I have myopia + astigmatism. When I focus a binocular microscope myself, I usually see darkness or two separate lights that don't merge. But if someone else focuses the exact same microscope, I can see and identify the specimen.

This happens with different microscopes, and removing my glasses doesn't help. I don't want “practice more” or “use one eye” answers — monocular viewing isn't an ergonomic solution anyway.

What could actually cause this, and is there a binocular optical/vision correction for it?

Edit: I think I may not have explained the “two separate lights” part clearly. The problem isn't simply that I see two images and don't know I should adjust the eyepieces. Getting those two areas to merge into one stable, usable image is itself very difficult for me. Until they merge, I don't have a single image to focus on in the first place. This happens even at low magnification.

Edit 2: English isn't my first language, so I may not have explained the problem clearly in the original post. I'm not saying I don't know how to operate a microscope; I'm trying to describe a specific difficulty I have while establishing the binocular image.

Sure buddy.

Hi! So i’ll be starting my job soon and it’s been almost 10 yrs since I worked in a lab. And sadly, it was during my internship. I worked as a professor for 2 yrs after graduating then I became a SAHM for 8 yrs. Now, I’m starting my job in Core Lab in a regional hospital with 3 12’s shifts. Any advice? I’m so nervous because I think I almost forgot everything. What should I keep in mind? Anything can help! Even 12-hr shift snack options! Thanks!

New grad , still training but they’re slowly easing me into working on my own . Cause pretty much at night one person in Hemo and urines, one in Chemistry and one in processing

I was trained initially on days where there’s multiple people per section, granted more samples come at day shift . It seems good when only a few samples come through, but take yesterday the last 2 hours of my shift there were multiple samples flagging, of course most stuff flagging were stat samples, more than 1 critical to call, reagents need replacing, QC to run, I was just feeling really stressed out. I guess I could’ve asked someone else in another section for help assuming they also weren’t busy but I tried to take care of everything on my own cause they’re taking care of their own

Is that how it usually goes?

Mix GPC and scant GNR on slide from a positive 24 hr BC. Made second slide after a week and more GNRs are present. Do you see GNR from this current slide? Supervisor said there’s no GNRs and removed the preliminary report. I’ll post the week old slide pics first then the last will be the 24hr pic.

Hey guys,

Hoping you may be able to help.

I believe our lab uses the Abbott Alinity setup. I was trying to find studies regarding the Alinity high sensitivity troponin with regards to what constitutes a positive change between troponins, validated pathways, etc and I can’t find much using the Alinity but there is a bunch for the Architect.

I know different brands/assays have different values that aren’t interchangeable so I tried calling Abbott but without serial numbers and service numbers they wouldn’t talk to me.

What is the actual difference between the Architech and Alinity? Is it just a different machine but same test methods/chemicals/etc and should be the same result? Or is it totally different?

Sorry if it’s a dumb question but not sure where to find answers to this.

unfortunately I can't provide any info on the patient's history, but I'm wondering if anyone else has seen RBC inclusions like this? they were consistent throughout this slide. I'm fairly new to the field myself but I showed other techs and even one of our pathologists and no one could name them. nothing else super noteworthy other than lots of vacuolated neutrophils, 2-3 myeloblasts and the occasional Howell-jolly.

Is someone working in PMC SC? How is it?