Clinical Laboratory Science

If you have an interest in science and math, you should consider this program. Clinical laboratory scientists perform an ever-broadening range of complex laboratory diagnostic and research activities. These tests, performed in clinical pathology laboratories, research, and industry, help track down the causes and cures of disease.

Good communication skills are important because clinical laboratory scientists may work as a team within the laboratory and also interact with doctors, nurses, patients, and research scientists. Often, clinical laboratory scientists have management responsibilities and specialize within the clinical laboratory in areas such as hematology, toxicology, clinical chemistry, virology, or bacteriology.

The clinical laboratory science (CLS) curriculum also gives you an excellent foundation for graduate school or medical, veterinary, or dental school.

Program Strengths

Excellent preparation: In the past 12 years, Miami graduates' rate of passing the national board certification exam is 100 percent; the national average is about 70 percent.

Well-rounded education: Miami students develop communication and management skills through the Miami Plan for Liberal Education, skills essential for working with physicians, patients, nurses, and other labs.

Your Programs of Study

Miami has three programs for those who want to become certified clinical laboratory scientists or medical technologists. The first is a "3+1" program, in which you take three years at Miami followed by a one-year internship at an affiliated hospital. You graduate with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in clinical laboratory science.

In the second program ("4+1"), you take four years at Miami, earning a double major: a B.S. in clinical laboratory science and a Bachelor of Arts degree in either zoology, chemistry, or microbiology , and then take the hospital internship.

In the third program, you can attend Miami for either three or four years in the clinical laboratory science program, then take a two-year internship at the South Carolina Clinical Laboratory Sciences affiliate. Upon completion of your second year there, you receive a B.S. and M.S. in clinical laboratory science.

All three programs involve an interdisciplinary blend of classes in chemistry, microbiology, and zoology.

The internship is held at one of 10 hospitals affiliated with Miami. In it, you attend lecture courses and laboratory rotations in clinical chemistry, hematology, immunohematology, and medical microbiology.

This program leads to the Bachelor of Science in clinical laboratory science.

After completing either program, you are eligible to take the national registry examinations for certification as a medical technologist and clinical laboratory scientist.

After You Graduate

After becoming certified, clinical laboratory scientists (CLS) or medical technologists (MT) generally work in hospital laboratories, in private laboratories, clinic laboratories, industrial laboratories, public health agencies, health maintenance organizations, research institutions, teaching institutions, and in medical programs sponsored by groups such as the Peace Corps and Project Hope.

For More Information

For general information about Miami University, please contact:

Office of Admission
301 S. Campus Ave.
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio 45056-3434
513-529-2531 (v/t)
www.muohio.edu/requestinfo

For specific information on the Clinical Laboratory Science major, please contact:

Marcia Lee
Department of Microbiology
Pearson Hall
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio 45056
513-529-5422
leemr@muohio.edu
www.cas.muohio.edu/micro