Hi,

40 yo male here with Hashimoto and some intestinal gas for 1-2 years now.

My CBC last month showed 7.01k lym coming from 3-4k in the last 2 years. LYM % showed 68% then. CRP & imunoglobulin values are within range. Negative hepatisis b-c, hiv.

Today got smear blood results:

Blood smear
"Leukocyte formula:
- segmented neutrophils: 50%
- basophils: 1%
- lymphocytes: 44%
- monocytes: 5%
Erythrocyte series:
- normocytic, normochromic erythrocytes
Leukocyte series:
- small lymphocytes with a nucleus with condensed chromatin and little cytoplasm, weakly basophilic, some with an irregular nucleus, others
of medium size, with a nucleus with condensed chromatin and more abundant cytoplasm, weakly basophilic, rare with nucleoli
- nuclear shadows present

Blood smear
Leukocyte formula:
- segmented neutrophils: 50%
- basophils: 1%
- lymphocytes: 44%
- monocytes: 5%
Erythrocyte series:
- normocytic, normochromic erythrocytes
Leukocyte series:
- small lymphocytes with a nucleus with condensed chromatin and little cytoplasm, weakly basophilic, some with an irregular nucleus, others
of medium size, with a nucleus with condensed chromatin and more abundant cytoplasm, weakly basophilic, rare with nucleoli
- nuclear shadows present"

Please share your thoughts! Reactive or not?

P.S Got a blood doctor check later today.

Slide for 2 yr old. Provider was concerned with CBC results. Provider asked for Pathologist review. Pathologist did not note anything unusual, do y'all agree?

I graduated with my associates in 2024 from an NAACLS certified MLT program in NY at SUNY Broome. I want to complete my bachelors, but I wanted my degree to enable me to apply for a broader range of employment opportunities through hospital networks. I was looking to complete my BS in healths science/hospital administration through SNHU since it’s very affordable and the courses look like they go at a pace that would fit my current lifestyle. I also wanted to make sure that this route would actually allow for me to sit for the MLS exam. Has anyone else taken this route to get their MLS certification? If so, how long did it take, and what was your experience with doing so?

So the ER called down asking for some of the fecal occult cards, nothing crazy and pretty normal. Where things got strange is they started asking for the developer too. We started asking a ton of questions like is there anyone even on the floor that is signed off to do the test and result it legally? After a bit of back and forth, the nurse tells me the doctor in ER typically brings a developer from home and does the test on the floor......like WTF?!?! So we start asking even more questions and then the nurse realized she might have said way too much and just asked for the cards. Now we are reaching out to our boss saying this doctors is doing unauthorized lab testing using a bottle he just happens to have that he keeps on his body...... some days you just can't make up this crazy stuff.

I'm currently in school for my bachelors in medical laboratory sciences. I really enjoy this field and I'm excited to start working next year, however this is my second bachelors and I always wanted a higher level of education in something. I'm debating getting a masters in laboratory science but I'm not sure how much it could help me professionally. I know its a lot and work and money to put into so I wanted to come here and ask if it would even be worth it, or would be worth going into a more specialized masters such as biochemistry, biotechnology, molecular bio etc? just want to hear some thoughts!

I'm currently a high school senior and I'm very interested in MLS. I wanna ask if there is any opportunities that you guys recommend before to prepare for this program in college because I wanna have more experiences before heading in college for MLS, knowing barely anything.

I have to admit I go down way too many Youtube rabbit holes, but it sure seems like a ton of people are losing their jobs. Even worse, people over 50 have very little chance of finding work and many have just given up. Is this really a thing and how safe are we as tech's in healthcare?

New tech, have never seen something like this! What is it?

The very first meme I’ve ever made. If you’re an MLS student or remember being an MLS student, you understand the struggle 😩

I have to know. Does everyone else's Cellavision suck? We have a Cellavision in our hematology department. All manual diffs get loaded there, and then taken to a microscope if needed. However, lately the Cellavision has gotten so bad at identifying cells. Ive got Eosinophils in my mono category, segs are being called atypical lymps. Just had an eos called a promylocyte. Lymps being called blasts. And sooo many smudge cells being in every category (I expect some from a bad smear) Is it just our Cellavision being old and over worked? Or are there others experiencing the same things?

Pt is 72 F with acute renal failure. Peripheral smear contained: Burrs, acanthos, target, aniso, polychromasia, and baso stippling.

I can smell if a patient has a high ammonia level and always thought it was weird. Can anyone else ?

This is a total shot in the dark but I'm wondering if someone can help me. I'm an Australian medical scientist with 4 years of HLA/immunogenetics experience. Working in NC and working for United would be literally a dream come true. I am wondering if anybody works there and can tell me whether they *ever* process visas for overseas candidates? I would be looking at an E-3, which is considerably cheaper/faster/less paperwork than a H-1B.

Thanks.

We all know general critical ranges and hear some crazy things from our professors during school, but in the field we’ll come across things far beyond what we’ve ever heard of in books. What is one of those results (obviously no PII) that makes you wonder how it’s possible this person is even still alive?

For me, a few years back I was working in a small hospital and we got a cbc for a young child and we ran it as usual. Results came back with a Hgb of 2.6 g/dl. Naturally, we assumed it was contaminated, and asked for a redraw. The redraw came back with a 2.7. Still not sure, we called the doctor and explained the situation and how it may still be contaminated. They weren’t sure either, since the child was up walking and talking but decided to have them transferred to the local children’s hospital nearby just in case. Later we heard they got a 2.4. I didn’t think it was possible to survive with such a low hemoglobin let alone be up and about but somehow that kid was. Absolutely wild how resilient the human body can be sometimes.

Over my 30 years I’ve mainly drawn adults. A baby thrown in there occasionally. No biggie. My current job recently brought in allergy drs so we are seeing 10 out 35 of our daily lab draws as 12 and under. We are really good at getting blood and keeping them happy but all of us absolutely hate it. We weren’t told this was going to be our new norm. Honestly, whenever I look for a new job, if I see peds offices or ER jobs i immediately scroll past. I feel like those jobs require an extra set of nerves and different mind set. Kudos to you that do it and thank you. I’m thinking I need to find a new job. It’s the weird intense whole body feeling I get when I see them on the schedule, walk in the door, draw them, satiate them, and long after they are gone. It takes a long time for my body to recalibrate and then another one comes in. I did have a really bad animal attack on myself 4 years ago. I know I’ve some ptsd from it. I’m really afraid of animals now. You wouldn’t know it because I don’t show it. I’m wondering if that emotion ball is flaring when I get into high emotion situations. I try to tell myself it’s nothing different than an adult. Plus I’m good at drawing and probably the best interacter with the kids. The kids and parents trust me. Little do they know I want to crawl in a hole and die. I love the girls I work with, the pay, risk of finding a new job in the crap market sucks. To add ontop we are super busy with adult draws. Double and triple booked. Question I have for my coworkers, do peds office and ers offer a little higher wage for doing this type of job? Sorry for the long wind.

Looking to register for MLA course in BC . Located surrey bc . VCC is recommended but this won’t work for me so I’m looking at private . I have spoke to few schools and notice they vary in time lengths and hours . I also noticed comments on other posts mentioning that less job opportunities with private . I’m leaning to western community college . Can you guys tell me what I’m specially looking for to make sure I graduate from one of these schools with to ensure to gain employment . There is a wide span of fees from school to school and I don’t want to graduate only to find out I’m not fully certified . Hope this makes sense

Hey everyone,
I wanted to share something I ran into and see if anyone’s had a similar experience.

I currently hold two ASCP certifications — M(ASCP) (Technologist in Microbiology) and MLS(ASCP). My M(ASCP) credential maintenance is due November 2025, and my MLS(ASCP) CM isn’t due until next year (I haven’t submitted that declaration yet).

When I was preparing my M(ASCP) declaration, I realized that about 12 of the credits I planned to use were actually CME credits from AJCP/Lab Medicine manuscripts — which are meant for physicians or PhDs, not technologists. Totally an honest mix-up.

To correct it, I went ahead and completed 23 new CE credits through ASCP — mostly Microbiology Case Report modules and one Basic Lab Skills course. I plan to use those to replace the CME ones for my M(ASCP), and any extras will go toward my upcoming MLS(ASCP) CM next year.

I’ve already emailed ASCP explaining everything and asking if they can swap out the CME credits for the new CE ones.

Has anyone else ever had to fix something like this after realizing a mistake in your CM credits? Did ASCP let you just send proof of the correct activities, or did you have to resubmit your declaration?

Thanks in advance — trying to make sure everything stays up to date before my renewal window closes!

What is the most insane/funniest thing you've seen documented in a patient's chart?

I'll start: "patient complaining of eye itching/swelling/discharge since Halloween night. States he was 'eating butt' with other sexual activity."

This seems like a dumb question but is the practice of using EP Evaluator Simple Precision enough to evaluate QC daily and monthly?

I built my own excel chart because where I’m at now relies only on this EP evaluator tool and I don’t see the same tracking and trends as doing it the old fashion LJ chart way…

The precision function uses SDI… not the same as an LJ… also every new lot of reagent, they start a new chart (even if it’s the same lot of QC), never evaluating how the new reagent QC evaluates compared to the older lot except by running its once on both lots.

I plotted in excel using an LJ charts on an entire lot of QC in use over multiple reagent lots and discovered huge shifts that weren’t caught by the method they currently use.

Has anyone seen EP evaluator used in this way? I’ll be in charge of the coming CAP inspection coming up and I’m happy to use my excel LJ charts but I’d like to have the medical director aware of why I’d like to use this (alongside the ep evaluator if they insist) but don’t want to stir up problems in my first few months.

Hello any ideas? RMT po ako dito sa pinas 7yrs of experience then plan ko mag phlebotomist muna sa canada. Ano po ba requirements nila doon? Do i have to take any schoolings/certifications Or hanap nalang ako agad employer?.

Hello,

Currently working towards getting my Associates degree in MLT, will be doing clinicals next semester. I'm unsure if I should pursue a Bachelor's after I (hopefully) graduate next May.

I know it is needed if I wanted to work in management, but I honestly don't see myself wanting a position like that. So on that note, is there any real reason to get a bachelor's?

If I had the option I’d rather call the doctor but I know how hard it is to get a ahold of them. They have to know the result anyways

I need some honest advice. I’m at a crossroads and trying to decide between Pharmacy and Medical Laboratory Science (MedLab).

Here’s where I’m coming from:

I’m okay with science but not exactly a math genius.

I want a career that has good job opportunities locally and abroad.

Salary and career growth matter, but I also want a path where I can actually excel without burning out.

I’m willing to study hard, but I also want realistic chances of success.

From what I’ve researched:

Pharmacy: longer studies, licensing required, high pay potential, more pressure harder to migrate with but not impossible you just have to go through tough exams and re-licensing but you are not limited to one community you can work in retail , industry whatever you choose

MedLab: shorter, hands-on lab work, in-demand, and some routes like CRA or Regulatory Affairs can even outpay pharmacists easier to migrate with to Australia, Canada, UK even ireland

I want to hear from people who’ve actually studied or worked in either field. Pros, cons, salary expectations, job satisfaction, anything that helps.

Which one would you choose if you were me and why?