Who is a Clinical Laboratory Scientist?

What does a medical laboratory scientist do?

• Im doing a project for a summer school course im taking to get ahead of next years classes, and i need to know what a medical laboratory scientist do, in basic english? Im doing my ...show more

• Answer:

  Medical Laboratory Scientists generally run lab tests for hospitals and clinics. There are different areas that they can work, such as microbiology, clinical chemistry, hematology, blood bank, etc. Microbiologists culture pathogens such as bacteria or fungus from wounds or body fluids (blood, sputum, synovial fluid, spinal fluid, etc) and identify it, as well as determine which antibiotics will be most effective. Chemists run tests like cholesterol, liver panels, kidney panels, and many other tests. Hematologists look at blood to determine your cell counts. They can determine if you are anemic by your red cell count and other factors. Also looking at the number and type of white blood cells helps the doctor determine if you have a viral or bacterial infection. Blood bank is the department that issues units of blood if you need a transfusion. They have to test the patient's blood type and screen for any antibodies against antigens that the donors may have. If an antibody is found, they have to identify it, and find units of blood that you won't have a reaction to. There are a lot of other tests that Medical Lab Scientists can run, but that's a general description.