CLT How to Apply

Academic Admission Requirements

  • High school diploma or GED
  • Intermediate Algebra II with Trigonometry Regents score of 83 or higher or MTH 165 with a C or higher or Mathematics Level 9 placement
  • High school biology with a C or higher (or equivalent college biology course) 

High school chemistry is strongly recommended

Applying to the Program

The CLT program is one of the competitive health-related programs at MCC that use a quality point system for admission. Details of this process are located on the Health-Related Programs page. The CLT program admits new students in fall semester only. Applications are due January 31 each year.  All academic admission requirements must be completed prior to January 31 to be considered for program admission. Quality points are granted only for courses completed before the January 31 application deadline.

  • Current MCC students apply by completing a program change request. Click the Change Major tile within the Student Home tile in myMCC.  This must be done after the fall semester course drop deadline has passed and before the following January 31. Select the fall semester when completing your request.
  • Prospective students who are not current MCC students must complete and submit the MCC Application for Admission, indicating the CLT Program (Program Code is CL01) in section E of the application. 

Program Essential Functions*

Essential functions are non-academic capabilities required of all individuals enrolled in a course of study and are essential for completion of the curriculum. The National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS), which accredits CLT educational programs, and the Americans with Disabilities Act mandate that the essential functions be made available to prospective students and the public.  A student applying to the CLT Program must confirm that he/she is able to perform these essential functions with or without reasonable accommodation as a requirement for admission. The following are the essential functions for the CLT Program at MCC.

VISUAL AND OBSERVATION SKILLS

A student in the CLT program must possess sufficient visual skills and skills of observation to perform and interpret laboratory assays, including the ability to:

  • Observe laboratory demonstrations in which lab procedures are performed on patient samples (i.e. body fluids, culture materials, tissue sections, and cellular specimens).
  • Characterize the color, consistency, and clarity of biological samples or reagents.
  • Use a clinical grade binocular microscope to discriminate among fine differences in structure and color (i.e. hue, shading, and intensity) in microscopic specimens.
  • Read and comprehend text, numbers, and graphs displayed in print and on a video monitor.
  • Recognize alarms.

Motor and Mobility Skills

A CLT student must possess adequate motor and mobility skills to:

  • Perform laboratory tests adhering to existing laboratory safety standards.
  • Move freely and safely about a laboratory.
  • Perform moderately taxing continuous physical work. This work may require prolonged sitting and/or standing over several hours and some may take place in cramped positions.
  • Lift and move objects of at least 20 pounds.
  • Reach laboratory bench tops and shelves, patients lying in hospital beds or patients seated in specimen collection furniture. 
  • Perform fine motor tasks such as pipetting, inoculating media, withdrawing a blood sample from a patient, handling small tools and/or parts to repair and correct equipment malfunctions, and transferring drops into tubes of small diameter.
  • Use a computer keyboard to operate laboratory instruments to calculate, record, evaluate, and transmit laboratory information. 

Communication Skills

A CLT student must possess adequate communication skills to:

  • Read and comprehend technical and professional materials (i.e. textbooks, magazine and journal articles, handbooks, standard operating procedures, and instruction manuals)
  • Follow verbal and written instructions in order to correctly and independently perform laboratory test procedures
  • Clearly instruct patients prior to specimen collection.
  • Communicate with individuals and groups in English (i.e. faculty members, fellow students, staff, patients, and other health care professionals) verbally and in recorded format (person-to-person, by telephone, and in writing and email).

Behavioral Skills

A CLT student must possess adequate behavioral skills to:

  • Be able to manage the use of time and be able to prioritize actions in order to complete professional and technical tasks within realistic constraints.
  • Possess the emotional health necessary to effectively apply knowledge and exercise appropriate judgment.
  • Be able to provide professional and technical services while experiencing the stresses of task related uncertainty (i.e., ambiguous test order, ambivalent test interpretation), emergent demands (i.e. “stat” test orders), and distracting environment (i.e., high noise levels, crowding, complex visual stimuli.)
  • Be flexible and creative and adapt to professional and technical change.
  • Recognize potentially hazardous materials, equipment, and situations and proceed safely in order to minimize risk of injury to patients, self, and nearby individuals.
  • Adapt to working with infectious and possibly unpleasant biological specimens.
  • Support and promote the activities of fellow students and of health care professionals. Promotion of peers helps furnish a team approach to learning, task completion, problem solving, and patient care.
  • Be honest, compassionate, ethical, and responsible. The student must be forthright about errors or uncertainty. The student must be able to critically evaluate her or his own performance, accept constructive criticism, and look for ways to improve (i.e. participate in enriched educational activities).
  • Show respect for individuals of different age, ethnic background, religion, gender, and/or sexual orientation.
  • Exhibit professional behavior and self-respect by conforming to appropriate standards of dress, appearance, language and public behavior. (For example, body piercings other than ears and visible tattoos are often not considered professional appearance and are not acceptable at some clinical sites. This includes tongue piercing.)

MCC recognizes the importance of encouraging and helping students with disabilities to reach their full potential. In accordance with the Americans With Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the College ensures that admission, services, activities, facilities and academic programs are accessible to and usable by qualified students with disabilities. Reasonable accommodations are available to students who identify themselves as having a disability and as being otherwise qualified for admission to the College. Each student is responsible for requesting and verifying the need for appropriate accommodations (contact Services for Students with Disabilities). The intent of reasonable accommodations is to provide all students with the same opportunities for success and for mastery of academic skills. 

*Certain disabilities may limit employment opportunities. Moreover, immunocompromised individuals may put themselves at personal risk due to exposure to infectious agents that occurs in all aspects of the laboratory.  If you are not sure that you will be able to meet these essential functions, please consult with the Program Director for further information and to discuss your individual situation.

MCC's Essential Functions are adapted from: Fritsma, G.A., B.J. Fiorella, and M. Murphy. Essential Requirements for Clinical Laboratory Science. Clin. Lab. Sci. 9(1):40-3. 1996.

MEDICAL CERTIFICATION

Applicants to the CLT Program

Each applicant must have a preadmission health screening that includes:

  1. A health assessment and physical examination
  2. Proof of immunity to

    1. Rubella
    2. Rubeola
    3. Mumps
    4. Varicella Zoster
    5. Hepatitis B or signed waiver declining immunization for hepatitis B

  3. Documentation of a tetanus (TD or TDaP) vaccine within the past 10 years
  4. Documentation of meningitis vaccine or waiver of  vaccine
  5. Proof of results of current (within the past 12 months) negative test for tuberculosis or acceptable evidence of freedom from communicability
  6. Review of health status to determine that the applicant is able to perform the essential functions for the CLT Program

Participants in the CLT Program

To continue participation in the CLT Program, each student must:

  1. Maintain the ability to perform the Essential Functions for the CLT Program
  2. Complete an annual reassessment of health status
  3. Annually provide MCC Health Services proof of a negative test for tuberculosis, or acceptable evidence of freedom from communicability
  4. On or before November 30th before clinical rotations, provide the CLT Program Director proof of influenza immunization (or provide a waiver signed by a physician stating the health reason for not receiving the influenza vaccine)