Clinical laboratory program tough but promising
Phillip Ranallo
Issue date: 4/30/07 Section: News
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The CLS program trains medical technologists who play an intricate part of the healthcare system. When a person has blood drawn, a medical technologist runs the tests.
CLS majors undertake a rigorous course schedule of classes and labs such as chemistry, hematology, microbiology and immunology. These classes prepare students to perform and interpret complex laboratory tests.
Only 30 students are accepted into the CLS program each year.
Associate professor William Korzun said VCU's CLS program is difficult and rigorous.
"Students have to be good in biology, chemistry and math," Korzun said. "They can't just learn something for an exam and then forget about it. Every step in the program builds upon knowledge and skills that were previously covered."
Diamone Gathers, 22, a CLS senior, said the hardest part is the first-year course material, because most students aren't familiar with the large amount of information.
"Eighteen credits of hardcore science, similar to the curriculum of a first-year medical student, is pretty difficult," Gathers said."It takes a lot of tenacity to make it through the first year."
CLS majors also have other challenges that most non-medical students don't encounter.
CLS majors must take proper steps to protect themselves from infectious diseases. The test samples students use are real hospital samples, which may contain diseases such as AIDS, hepatitis and tuberculosis.
Students are required to receive hepatitis, rubella, chickenpox and mumps vaccinations. To monitor the spread of tuberculosis, students must be tested every six months.
CLS senior Melissa Jamerson, 24, said it's natural to be concerned about the risks of disease transmission from needle sticks and body fluid exposures. However, the fear doesn't consume her.
"While we do worry about getting an infectious disease, if we do get stuck, it is actually very unlikely that one would contract an infectious disease," Jamerson said. "The transmission rate is low for hepatitis and even lower for AIDS."
Teresa Nadder, CLS chairwoman and associate professor, said the national shortage of clinical laboratory graduates guarantees the students a job after graduation.
