Medical Technology

Medical technology is a challenging and rewarding field, one that requires its practitioners to be motivated, highly skilled and dedicated. A medical technologist, also known as a clinical laboratory scientist, performs a variety of tasks, from simple pre-marital blood tests to complex tests for illnesses such as AIDS, diabetes and cancer. The medical technologist is counted on to confirm the accuracy of test results and to report laboratory findings to pathologists and other doctors. Today's medical technologists not only examine specimens, but are also called upon to operate complex and expensive electronic equipment, computers and precision instruments. Medical technologists work in the following areas in a laboratory: Blood Bank, Chemistry, Hematology, Immunology and Microbiology.

Planning for College

The University of Scranton encourages a strong college preparatory program in high school with a minimum of four years of English, three years of mathematics, social science and science, and at least two years of a foreign language with additional units taken in acceptable academic areas.

Medical Technology at The University of Scranton

Medical technology at The University of Scranton focuses on a solid curriculum with an emphasis on biology and chemistry during the first three years of study. The fourth year is spent in a clinical educational setting at a hospital with a School of Medical Technology that is approved by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS). The University is currently affiliated with the following hospital programs:

• Abington Memorial Hospital (Abington, PA)
• Geisinger Medical Center (Danville, PA)
• Susquehanna Health System/Devine Providence Hospital (Williamsport, PA)
• Wyoming Valley Health Care System (Wilkes-Barre, PA)

After completing the program, students take a national certification examination.

Many students are under the misconception that the curriculum in medical technology is restrictive. The University of Scranton has designed its curriculum in an open-ended way so that students can easily pursue another major, such as biology, chemistry and/or biochemistry, should their academic goals change.

Outcomes

Graduates of the medical technology program at The University of Scranton can be found working in a variety of hospitals, laboratories, physicians' offices, private laboratories and medical clinics throughout the middle Atlantic states. Other students have elected to pursue post-graduate study in biology, clinical chemistry and medicine.

According to the 1998-99 Occupational Outlook Handbook, employment opportunities in the field of medical technology are "expected to grow about as fast as the average for all occupations through the year 2006 as the volume of laboratory tests increases with population growth and the development of new types of tests."

Finding Out More

For more information about medical technology at The University of Scranton, please contact Dr. Trudy Dickneider, Program Director, at (570) 941-7797. Her e-mail address is dickneidert1@scranton.edu.