[BEAVER, W.Va.] Students in New River Community and Technical College’s medical laboratory technician program have been learning about regional career opportunities and preparing for their clinicals with help from Appalachian Regional Hospital, Bluefield Regional Medical Center and Lewis Gale Allegheny Medical Center in northern Virginia.
“Laboratory professionals play a vital role in health care,” MLT Program Director Diane Tyson explained. “We are seeing a critical shortage of trained and certified laboratory professionals nationwide, and the shortage in southern West Virginia is becoming a health care crisis. Programs like ours are working to meet the demand by partnering with medical facilities to help graduates obtain positions. Because of the need in this field, our graduates are eligible for competitive starting salaries, and even paid moving expenses and sign-on bonuses at some hospitals.”
Laboratory professionals perform phlebotomy and analyze tissues, blood and body fluids to help physicians diagnose and treat diseases or monitor a patient’s health. New River CTC’s program prepares graduates for technician-level positions in clinical laboratory environments in hospitals, physician’s offices, commercial laboratories, biotechnology, research laboratories, pharmaceutical companies, and veterinary laboratories.
New River CTC launched the MLT program in 2016, and to date, all graduates taking the exam within a year of graduation have a 100% pass rate on the certification exam and a 100% employment rate.
Applications are now being accepted for fall. The MLT program is a selective admission program, meaning that students must apply to and be accepted into the program before enrolling in program coursework. Prerequisite courses include chemistry, anatomy and physiology, and college algebra.
For more information about the MLT program, contact Tyson at 304-929-5038 or dtyson@newriver.edu. For information on admissions and the programs offered at New River CTC, visit www.newriver.edu, email admissions@newriver.edu or call 866-349-3739.
New River Community and Technical College serves nine counties in southeastern West Virginia from the Greenbrier Valley Campus (Lewisburg), Mercer County Campus (Princeton), Nicholas County Campus (Summersville) and Raleigh County Campus (Beaver).
