MLAB 1101 Clinical Laboratory Tour, Course Project (rev 12/09/14)
Purpose – To provide pre-MLT students opportunity to visit a clinical laboratory setting,
interact with practicing laboratory professionals, view modern laboratory instrumentation
and practices, and prepare a formal report of their experience.
Course value – 100 possible points, resulting in 20 % of the course grade.
Tour arrangements – Austin area students are strongly encouraged to participate in a
tour arranged by the course instructor, where they will be joined by a member of the
laboratory staff who will conduct the tour and be available for questions.
Students not able to attend the pre-arranged tour must inform the course instructor by
phone or email as soon as possible for assistance in arranging a tour on their own.
Tour guidelines
1. Know where you are going and when you are expected! BE ON TIME! Once you have
identified and committed to a tour, research its location, driving directions, parking
arrangements, the location of the laboratory and the name of the tour guide.
2. As a representative of Austin Community College and the MLT program, students
are expected to abide by a code of conduct and dress. The basic DO’s and DON’Ts
are as follows:
DO’s
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Listen carefully to instructions, guidelines and other
information provided by your tour guide.
Write down the names of the instruments you
observe in the laboratory departments and make
notes of the information presented by your tour
guide.
Ask timely well-constructed questions.
At the end of the tour, thank this busy professional
for their time.
If you currently work in a clinical laboratory setting,
you can wear your work attire as long as it is clean
and neat… otherwise:
Dress conservatively ‘business casual’.
Wear comfortable closed-toed shoes with nonmarking soles. (Clean sneakers are fine; socks or
other hosiery are a must!)
Use good hygiene - ie., clean hair, nails, NO body or
mouth odor.
Remove visible body piercings / jewelry (small
tasteful earrings are acceptable.)
Be prepared! Review the required elements of your
report before you go on the tour. Know ahead of
time what you need to view, ask or learn.
MLAB 1101 – Introduction to Clinical Laboratory Science
DON’Ts
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***AT NO time are you to photograph,
record video, audio, or copy anything that
could compromise a patients’ privacy or a
clinical site’s integrity. College and
Health Sciences Social Media Policy
prohibit the actions of any student or
faculty that would compromise a patient’s
privacy or a clinical site’s integrity.
***NO patient or clinical site
information is to be posted on any social
media site.
Don’t interrupt the tour guide during an
explanation. If your question does not
get addressed during the explanation, ask
it after he/she has finished.
Don’t wear clothes that are overly
revealing; show any midriff, or fit poorly
(too tight, sloppy loose, etc.)
Don’t wear jeans – of any color.
Don’t wear T-shirts with pictures, logos
or writing on them.
Don’t wear sandals, flip-flops, or opentoed shoes of any type.
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MLAB 1101 Clinical Laboratory Tour, Course Project (rev 12/09/14)
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Bring the example worksheet (included within this
document), additional paper with hard backing (like a
spiral notebook) and a pen.
3. Observations. As you are touring, observe and make notes regarding:
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The lay-out of the laboratory. Are the departments in one large room, or are
they separated by walls? Is there a “core” or “stat” lab? Are the specimens
processed in a central location, or are they processed in the individual
departments? Find out if this lab is classified as ‘waived’, ‘moderatelycomplex’ or ‘highly complex’ under CLIA regulations. Make note of the
availability of safety equipment and PPE.
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Instrumentation. Name and describe the purpose and/or tests performed
by the major pieces of lab equipment in each department. IMPORTANT: You
will see and hear about lots of different pieces of equipment (instruments).
You probably will not be able to absorb all of the information about the
types of tests performed for each instrument during the tour, so it would be
a GREAT idea to at least write down the names of the different instruments
and do some online research later, to include in your final report. You will be
graded heavily on the types of instruments you see, so be prepared to write
quickly and do research later.
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Staffing. How many personnel does lab employ? What is the mix of medical
technologists (or medical laboratory scientists) to medical laboratory
technicians? Does the laboratory employ phlebotomists or does the
professional staff draw all the blood? Does this particular laboratory have
openings for new MLTs at this time? If no, how often do openings come up?
Who is head of this laboratory? Is there a pathologist on-site at all times?
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Patient services. Does this lab exclusively serve in-patients, out-patients, or
a mixture of both? Is there a particular type of testing this laboratory
does or is it a general mix of lab testing? Is this a reference laboratory?
If so, from where are the specimens delivered and by whom?
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Reporting of patient test results. Are results entered into a computer
database or all results hand-written? If computer based, how are the
results transmitted to the physician? Does the technician or technologist
enter all the results, or do some of the results transmit directly into the
computer from the instrumentation?
4. Questions. Additional questions to consider. Note: It is NOT necessary to ask all
of these questions; they are examples.
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How did you get into the clinical laboratory field?
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What do you view as the role of the laboratory in patient care?
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How much interaction do you have with the patient? Is that the way it
is with most technologists in this lab?
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What was your first job in the clinical laboratory?
MLAB 1101 – Introduction to Clinical Laboratory Science
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MLAB 1101 Clinical Laboratory Tour, Course Project (rev 12/09/14)
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What is the most difficult part of your job here?
What are the chances for advancement in the clinical lab?
Are you afraid of contracting a disease while working with blood
samples?
Where did you go to school to be qualified to work in this field?
5. Tour Project Worksheet. An example is provided at the end of this document.
Writing the Final Report
General instructions: Use the information gathered during the laboratory tour - including
your interview with a laboratory professional, and your Internet research of the
functions and test performed by the major laboratory equipment you observed to
write a minimum four page report. An example outline of how the report should be
constructed and the grading rubric are provided.
Coversheet: A report coversheet is required and does not count as part of the report’s
minimum four pages. The coversheet must include the vital information listed on the
grading rubric.
Report body: The report body must be word processed / typed with 1.5-2 line spacing.
All major headings (outlined below) must be included. Not ALL questions need to be
addressed, but the more information provided the better. Logical organization of the
information allows for easier instructor grading and will result in a better score.
Spelling (including no-typos) and grammar are mandatory.
Report Headings:
1. Laboratory name and address and name of the main person that led your tour.
2. Laboratory Overview
3. Staffing
4. Patients / patient services
5. Instrumentation – your findings on the departments’ major instruments.
6. Reporting of Patient Test Results
7. Summary of your observations and impressions of this clinical laboratory.
8. Resources – a listing of research sites and resources used, including web sites.
MLAB 1101 – Introduction to Clinical Laboratory Science
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MLAB 1101 Clinical Laboratory Tour, Course Project (rev 12/09/14)
Clinical Laboratory Tour Project Worksheet
Name of Laboratory & Address:
Laboratory Staff
Name
Laboratory Departments
Department
Credentials (MLT,
MT, MLS, etc.)
Title (Administrator, Department Head,
Technologist/Technician, etc.)
Instruments Noted (if any)
Examples of Tests Performed
Space to write observations/impressions. Use backside if needed.
MLAB 1101 – Introduction to Clinical Laboratory Science
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MLAB 1101 Clinical Laboratory Tour, Course Project (rev 12/09/14)
Laboratory Tour Report Grading Rubric
Student Name __________________
Date Received _________________
Grading Area
Points
Possible
Cover sheet includes:
 Course name and number
 Name and location of laboratory
 Laboratory contact person’s name,
credentials and title
 Name & credentials of course instructor
 Date submitted
Appropriate content of all eight (8) major
headings is included within the report.
5
Instructor Comments
30
Each major heading is thoroughly covered
for this laboratory, especially for
laboratory equipment (instrumentation)
Additional research for the report is
included, such as Internet resources, visits
to other laboratories, interview with
laboratory professional, etc.
Length of the summary is adequate but is
not too lengthy
40
Grammar and spelling are 100% correct
10
Report is neatly word-processed &
submitted on time.
5
Total
Points
Awarded
5
5
100
MLAB 1101 – Introduction to Clinical Laboratory Science
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