Career and School Info for Medical Lab Technologists in California

Schools Concentrating On Medical Lab Technologists

• Focus: For schools with a focus on this career area, look at De Anza, ECC, Mt San Antonio College, and San Francisco State.

Fastest Response From Schools

• Request Info: For the fastest information for prospective students, look at the Spotlight schools on this page.

Student Body

• Part-Time: For schools emphasizing part-time studies, consider CSU Dominguez Hills, San Francisco State, and UC Davis.
• Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider CSU Dominguez Hills, San Francisco State, UC Davis, and Loma Linda University.
• Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider Cabrillo College, Hartnell, CSU Dominguez Hills, and ECC.

School Setting

• Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of De Anza, ECC, Orange Coast College, and Saddleback College.
• Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of UC Davis, Loma Linda University, San Francisco State, and CSU Dominguez Hills.

Excellence

• SAT: For students with high SAT scores, look at UC Davis.
• % Accepted: For selective institutions, look at CSU Dominguez Hills and UC Davis.
• Class Size: For small class sizes, look at Loma Linda University, Charles Drew University, and UC Davis.

Working as a Clinical Laboratory Technologist in California

To help healthcare professionals assess patients' health, clinical laboratory technologists (called clinical laboratory scientists in California) examine and test specimens of blood, urine, saliva, hair, tissue and other samples collected from patients. They use microscopes to evaluate samples, perform complex tests, and analyze and report the results. Read a detailed Clinical Laboratory Technologist job description and schools overview.

State Requirements for Clinical Laboratory Scientist in California

• Licensed Clinical Laboratories in California require that testing personnel be licensed by the State.
• To obtain a license, applicants must have a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution in clinical laboratory science (CLS) or closely-related field, and completed one year of clinical laboratory training.
• The State of California requires professional certification through the American Society of Clinical Pathology (ASCP), American Association of Bioanalysts (AAB), or National Registry of Certified Chemists (NRCC), depending on license category.
• Upon completion of an accredited bachelor's degree program, graduates are qualified for a CLS Trainee license and entry into a required one-year internship in a clinical laboratory.

Applicants for clinical laboratory scientist licensure in California must:

• Select one license category: Clinical Laboratory Scientist (CLS), Clinical Microbiologist Scientist, Clinical Chemist Scientist, Clinical Hematologist Scientist, Clinical Immunohematologist Scientist, Clinical Toxicologist Scientist, Clinical Genetics Molecular Biologist, Clinical Cytogeneticist Scientist or Clinical Histocompatibility Scientist
• Complete application and pay fees
• Have transcripts sent directly from an approved college or university program
• Have official training/work experience verification sent directly from the training coordinator or laboratory director
• Take a CA Quiz on State law and one of these certifying organization examinations:
  • ASCP certification for CLS (generalist)
  • ASCPi (international) certification for CLS (generalist)
  • AAB certification for CLS (generalist)
  • ASCP certification for chemist scientist
  • ASCP certification for microbiologist scientist
  • NRCC certification for toxicology scientist