Medical Technology, Bachelor of Science
Program Coordinator:
Joshua Garrett (Biology)
Major
Medical Technology
About
Although medical laboratories are physically located in hospitals, clinics, industry and universities, the real location is on the frontier of scientific medicine. Here, the best qualified men and women are building careers in laboratory medicine by applying their expert knowledge and practical skills. Medical technologists, also known as clinical laboratory technologists, with their broad background of college and clinical laboratory training, fulfill a prominent role in these laboratories. About 2/3 of the professional medical technologists in the United States are employed in hospital medical laboratories. Others work in physicians' laboratories, outpatient clinics, the armed forces, public health agencies, research programs at university hospitals and pharmaceutical companies, criminology laboratories, and in sales promotion of diagnostic reagents and equipment. Still others continue their education to obtain the Master of Science or Doctorate in Clinical Laboratory Science.
Completion of the Medical Technology major as part of a liberal arts and sciences education offers students the breadth of knowledge and experience to handle the responsibilities and decisions they will face in their careers and the ability to adapt to changes within their profession. In addition, they will be prepared to lead full and satisfying lives.
Students interested in preparing for a career in medical technology pursue a three-plus-one program leading to a Bachelor of Science degree in medical technology. The program consists of three years of academic work at Hartwick followed by a 12-month clinical internship in the Rochester General Hospital Clinical Laboratory Technology Program in Rochester, NY. Following completion of the internship, students will have earned the necessary 120 credits for the B. S. degree in Medical Technology from Hartwick, and a certificate indicating completion of the Clinical Laboratory Technology Program. They are then eligible to take the National Registry Examination, the passage of which earns the professional certification, MT (ASCP). Hartwick’s three- plus-one program fulfills the requirements of the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences.
Medical technologists are licensed professionals within New York State. Licensing reflects recognition of the extensive clinical knowledge, subjective judgment, and critical decision-making skills that are required to practice this challenging profession.
Academic work during the first three years at Hartwick involves an interdepartmental concentration of courses in biology, chemistry, biochemistry and mathematics (see the course list at the end of this section). Students should maintain at least a 3.0 grade point average, overall and in the major, to be considered for the clinical internship. If the grades are not high enough for admittance to the internship, or if the student changes his or her mind about becoming a medical technologist, he or she can complete the requirements for a major in Biology and graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Biology.
The specific requirements of Hartwick’s Medical Technology major and the general College requirements for the baccalaureate degree permit sufficient flexibility for students to take advantage of numerous off-campus study programs applicable to the profession. This is in keeping with the multi-faceted responsibilities of professional medical technologists in such areas as computer programming, conducting lab tests, trouble-shooting equipment problems, business and personnel management, teaching, and report writing.