WSU's Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences offers a Clinical Laboratory Assistant (CLA) certificate of completion. As a clinical laboratory assistant, you will be able to perform lab tests that help to detect, diagnose and study diseases. You will learn core laboratory skills primarily required for testing in physician office labs and other decentralized testing sites.
There are two courses offered on campus that must be successfully completed to earn your CLA. Both of these courses are open enrollment and are offered all three semesters. MLS 1113 (4 credit hours) and MLS 1123 (5 credit hours) can be completed in the same semester if desired.
To receive your certificate of completion, you will need to take MLS 1113 Introduction to Laboratory Practices which is a four-credit class offered fall, spring, and summer semesters and MLS 1123 Principles of Clinical Hematology and Hemostasis which is a five-credit class offered fall, spring, and summer. Upon successful completion of the MLS 1113 and the MLS 1123 courses (with a grade of C+ or better) you will receive a certificate as a Clinical Laboratory Assistant from Weber State University, which is recognized by many in the local health care industry. This is the equivalent of a CLA level IV, recognized by Intermountain Health Care.
The MLS 1113 and MLS 1123 courses are designed to provide additional training to individuals employed in the health care industry who may be interested in learning an additional set of medical skills to enhance their employability. The courses are designed to encourage medical assistants, phlebotomists, certified nursing practitioners and other health care workers to achieve competencies which better serve patient care in settings requiring basic laboratory testing as a part of the facility's health care services.
The MLS 1113 and the MLS 1123 courses are designed to teach core clinical laboratory skills to individuals from various health care professions. The curriculum will focus on basic laboratory methods in quality control, quality assurance, information recording and transfer, normal and abnormal laboratory values, and problem recognition. You will receive basic technical instruction in phlebotomy, specimen collection and processing, and laboratory instrumentation in the areas of hematology, serology, urinalysis, immunology, and clinical chemistry.
If you wish to further your education and apply to the WSU Medical Laboratory Sciences program please visit the MLS website at www.weber.edu/mls. Contact the MLS department secretary at 801-626-6118 to schedule an appointment.