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. You can earn your CLA certificate either on campus or online.
If you are coming to campus, there are two courses that must be successfully completed to earn your CLA. Both of these courses are open enrollment and are offered most semesters. MLS 1113 (4 credit hours) and MLS 1123 (5 credit hours) can be completed in the same semester if desired.
If you are online, before you apply, you must be employed by a clinical laboratory and have the support of your laboratory manager in order to complete the competency checklist for the course with a qualified mentor. As an online student, you will work with a laboratory professional at your facility who will serve as a mentor in order to perform the hands on competencies necessary to complete the course.
To receive your certificate of completion, you will need to take one online course, MLS 1000 Core Clinical Laboratory Skills, which is a three-credit class offered fall, spring and summer semesters. After successful completion of the MLS 1000 course (a grade of C+ or better), you will be mailed a certificate as a Clinical Laboratory Assistant from Weber State University, which is recognized by many in the health care industry. This is the equivalent of a CLA level IV, recognized by Intermountain Health Care.
The MLS 1000 course is 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 program is 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 1000 course is 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, and clinical chemistry.
If you wish to continue to further your education and apply to the WSU online Medical Laboratory Technician program, you can take MLS 1003 Introduction to Clinical Immunology, which is offered spring semester and is a 1 credit hour class. The MLS 1000 and 1003 courses can be taken in place of the MLS 1113 course.
If you are interested in taking MLS 1000, refer to the CLA Application Checklist.