Need Advice Please

[counselor2b]

Hello, this is my first post but I am an avid reader of this sight. I appologize if this isn't the appropriate forum. This is my situation, I graduated in 2008 with a BS in Psychology. I have been working for about two years in the field and realize that this isn't really the field I want to be in anymore. I have decided that I want a career the lab sciences. I am torn because in my area there are three Universities that offer a B.S in Medical Lab Science and one Technical College that offers an A.S to become a Medical Lab Technician which is accredited by ASCP. All of the schools offer clinicals at the two major hospitals in my area. The one hospital is associated with the MAYO clinic and the other is rated as being in the top 10% in the nation. I already know the differences between the two degrees and the salary diferences. Another issue is that all three B.S degrees would require 3.5 to 4 years of schooling because they follow a certain track and two of the three are private universities ($27,000-$33,000 year) and the public university will cost me about $25,000 and I already have a substantial debt built up. If I get my associates degree I will be done in two years and it will only cost $8,000 and best of all in my state, after two years of working and four addtional classes I can take the MT or MLS exam because I already have a bachelors degree. Any way, sorry for such a long winded post. Any advice for what you think is a wiser decision is greatly appreciated.

 

[pamac]

ive been a medical lab scientist for about 3 years. before that i had a BS in Biology. basically, i love my job. im currently applying to PA school, but it will really be bittersweet when i do reach that goal.

there are a couple of different ways you can go with what you want to do. personally, i would advise you against stretching yourself out financially to obtain status as a MLS, for the simple reason that you will not get a return on your investment... not if you spend 25,000 per year on school at a private university. you simply will not get the kind of money to pay that back as a tech, so get that out of your head immediately. i make a little less than a nurse, and not a california nurse... just a regular rn in a regular state, and i feel pretty lucky. there will be no job you will find that will pay back those loans. so that leaves you with the public school BS degree program, and the Lab tech program (BS employees are med techs, AS employees are lab techs). lab techs dont make nearly as much as med techs, but then again, they dont have the education either. and many areas dont even hire lab techs. however, it sounds like your location does, and it also sounds like your state offers favorable conditions for upgrading to be an MT.

the no brainer here is to do the AS at the technical college, then work and then take the MT exam (or ASCP). also, many hospitals offer tuition reimbursement, so you could possibly get on as a lab technician, and then go to school to become a medical technologist at the public school program... on the hospitals dime. then you could be a full on tech. but honestly, if you can do the plan where you just work and then challenge the exam, than thats a good way to go. there wont be any glory for you by getting the BS if it costs you a lot of money to do it.

so there you have it. if you have any more questions, ask.

 

[counselor2b]

Thank you so much for you advice. That was kind of the direction that I was leaning towards as well. I just wanted to make sure that there wasn't any information that I was missing.