Medical Laboratory Assistant at Sait

Program Highlights

Learn how to safely collect, process, and prepare patient specimens and perform electrocardiograms and urinalysis to be ready for a career as a medical laboratory assistant in hospitals, high-volume laboratories, research labs, community collection sites, private insurance and home care companies.

Program description

A medical laboratory assistant is an integral member of the laboratory workforce, a field that is not only growing to meet the needs of an increasing and aging population, but also changing to support medical and technological advances. A medical laboratory assistant must be accurate, self-motivated, and dependable with a skilled eye for detail and strong client service skills.

The Medical Laboratory Assistant (MLA) fast-paced program trains students to collect, process, and prepare patient specimens, enter data, perform clerical and reception services, perform electrocardiograms and urinalyses and carry out basic laboratory procedures.

The first semester of the MLA program consists of classroom instruction and clinical integration which prepares students for the clinical practicum and professional job duties. The second semester involves theory on professional practice and a six-week clinical practicum arranged by SAIT which is spent in a laboratory and patient service center. The practicum provides students with opportunities to refine and apply competencies acquired at SAIT. 

The program has many clinical partners located within Alberta and across Canada. Clinical placements in Calgary are limited and students must be prepared to relocate outside of Calgary for the six-week practicum. Successful candidates will be informed of the allocation of their placement by the program. There is no guarantee that students will be placed at their desired practicum location. Special considerations of personal circumstances will not be given in regard to assigning practicum placements. Students will be responsible for fees associated with their practicum such as relocation and travel costs.

Certain courses may be available by distance education or continuing education. All courses must be completed within the time frame shown in the Program Outline. Please be advised that full-time student status requires the student to take 60 percent of a full course load per semester. Depending on the number of courses completed by distance education or continuing education, students may be considered a part-time student, which may impact their financial loan status.

Students in this program require access to a personal computer and the Internet to facilitate completion of required online course components.

Your career

Graduates find work as medical laboratory assistants in community collection sites, hospital rapid-response laboratories, high-volume medical laboratories and private insurance or home care companies. The employment requires flexibility (shift-work), good health and manual dexterity. Medical laboratory assistants work in laboratory environments where they may spend a considerable amount of time standing or sitting and performing tasks that may be repetitive. They must observe safety precautions to reduce the risk of exposure to infectious body fluids and dangerous chemicals. Graduates are often hired into casual positions initially which usually progress to full-time positions within one year of hire. In order to find employment, many graduates must relocate across Alberta and potentially even throughout Canada.

• Graduates of the Medical Laboratory Assistant program have a 82% employment rate.