CC’s medical lab tech program receives reaccreditation

The Casper College Medical Laboratory Technician degree program has been awarded 10 more years of continuous accreditation from the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences. This is the third time the MLT program has been through and received accreditation from the agency.

Accreditation is an important aspect of any MLT program because those pursuing a career as an MLT must graduate from an accredited program to be board-eligible to sit for the national certification exam. Only those who pass the exam are allowed to practice.

“We meet all 22 standards and substandards with zero deficiencies, said Bernardino (Dino) Madsen, MLT program director at Casper College. “Students who graduate from our program perform human clinical diagnostic testing in hospital laboratories, reference laboratories, transfusion centers, and state laboratories, to name a few,” Madsen noted.

According to the NAACLS self-study required for accreditation, since 2005, the MLT program has graduated 125 students. Of those 125, 90% enrolled in the University of Wyoming at Casper’s Medical Laboratory Science program following graduation from the Casper College MLT program, and 89% are currently working in Wyoming. The Casper College program can train 36 students per academic year and provides students with additional training and learning opportunities through its 15 clinical affiliates.

Employment of clinical laboratory technologists and technicians is projected to grow 11% from 2018 to 2028, much faster than the average for all occupations, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. “Current studies state that least 14,000 MLT and MLS graduates are needed to keep up with demand in the U.S. each year, but there are only 9,000 graduates,” Madsen said.