Medical Lab Tech named TCTC’s Advisory Committee of the Year

The Medical Laboratory Technology (MLT) advisory committee’s devotion to student success and its attention to shaping the curriculum to meet workforce needs earned it Tri-County Technical College’s (TCTC) Advisory Committee of the Year award. The committee was recognized for its achievements this year at the College’s fall convocation. Committee members Amanda Locotosh, blood bank supervisor at Saint Francis Hospital, Dr. Vincent Gallicchio, professor of Biological Sciences, Microbiology and Public Health Sciences Director, Clemson University International Program in Global Health, and MLT Program Director Deborah Brock accepted the award. One of the committee’s objectives this year was to ensure and provide microbiology clinical training for MLT students. The MLT program faculty asked advisory committee members to reach out to microbiology technologists at their institutions and to determine skills that entry-level techs need and to be willing to be flexible in delivering microbiology training. The end result was restructuring the scheduling for all clinical rotations. “This is where the committee could have easily said, ‘we don’t want to change,’ or ‘we have always done it this way.’ The committee members, however, had an extremely open mind and worked to encourage others at their institutions to be willing to make changes,” said Brock. “The committee members do not just let things be; they are willing to look at new ways of doing things,” she added. In addition, the committee participated in bringing the MLT program to full re-accreditation status. Consequently, the MLT program’s accreditation has been extended by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS) for another 10 years following a successful self-study and site visit. The program had no deficiencies or recommendations. The College’s MLT graduates continue to maintain excellent pass rates on a national certification exam. All 13 of the 2017 graduates received a perfect pass rate on the National American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) exam. The program has a 10-year board of certification pass rate of 99.2%; only one student has not passed the exam in 10 years. The MLT advisory committee consists of longstanding professionals in the medical lab profession. Members have been supporting the MLT program by training students at their clinical sites and by hiring graduates for more than twenty years.