Here are the routes for MT certification.

http://www.ascp.org/bor/certification/procedures/mt.asp

I know that the director of our school of MT (hospital based program)
told me recently that she would probably not consider anyone with
biology course work over ten years old. Our school has placed MT's in
the top 5 of schools in the US over the last few years so admission is
competitive. There is another university based program available locally
also (3+1 program that earns a Bachelor's degree upon completion).

Best bet is to call some admission directors of MT schools, explain your
situation and ask them to be blunt as to your chances of admission.

There are routes to becoming an MT after so many years as an MLT on the
ASCP website. Check out http://www.ascp.org/bor/ for more information.

Pay scales between MLT's and MT's are different. Our MLT scale was
recently raised somewhat. I believe that MLT's can jump to MT wages
after five years if one is doing the same work. In my department,
microbiology, MLT's can't do anaerobic cultures or any specialized
fungal/mycobacteriology/molecular stuff - just basic micro. To be
honest, we only have two MLT's in the department currently (one is a
contingent doing basic serology). Our management has always leaned
heavily in favor of MT's. I know this is different in other areas of the
country, however (I am in northern Ohio).

Judy Dilworth, M.T. (ASCP)
Microbiology

The hospital I work at hired two people with bachelor's degrees and then
paid for them to go to school, they took a couple of prerequiste class then
entered into the clinical phase of the MT program. They have a payback time
of 3 years.Since they had a bachelors degree they were able to do all but
micro, differentials and UAs. You might call a hospital and see if they
would be open to this. If they are in need of MTs they might do this.
Kristine Quilici
RonC wrote: I hold bachelors degrees in Computer Science and Cellular
Biology and have
an interest in going medical laboratory science.  I earned these degrees
quite a few years ago.  As I have very little lab experience, I was looking
into going into an inexpensive, NAACLS-accredited MLT program at a local
junior college which offers clinical training as well as placement into
hospitals in my area.  I was wondering given that I already hold a degree in
Biology, how hard of a jump would it be for me to become an MT?  Can I earn
this designation through on the job training or do I need to apply to a
specialized MT program through a hospital or university?  I once read
somewhere that to sit for the ASCP certification you need: 1) a bachelors
degree in biological or chemical sciences. 2) at least one year of
laboratory experience.  Can anyone provide some insight on this?

Thanks,

Ron