ASCP MLA case studies
ASCP MLA · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The ASCP Board of Certification (BOC) Medical Laboratory Assistant (MLA) credential is an entry-level certification for people who perform the preanalytical and support tasks that keep a clinical laboratory running: collecting and processing specimens, preparing samples for testing, performing limited or waived testing under supervision, and handling the clerical and quality tasks that surround them. It is typically pursued by phlebotomy and laboratory assistant students, laboratory aides already working in a hospital or reference laboratory, and personnel in physician office laboratories or donor collection settings who want a recognized credential to support hiring and career movement. The ASCP MLA case studies are 5 cases and about 3,037 words.
1Preoperative draw: an INR of 3.4 in a patient on no anticoagulant
A 42-year-old man attends an outpatient draw station for a preoperative workup: CBC, PT/INR, comprehensive metabolic panel, and two sets of blood cultures. His veins are small.
594 words, about 3 min2Winter transport, agglutinated red cells, and a platelet count of 52
A 71-year-old woman presents to the emergency department in January with three days of fatigue. Blood is collected at 06:40 into a 4 mL K2 EDTA tube, carried through an unheated outdoor corridor at about −5 °C for 20 minutes, and analysed at 08:15.
584 words, about 3 min3Drowsy inpatient with a sodium of 121 drawn above a running infusion
An inpatient on the surgical ward has 0.45% sodium chloride with 5% dextrose running at 75 mL/h through a right forearm cannula. At 06:00 the overnight nurse requests "stat electrolytes" because the patient has become drowsy.
638 words, about 3 min4Pregnant patient, seven-hour-old urine, mixed growth
A midstream clean-catch urine is collected at 08:10 from a 16-week pregnant woman attending the antenatal clinic. She has no urinary symptoms.
602 words, about 3 min5Creatinine QC trending after a new reagent lot
On Monday morning a chemistry analyser is running two levels of quality control material for creatinine. Level 1 (mean 1.00 mg/dL, SD 0.05) gives 1.04 and 1.02 mg/dL.
619 words, about 3 min