ASCP MLS case studies
ASCP MLS · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The MLS(ASCP) credential - the Medical Laboratory Scientist certification - is administered through the ASCP Board of Certification and is the entry-level professional credential most U.S. clinical laboratories look for when hiring generalist medical laboratory scientists. It is aimed at graduates of accredited medical laboratory science programs and at laboratory professionals who want to demonstrate, in a single standardized examination, that they can perform pre-analytical, analytical and post-analytical testing across the whole clinical laboratory rather than in one specialty. The content is deliberately broad. The ASCP MLS case studies are 5 cases and about 3,532 words.
1Panreactive Antibody Screen in a Recently Transfused Patient with Anemia
A 54-year-old woman is admitted with melena and fatigue. Hemoglobin is 6.8 g/dL, platelets 210 x 10^9/L, WBC 7.4 x 10^9/L.
654 words, about 3 min2Severe Hyponatremia in a Lipemic Serum Sample
A 62-year-old man with type 2 diabetes and poorly controlled hypertriglyceridemia has routine chemistry drawn in the morning. The serum is visibly lactescent (lipemia 4+, triglycerides 2,650 mg/dL).
669 words, about 3 min3Impossible MCHC in a Patient with Acrocyanosis
A 71-year-old woman presents in winter with fatigue, painful blue fingertips, and mottled earlobes. A CBC is drawn into EDTA and transported at room temperature; it is run 3 hours later.
658 words, about 3 min4One Positive Blood Culture Bottle in a Patient with Pneumonia
A 68-year-old man is admitted with community-acquired pneumonia (temperature 38.9 °C, focal right lower lobe infiltrate, WBC 16.5 x 10^9/L). Two sets of blood cultures are drawn from separate venipunctures before antibiotics.
729 words, about 4 min5Shift in Chemistry Quality Control After a Reagent Lot Change
A 220-bed community hospital laboratory runs a chemistry analyzer with two levels of quality control material every 8 hours. On Monday a new lot of creatinine reagent is put into service after the supervisor's lot-to-lot comparison passes.
822 words, about 4 min