ASCP MLT study guide
ASCP MLT · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The MLT credential - Medical Laboratory Technician, listed by the ASCP Board of Certification as "MLT - Medical Laboratory Technician" - is a professional certification for laboratory personnel who perform routine clinical testing under the direction of a medical laboratory scientist, supervisor, or pathologist. ASCP BOC credentials are organized as a family of examinations spanning areas of interest such as blood banking, chemistry, hematology, microbiology, immunology, and laboratory management, and the MLT sits alongside the MLA and MLS credentials in the technician/scientist pathway. The ASCP MLT study guide has 7 sections and about 2,008 words.
01Blood Bank
ABO typing pairs the forward group (patient cells plus reagent anti-A and anti-B) with the reverse group (patient serum plus A1 and B cells); any discrepancy must be resolved before a unit is issued. Rh(D) typing with a weak-D check is required on donors, not routinely on patients.
306 words, about 2 min02Chemistry
Photometry follows Beer's law (A = ebc); absorbance is linear only inside the validated range, so results above the linear limit must be diluted and re-assayed. Endpoint reactions measure total absorbance, while kinetic (rate) methods measure change over time and are less affected by sample blank interference.
302 words, about 2 min03Hematology
Modern analyzers combine impedance and optical scatter, producing flags that require manual smear review. Nucleated RBCs inflate the WBC, so apply the correction: corrected WBC = WBC x 100 / (100 + nRBC per 100 WBC).
286 words, about 1 min04Microbiology
The Gram stain sequence is crystal violet, iodine, decolorizer, safranin; Gram-negative organisms lose the crystal violet-iodine complex. Specimen quality matters as much as the culture: reject sputum with few neutrophils, and interpret urine colony counts with the collection method (catheterized versus clean catch).
267 words, about 1 min05Immunology
Antibodies have two Fab regions for antigen binding and an Fc region for effector function. IgM is a pentamer and fixes complement efficiently; IgG crosses the placenta; IgA is a dimer with J chain.
292 words, about 1 min06Urinalysis and Body Fluids
Protein is detected by the protein error of indicators, so a highly buffered alkaline urine can falsely raise it and dilute urine can falsely lower it. Glucose uses glucose oxidase/peroxidase.
275 words, about 1 min07Laboratory Operations
Quality control is run at defined intervals with at least two levels and evaluated on Levey-Jennings charts using Westgard rules. Proficiency testing is mandated under CLIA '88 and must be handled as unknown specimens by routine staff; failure triggers corrective action.
280 words, about 1 min