Our School

School of Medical Technology

Since 1955, our School of Medical Technology has provided the healthcare field with educated professionals and leaders. Our graduates are prepared for an exciting and rewarding future. They possess a solid foundation in the clinical laboratory science principles, expertise and proficiency in performing laboratory procedures and professional attitudes and skills needed to provide critical laboratory information for patient diagnosis and treatment, prevention of disease and the promotion and advancement of quality health care.

Located within St. John Health System Laboratories, our Clinical Program provides exposure to a patient population and unique cases not offered by other facilities. No other program offers this kind of environment, experience or in-depth training necessary to be well versed in virtually all areas of the clinical laboratory sciences. You’ll be actively involved with exciting challenges available only from a health system of this caliber.

Our small class size, one-to-one instruction and state-of-the-art facilities provide you with the opportunity to gain practical experience while receiving your education. It’s a unique environment that exposes you to all areas of today’s sophisticated laboratory while working directly with physicians, laboratorians and other allied health professionals. We believe it’s important for you to actually practice what you learn in the classroom. That’s why we mix the classroom instruction with laboratory experiences. Having the opportunity to immediately perform procedures in the laboratory not only reinforces your education, but also provides you with a sense of what the real working environment is like.

After completing our program, you’ll have the experience, scientific knowledge and technical skills necessary for the required national certifying examinations.

Mission:

The St. John Health System Laboratories School of Medical Technology exists to provide the student intern with a wide variety of practical clinical laboratory experiences in a values-driven, team-based environment.   Our faculty strives to mentor our interns to mature professionally while teaching them to demonstrate critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Philosophy & Goals

The School of Medical Technology’s purpose is to provide a thorough understanding of theoretical and clinical laboratory concepts and teach the fundamentals of good laboratory techniques and practice. The principle of laboratory procedures, the clinical applications, as well as the ethical standards of conduct, are taught as a complement to the practical experience. Active interaction with other health professionals expands the focus beyond the clinical laboratory. Our commitment remains to provide graduates with high-quality education that enables them to compete in the job market and to excel in their professional endeavors.

The laboratory portion of the Clinical Program is structured to provide the intern with a scheduled amount of time in each laboratory division in order to:

• Demonstrate expected laboratory skills and techniques
• Supervise the intern’s practice of the expected laboratory skills and techniques
• Provide the intern with the ‘real’ environment and conditions under which the laboratory skills and techniques may be practiced
• Provide the intern with the appropriate quantity and variety of specimens and procedures in order to prove their competencies
• Demonstrate the professional and ethical standards of conduct
• Demonstrate the laboratory's role in patient care through an understanding of critical pathway guidelines

The lecture portion of the Clinical Program is structured to provide the intern with information regarding the technical and clinical aspects of laboratory analysis, the laboratory sciences, behavioral sciences, and educational concepts.

Educational Commitments

In order to create the appropriate educational environment, the School of Medical  Technology provides:

• A structured curriculum that meets NAACLS accreditation requirements
• Physical facilities to meet the educational needs of the interns
• Faculty who have teaching skills, like to teach, and by example, will encourage the intern to develop motivation, scientific curiosity, professional behavior and an interest in establishing meaningful goals
• A sufficient quantity and variety of specimens, procedures, instrumentation, technology and methodology for intern practice and experience in order to achieve the competencies that embody excellence in laboratory practice
• Resources, e.g. library facilities, textbooks, journals, conferences, instructional technology related to intern learning activities
• Program goals; lecture, clinical rotation and professional objectives; minimum performance criteria
• A scheduled rotation assignment at clinical laboratory facilities and a schedule of lecture presentations

The School of Medical Technology also:

• Arranges with other laboratories for demonstration or practice in any area not represented within the School’s facilities
• Teaches professional ethics by demonstrating technologist responsibility to the patient, community, co-workers and themselves
• Evaluates and provides permanent records of intern performance
• Grades and/or evaluates the intern solely upon performance measured against academic standards (Intern shall NOT be graded or performance evaluated on the basis of race, color, creed, sex or national origin)
• Provides a mechanism for intern evaluation of facilities, faculty and curriculum
• Provides a certificate upon satisfactory completion of the Clinical Program

Accreditation & Academic Affiliations

Accreditation

The School of Medical Technology is accredited by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS). For program accreditation information contact:

NAACLS
8410 West Bryn Mawr Avenue, Suite 670
Chicago, IL 60631
(773) 714-8880
(773) 714-8886 (FAX)
www.naacls.org

email: info@naacls.org

Academic Affiliations

The School of Medical Technology presently maintains an academic affiliation agreements with Michigan Technological University. Students from these affiliates, once accepted into the Clinical Program, complete the year on a 3 + 1 status and receive their baccalaureate degree at the conclusion of the internship. However, the School does accept and consider applications from: 

• 3 + 1 status students from non-affiliate universities and colleges
• Graduates with a baccalaureate degree in medical technology/clinical laboratory science, chemistry or biological science

Faculty, Facilities and Resources

Faculty

The program officials perform the administrative functions regarding the management, education methodology, curriculum development and medical correlation of the Clinical Program. The program officials are:

• Program Director (interim): Dawn Taylor, MT(ASCP)POCTE
• Medical Director: Martha Higgins, MD

Click here  to contact us via email.

Our clinical laboratories employ between 700 and 800 associates. Our teaching faculty is composed of approximately 150 clinical laboratory scientists/medical technologists, technical and operations coordinators, managers, administrative directors, PhD’s, pathology residents and pathologists. These individuals provide their expertise during individualized instruction in the clinical laboratory rotations and didactic lectures throughout the Clinical Program.

Facilities and Resources: St. John Health System Laboratories

For more information click on St. John Health System Laboratories website: www.stjohn.org/lab