vcc.ca
MLAB 1260: Medical Lab Assistant Practicum
Effective date
January 2027
Department
Medical Lab Assistant
School
Health Sciences
Description
In this final course, students will perform the duties of a Medical Laboratory Assistant in the clinical setting. Students will perform specimen collection and processing under the supervision of practicum site personnel. Students may observe and/or perform ECGs in the clinical setting. During the practicum, effective communication skills, professional conduct and adherence to standard operating procedures are required.
Credits
4.0
Year of study
1st Year Post-secondary
Prerequisites
MLAB 1220, MLAB 1230, MLAB 1240, MLAB 1250.
Corequisites
None
Course Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
- Apply theoretical knowledge to the practice of safe, ethical, culturally sensitive, and professional care as a Medical Laboratory Assistant (MLA).
- Communicate effectively utilizing interpersonal and interprofessional skills that contribute to optimum patient care and safety.
- Apply critical thinking and problem-solving strategies to ensure best practices within scope of practice.
- Safely collect, handle, and process specimens according to medical laboratory standard operating procedures.
- Operate laboratory equipment, with safety and accuracy, in the performance of medical laboratory procedures.
- Apply foundational knowledge of cardiac anatomy and physiology to perform and analyze ECG and Holter monitoring (if service provided by the medical laboratory at the practicum site).
- Demonstrate competence in information management and efficient, accurate data entry.
- Apply knowledge of Quality Assurance and Quality Management.
- Practice in accordance with the Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science (CSMLS) Code of Professional Conduct.
- Meet the B.C. Society for Laboratory Science (BCSLS) and Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science (CSLMS) competency profiles.
Prior Learning Assessment & Recognition (PLAR)
None
Hours
Practicum, Self-Paced, Individual Learning: 120
Total Hours: 120
Total Hours: 120
Instructional Strategies
Off-campus workplace experience in either a hospital medical laboratory or a private medical laboratory. The off-campus experience is supplemented with exercises and reflections on VCC's learning management system.
Grading System
Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory
Passing grade
S
Evaluation Plan
|
Type |
Percentage |
Assessment activity |
|
Practicum |
100 |
|
Course topics
- Dependent on the practicum site.
Notes:
- Course contents and descriptions, offerings and schedules are subject to change without notice.
- Students are required to follow all College policies including ones that govern their educational experience at VCC. Policies are available on the VCC website at:
https://www.vcc.ca/about/governance--policies/policies/. - To find out if there are existing transfer agreements for this course, visit the BC Transfer Guide at https://www.bctransferguide.ca.