Here comes the vampire.

That’s what some patients would say to me as I came into their room with my tray of needles, syringes and test tubes.

This week is National Medical Laboratory Professionals week, during which each state has a convention sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Pathologists where lab workers can earn continuing education credits and socialize with others in the lab field.

The medical laboratory is a place where blood, bodily fluids and other biological specimens are tested, analyzed or evaluated. The observations may be macroscopic or microscopic. The tests may be performed manually or using specialized instruments. Precise measurements are made and the results are calculated and interpreted. Because of this, lab workers must have the skills necessary to perform a variety of tasks. The field of medical technology is more commonly being called clinical lab science. Workers must be familiar with all safety practices before any lab tests can be conducted.

Facilities that perform chemical and microscopic tests on blood, other body fluids and tissues are called medical or clinical laboratories. A medical laboratory can be large, offering sophisticated services and employing many skilled workers, or it can be a small facility, having only one employee. Medical labs can be placed into two groups: hospital labs and non-hospital labs. Although most people think of hospitals when they think of medical labs, they may also be in clinics, group practices, physicians’ offices, veterinary offices, government agencies and military installations. Some medical labs, like regional reference labs, are independent of medical facilities.

The type of medical lab found in a hospital depends on the hospital’s size. A lab in a small hospital of less than 100 beds may perform only very routine tests. Complicated or infrequently requested tests may be sent to a reference lab. A lab in a medium size hospital of 100-300 beds perform routine tests and many of the more complicated tests. Only the most recently developed tests or those with high levels of complexity need to be sent to a reference lab. Most labs in larger hospitals with more than 300 beds handle large volumes of work and perform complex tests.

Non-hospital medical labs may be publicly operated (government) or privately operated. In 1992, more than 50 percent of all lab services were obtained from non-hospital labs. Many small medical labs are located in the offices of physicians who have specialty practices, such as hematology (the study of blood cells) or urology. Physicians with general or family practices may also have office labs where routine procedures are performed. Larger medical labs may be associated with clinics or group practices, such as internal medicine groups. In recent years, the use of walk-in medical facilities has become widespread. Routine lab procedures such as blood counts, throat cultures and urine tests are performed in these facilities.

Reference labs are usually privately owned, regional labs that do high volume testing and offer a wide variety of tests. Large hospitals use reference labs primarily to perform complicated or infrequently ordered tests. Small hospitals or physicians’ offices may use them for a wide range of tests. Reference labs provide courier service to transport specimens from collection site to testing laboratory.

Each U.S. state and territory has a medical lab operated, usually, by the state’s department of public health.

If this all seems complicated, it is. All medical lab technicians undergo rigorous training and school curriculum to learn the theory behind all tests so that they will be prepared to work in any laboratory and provide accurate information that the physician needs to diagnose and treat illness in order to keep you well.

Celeste Jones, Medical Laboratory Technologist (ASCP).