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Essential Functions/Technical Standards
Essential functions are the nonacademic requirements of the program that a student must be able to master to participate successfully in the medical laboratory science (MLS) program and become employable. Applicants must possess the following list of technical abilities and skills. If you are not sure that you will be able to meet these essential functions, please consult with the program chair of medical laboratory science for further information and to discuss individual situations.
Any student with special needs who is requesting reasonable accommodations or assistive technology may do so through the office of disability services.
Ability to verbally communicate understandably in English and to understand English when spoken in person or via the telephone. Ability to compose English sentences; write reports using prescribed format and conforming to rules of punctuation, spelling, grammar, diction, and style. Ability to follow oral and written instruction to correctly perform laboratory procedures. Ability to listen accurately and have a fine discrimination in sounds.
Ability to distinguish red, yellow, and blue colors, distinguish clear from cloudy, and distinguish objects in the range of one micron through the microscope.
Ability to maneuver in the laboratory, around instruments, in confined spaces, and in patient rooms. Movement includes utilizing shoulders, arms, and neck; bending; twisting the body; standing; reaching and grasping overhead, in front of the body, and down. Ability to manipulate small objects with fingertips or control adaptive devices. Eye-hand and eye-hand-foot coordination.
Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide whole numbers and fractions, calculate time, use metric system for measurements, calculate percentages, solve for one variable, set up and solve ratio and proportion problems, interpret simple statistical data. Ability to comprehend manuals, journals, instructions in use and maintenance of equipment, safety rules and procedures, and drawings. Ability to synthesize, coordinate, and analyze data standards. Ability to deal with abstract and concrete variables, define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions. Ability to interpret instructions furnished in oral, written, diagrammatic, or schedule form.
Ability to perceive pertinent detail in objects or in pictorial or graphic material; to make visual comparisons and discriminations and see slight differences in shapes and shadings of figures, and widths and lengths of line; to comprehend forms in space and understand relationships of plane and solid objects; the ability to visualize objects of two or three dimensions.
Ability to comprehend and follow instruction; perform simple and repetitive tasks; maintain a work pace appropriate to a given workload; relate to other people; perform complex or varied tasks; make generalizations, evaluations or decisions without immediate supervision; accept and carry out responsibility for directions, control and planning. Perform all duties with honesty, integrity, and confidentiality.
Ability to work indoors, be around moving machinery; factors: fumes, gases, odors, irritating particles, possible exposure to toxic or caustic chemicals, blood and body fluids, noise, radiation or electrical energy, vibration; work in confined spaces, use a computer monitor; work alone, with others, or around others. Lift and move objects weighing up to 50 pounds.