Mission & Philosophy

Department of Medical Laboratory Science (M.L.S.) Mission

The mission of the Department of Medical Laboratory Science is to provide high-quality education that prepares students to positively impact healthcare through medical laboratory practice in the state and affiliated regions.

M.L.S. Department Philosophy

The philosophy of the Department of Medical Laboratory Science is to provide high quality laboratory science education to healthcare entities in North Dakota, the region, and nationally. The department strives to provide a cutting-edge learning environment that offers continuing education, certificate, undergraduate, and graduate programs which allow individuals to develop into leaders in the laboratory science field.

Program Overview

The University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences (SMHS), Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Medical Laboratory Science (M.L.S.) and Histotechnician programs are committed to providing an educational program consistent with the standards outlined by the National Accrediting Agency for CLS (NAACLS) which is located at 5600 N River Rd, Suite 720, Rosemont, IL 60018.

M.L.S. Department Goals:

1. To provide the student with the entry-level competencies needed to work in their field of study.
2. To provide the student with adequate knowledge and background experience to quality for national certification examinations appropriate in the level of education.
3. To provide instruction and evaluation based on identified competencies and content of the clinical discipline that is responsive to individual student needs.
4. To encourage graduates to remain in the region by providing sufficient clinical experiences in state.
5. To provide sufficient medical laboratory science and histotechnician professional to meet the needs of state, city, and rural communities.
6. To increase the depth of learning in various major fields of laboratory sciences.
7. To prepare graduates to work in both large and small clinical laboratories.

Serving the Profession

The HT program runs as a cooperative arrangement between UND and regional or national histology laboratories, allowing a laboratory to employ local qualified personnel to fill vacant positions. With distance education, employees/students are able to achieve certification and professional status in less than one year. Interested students may contact area histology laboratories to identify potential career opportunities in histology. UND may also facilitate mutually beneficial agreements between students and histology labs. Laboratories interested in training local candidates for their open HT positions, should contact UND.

Responsibilities

1. UND HT Program: delivery and testing of didactic online lecture materials, creation of performance evaluation materials including exams, and evaluating final microscopic slide assessment; facilitate HT Program courses and maintain quality in all education materials.
2. Clinical site: affiliation agreement between the potential clinical site and UND must be in place before the student is accepted into the program. Clinical faculty: mentoring and supervision of students on the bench, evaluating psychomotor and affective performance, and oversight of didactic examinations.
3. Student: mastering course objectives in cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains.