About KNUST Department Of Medical Laboratory Technology

The Department of Medical Laboratory Technology runs a 4-year BSc Medical Laboratory Technology programme. The effective practice of medicine calls for an efficient and a coordinated effort of health care providers involved in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases and injury. Our Department therefore, trains students to become professional Medical Laboratory Technologists who will be involved in the accurate performance of laboratory tests to determine the absence, presence, extent and cause of disease or injury.

History

The Medical Laboratory Technology programme was introduced into the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology during the 2000/2001 academic year. Formerly, students were trained at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Ghana as Medical Laboratory Technicians with Diploma certificates. Their level of training created a gap in the manpower requirement. The changing trends in disease and technology increasingly put a stress on these under-trained personnel, who lacked the requisite knowledge to address the surging problems. They therefore needed to upgrade their knowledge and skills. It was against this background that the School of Medical Sciences, on its inception, was charged to offer a three-tier programme for the training of Clinicians, Medical Scientists and Medical Technologists.
With the establishment of the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences in the year 2005, the Department of Medical Laboratory Technology was subsequently founded under the Faculty to run the BSc. Medical Laboratory Technology programme.

Mission

We provide excellent training to students to enable them become Medical Laboratory Technologists who are able to:

Perform basic clinical laboratory investigations.
Communicate results and manage resources under minimum supervision.
Apply principles of safety in the work environment.
Apply basic principles in learning new techniques and,
Build up their capacity for any prospective national or international certification programmes.

Vision

We shall train students to become highly qualified
Medical Laboratory Technologists who will be able to:

Perform tests with a high level of reliability.
Ensure adherence to quality control systems.
Ensure Total Quality Management.
Develop skills that will ensure proper supervision
of subordinate staff and effective communication with colleagues, patients and
the general public and,
Apply knowledge and skills with minimum supervision

Structure of the BSc. Medical Laboratory Technology Programme

The first two years of the B.Sc. Medical Laboratory Technology programme are the foundation years. Students are taught matters which enables them to have a stronger subject content background in the basic sciences as stipulated in the syllabus. The third and fourth years are focused on core clinical subject areas like haematology, microbiology, histopathology and chemical pathology.

During the training, a lot of practical bench work, in addition to theoretical principles are undertaken, both at the Faculty of Allied Health Science and the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi.
To ensure that Medical Laboratory Technology students are exposed to the working conditions of well-resourced as well as under-resourced medical facilities, second and third year students are given a six-week practical attachment during the second semester in a less-endowed health facility outside KATH, where in particular, the students can have more exposure on the use of the manual methods of analysis.
The second semester of the fourth year of the programme is devoted to research project work. This enables students to demonstrate their understanding of the chosen field of study.

Career Prospects Of Medical Laboratory Technologist.

Graduate Medical Laboratory Technologists of the Department are employed in both private and government hospitals, food and drug industries, research and training Institutions and laboratories such as the forensic laboratories of the police or criminal investigation departments, veterinary laboratories and industrial laboratories.