BHS in Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences with Emphasis in Medical Laboratory Science
Degree Program Description
Medical laboratory scientists are highly trained professionals with expertise in the theoretical and practical aspects of laboratory medicine – including chemistry, hematology, microbiology, immunology, molecular diagnostics, blood banking among other areas. They are vital members of the healthcare team, providing the laboratory data that supports approximately 70% of clinical decisions related to diagnosis, treatment, and hospital admission and discharge. Medical laboratory scientists have diverse career opportunities as laboratory professionals, educators, researchers, supervisors, and managers. They work in a variety of settings, including hospital, clinic, specialty, public health, and research laboratories. The MLS Program prepares students to become certified medical laboratory scientists. The program follows a 3+1 format: the first three years focus on general education and prerequisite coursework, while the final year consists of the clinical phase, requiring a secondary application and formal acceptance. The clinical phase spans three semesters—summer, fall, and spring. The summer semester includes introductory didactic coursework and student laboratory training. In the fall, students complete advanced didactic instruction and simulation labs using hospital-grade equipment in a former hospital laboratory space donated by MU Health Care, closely mirroring a real clinical laboratory setting. During the spring semester, students are assigned to clinical sites where they apply their skills with real patient specimens under the supervision of laboratory professionals. Concurrently, students complete additional advanced online coursework that supports preparation for the national certification exam. Graduates earn a Bachelor of Health Science (BHS) in Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences with an emphasis in Medical Laboratory Science and are eligible to sit for the national certification examination administered by the American Society for Clinical Pathology Board of Certification (ASCP BOC). The MU MLS program is currently seeking accreditation by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS).
Major Program Requirements
To earn the BHS in Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences with an emphasis in Medical Laboratory Science degree, students must meet degree requirements below as well as University requirements, including University general education. The MLS program requires an application, including an interview, and students are encouraged to work with an advisor in order to best structure the prerequisites and prepare for the program application. The application process is competitive, and meeting minimum criteria does not guarantee admission. There are a limited number of clinical positions available. A minimum 2.5 cumulative in addition to a math/science course GPA are required to be considered for acceptance. Students must complete the courses below with a grade of C- or higher to earn the BHS in Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences with an emphasis in Medical Laboratory Science degree.
| Program Prerequisites | 40 | |
| ENGLSH 1000 | Writing and Rhetoric | 3 |
| or ENGLSH 1000H | Honors Writing and Rhetoric | |
| MATH 1100 | College Algebra | 3-5 |
| or MATH 1160 | Precalculus Mathematics | |
| or MATH 1400 | Calculus for Social and Life Sciences I | |
| or MATH 1500 | Analytic Geometry and Calculus I | |
| STAT 1200 | Introductory Statistical Reasoning | 3 |
| or STAT 1300 | Elementary Statistics | |
| or STAT 2500 | Introduction to Probability and Statistics I | |
| or ESC_PS 4170 | Introduction to Applied Statistics | |
| CDS 4480 | Clinical Ethics (Preferred) | 3 |
| or PHIL 2440 | Medical Ethics | |
| or PHIL 1150 | Introductory Bioethics | |
| or PHIL 1100 | The Difference Between Right and Wrong: An Introduction to Ethics | |
| 1000-level or higher Psychology course | 3 | |
| CDS 3100W (optional but strongly recommended for MU General Education WI requirement) | 3 | |
| BIO_SC 1500 | Introduction to Biological Systems with Laboratory | 5 |
| or BIO_SC 1500H | Introduction to Biological Systems with Laboratory Honors | |
| or BIO_SC 1010 & BIO_SC 1020 | General Principles and Concepts of Biology and General Biology Laboratory | |
| or BIO_SC 1030 | General Principles and Concepts of Biology with Laboratory | |
| MICROB 3200 | Medical Microbiology and Immunology | 4 |
| or MICROB 2800 | Microbiology for Nursing and Health Professions | |
| MPP 3202 | Elements of Physiology | 5 |
| or BIO_SC 3700 | Human Physiology | |
| CL_L_S 3000 | Introduction to Immunology for Medical Laboratory Science | 3 |
| or V_PBIO 3551 | Introduction to Immunology I | |
| or MICROB 4304 | Immunology for Health Professions | |
| CHEM 1400 & CHEM 1401 | College Chemistry I and College Chemistry I Laboratory | 4 |
| or CHEM 1400H & CHEM 1401H | College Chemistry I - Honors and College Chemistry I Laboratory - Honors | |
| CHEM 1410 & CHEM 1411 | College Chemistry II and College Chemistry II Laboratory | 4 |
| or CHEM 1410H & CHEM 1411H | College Chemistry II - Honors and College Chemistry II Laboratory - Honors | |
| CHEM 2100 | Organic Chemistry I | 3 |
| BIOCHM 3630 | General Biochemistry | 3 |
| or BIOCHM 4270 | Biochemistry | |
| Major Core Requirements | 43 | |
| CL_L_S 4407 | Clinical Laboratory Operations | 2 |
| CL_L_S 4408 | Introduction to Clinical Hematology | 2 |
| CL_L_S 4409 | Introduction to Clinical Microbiology | 2 |
| CL_L_S 4410 | Introduction to Clinical Chemistry and Urinalysis | 1 |
| CL_L_S 4411 | Introduction to Clinical Immunohematology | 1 |
| CL_L_S 4412 | Clinical Laboratory Science Theory, Application and Correlation | 5 |
| CL_L_S 4413 | Clinical Endocrinology and Toxicology | 1 |
| CL_L_S 4414 | Clinical Chemistry and Urinalysis I | 2 |
| CL_L_S 4415 | Clinical Chemistry and Urinalysis II | 2 |
| CL_L_S 4416 | Clinical Hematology I | 2 |
| CL_L_S 4417 | Clinical Hematology II | 2 |
| CL_L_S 4418 | Clinical Microbiology I | 2 |
| CL_L_S 4419 | Clinical Microbiology II | 2 |
| CL_L_S 4420 | Clinical Immunology and Molecular Diagnostics | 2 |
| CL_L_S 4422 | Immunohematology I | 2 |
| CL_L_S 4423 | Clinical Immunohematology II | 2 |
| CL_L_S 4442 | Clinical Immunohematology Laboratory Practicum I | 1 |
| CL_L_S 4443 | Clinical Immunohematology Laboratory Practicum II | 1 |
| CL_L_S 4444 | Clinical Core Laboratory Practicum I | 1 |
| CL_L_S 4445 | Clinical Core Laboratory Practicum II | 1 |
| CL_L_S 4448 | Clinical Microbiology Laboratory Practicum I | 1 |
| CL_L_S 4449 | Clinical Microbiology Laboratory Practicum II | 1 |
| CL_L_S 4970 | Clinical Laboratory Management I | 2 |
| CL_L_S 4980W | Clinical Lab Management II - Writing Intensive | 3 |
Semester Plan
Below is a sample plan of study, semester by semester. A student's actual plan may vary based on course choices where options are available.
| First Year | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits | ||
| MATH 1100 | 3 | ENGLSH 1000 | 3 | ||
| BIO_SC 1500 | 5 | CHEM 1400 & CHEM 1401 | 4 | ||
| HLTH_SCI 1000 (recommended elective) | 3 | SOCIOL 1000 | 3 | ||
| PSYCH 1000 | 3 | Elective | 3 | ||
| 14 | 13 | ||||
| Second Year | |||||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits | ||
| CHEM 1410 & CHEM 1411 | 4 | MICROB 3200 | 4 | ||
| PHIL 1100, 1150, or 2440 | 3 | CHEM 2100 | 3 | ||
| CL_L_S 1000 | 1 | HIST 1100, 1200, or POL_SC 1100 | 3 | ||
| Elective | 4 | Elective | 2 | ||
| 12 | 12 | ||||
| Third Year | |||||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| MPP 3202 | 5 | 1000-level Writing Intensive course (CDS 3100W recommended) | 3 | MLS 3100 | 3 |
| STAT 1200, 1300, or ESC_PS 4170 | 3 | BIOCHM 3630 | 3 | MLS 3200 | 1 |
| 2000+ level Humanities | 3 | CL_L_S 3000 | 3 | MLS 3250 | 1 |
| Elective | 3 | Humanities | 3 | MLS 3300 | 1 |
| MLS 3400 | 1 | ||||
| MLS 3500 | 1 | ||||
| MLS 3600 | 1 | ||||
| 14 | 12 | 9 | |||
| Fourth Year | |||||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits | ||
| MLS 4100 | 1 | MLS 4355 | 2 | ||
| MLS 4200 | 1 | MLS 4455 | 2 | ||
| MLS 4300 | 2 | MLS 4555 | 2 | ||
| MLS 4400 | 2 | MLS 4655 | 2 | ||
| MLS 4500 | 2 | MLS 4800W | 3 | ||
| MLS 4600 | 2 | MLS 4900 | 5 | ||
| MLS 4350 | 2 | ||||
| MLS 4450 | 2 | ||||
| MLS 4550 | 2 | ||||
| MLS 4650 | 2 | ||||
| 18 | 16 | ||||
| Total Credits: 120 | |||||
Degree Audit
The degree audit is an automated report reflecting a student’s academic progress toward the completion of a degree.
MU students can request a degree audit by logging in to myDegreePlanner. Students may also access myDegreePlanner via myZou, in the Student Center, click on the Academic Progress Tile, then select Request Degree Audit. The audit automatically pulls in the student’s MU course work, transfer courses and courses in progress. This is available to current students, admitted students, and those who last attended less than three terms ago.
Past MU students can request a degree audit by contacting the Academic Advising Unit of the division in which they were last enrolled at MU. For contact information, go to https://advising.missouri.edu/contact/.
Prospective students, can access a preliminary MU degree audit via https://www.transferology.com. Information on the college credits already earned will have to be manually entered before it can be evaluated against current degree requirements.
For additional details on degree audits, go to https://registrar.missouri.edu/degrees-audits/degree-audits/.
Major and Career Exploration
The University of Missouri has many resources to assist you in exploring majors and career possibilities. For guidance, visit the Majors and Careers website or view specific resources below.
- Change your Major. If you are considering changing your undergraduate major or are choosing between several majors, schedule an appointment with an advisor in the Discovery Center by calling (573) 884-9700 or through the Discovery Center service in your MU Connect success network.
- Decided on a Major. If you have decided on a major, visit an academic advisor in the School or College that you are interested in to discuss the process of declaring that major.
- Identify your Interests and Strengths. If you would like to learn more about your career interests, abilities, values, and talents, visit the staff at the MU Career Center. No appointment is necessary to explore career options with one of our staff members.
- Explore MU Majors. If you would like information about MU majors and degree programs, visit Majors at Mizzou or the Degrees, Majors (Degree Programs), Emphasis Areas, Minors and Certificates page in the catalog.
For additional major and career exploration resources, visit Major & Career Exploration in the catalog.