Southwest General's School of Medical Technology is located within the hospital, a 354-bed general medical and surgical hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. It offers excellent training faciliites in a modern clinical laboratory that performs more than one million procedures a year.
The School is accredited by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences. Applicants must be citizens of the United States or permanent residents. The program does not discriminate with respect to race, color, creed, sex, age or national origin. It is in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
What Do Medical Technologists Do?
Medical technologists perform a responsible and vital role in the clinical laboratory. Working with method and speed, with precision and curiosity, medical technologists operate complex electronic equipment, computers and precision instruments. They conduct fact-finding tests and evaluate results in an accurate, efficient, cost-effective manner to help in the diagnosis and treatment of disease.
Medical technologists are educated to understand the scientific theory and interpretation for the tests they perform. Their expanding role will find them not only performing tests but also teaching, supervising and serving as consultants, researchers or directors of laboratories.
In the hospital educational programs, students learn to perform laboratory procedures on actual specimens from hospital patients, under the close supervision of professional medical technologists. Because their learning is directly related to actual patient care, the students develop a sense of responsibility to the patient, an important component in the profession of Medical Technology.
Course Content
The course is 48 weeks in length and begins in July. Enrollment is limited to six students.
Students spend 20 weeks in the classroom, then 28 weeks in the laboratories learning through demonstration and practice of laboratory procedures. Instruction in the laboratory is one-to-one with a medical technologist.
The course includes instruction in the following disciplines: blood bank, chemistry, hematology, microbiology, serology/immunology, urinalysis, management, education, phlebotomy, safety, quality control, quality assurance and total quality management.
Examinations are given, and complete records are kept. Students are required to pass each course with a C or better and to comply with the established policies and procedures of the hospital as well as the profession.
The School observes vacation between Christmas and New Year's Day, in addition to six major holidays (New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas).
Colleges/University Afflilations
First consideration is given to students enrolled in colleges/universities afflilated with Southwest General's School of Medical Technology.
The affliated institution will award a baccalaureate degree to the student upon completion of the program. The affiliated colleges/universities and the hours granted for the progam are:
- Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, Ohio - 32 semester hours
- Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio - 32 semester hours
- Kent State Universtiy, Kent, Ohio - 32 semester hours
- Miami University, Oxford, Ohio - 32 semester hours
- Muskingum College, New Concord, Ohio - 22 semester hours
- Youngstown State University - Youngstown, Ohio - 36 semester hours
Students from other accredited colleges/universities also will be considered.
Tuition
Please contact the School for current tuition information and employment opportunities for students. Students provide and maintain their own uniforms and provide their own books, housing and meals. Undergraduate students must pay any fees required to their degree-granting institutions.
Students admitted to the School are entitled to emergency health care at the student's cost. Students must provide their own health insurance.
AIDS and hepatitis are risks associated with any medical technology program. Students will be trained in safety measures to minimize the risk and are encouraged to have a series of three immunization shots for hepatitis prior to enrollment. Hospital liability insurance covers students performing duties according to hospital policy and procedures.
Admission Requirements
Prerequisite for admission is a baccalaureate degree or completion of all college/university degree requirements at an affiliated institution. Undergraduates from nonaffiliated colleges or universities must have a statement from the degree-granting institution certifying that it will award a degree at the completion of the training according to the Standards of the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS), 8410 Bryn Mawr Ave., Suite 670, Chicago, Illinois 60631-3415, 773-714-8880.
Prerequisite college/university credits include:
- 16 semester (24 quarter) hours of chemistry, including organic chemistry and/or biochemistry.
- 16 semester (24 quarter) hours of biology, including microbiology, immunology, genetics or molecular biology and anatomy and physiology.
- Immunology must be included as part of microbiology or as a separate course.
- One course in college-level statistics.
- Other courses that are recommended include parasitology (highly recommended), hematology, quantitative chemistry and computer technology. No survey courses are acceptable as part of the required courses.
Graduation
Students who successfully complete the program are awarded a certificate and pin from the School of Medical Technology and are eligible to take a national certification examination. A baccalaureate degree is awarded by the home college/university.
Procedure for Admission
For information about admissions, refer to the following forms:
Or, you can send a request for application to:
Program Director
School of Medical Technology
Southwest General
18697 Bagley Road
Middleburg Heights, OH 44130
or call 440-816-8859
Information required with the completed application will include all transcripts, recommendations from professors and an advisor evaluation by the college/university. A TOEFL exam is required for English competency with foreign transcripts. Names of foreign evaluation agencies are available upon request. Interviews are conducted, after evaluation of prerequisite information, for qualified applicants. Application deadline is Dec. 1 of the year preceeding the start of the program in July.