General Information

Students that are planning to complete the Medical Laboratory Sciences submajor enroll in all Senior Year Fall Semester – Professional Training courses listed in the Curriculum page (unless otherwise determined by the Program Director and/or Program Advisor). The Senior Year Fall Semester is split, with the first portion spent completely on campus prior to the start of clinical rotations (September-October). The remainder of the fall semester, as well as the winter break and spring semester, are spent off campus at a clinical site. This page focuses mostly on the pre-clinical portion of this semester when students are still on campus, and the MLS clinical rotation period is addressed on the Senior Year MLS Clinical Rotations page.

Assignment of a clinical placement at one of our clinical affiliates does not guarantee graduation from the Medical Laboratory Science submajor. Once granted a clinical placement location, completion of the program is still contingent upon the following:

Minimum Grade and Course Requirements – Students must complete all required courses and continue to meet minimum grade requirements throughout the fall semester and during their clinical rotations. Students that do not meet minimum grade requirements during this time may be placed on academic probation and/or dismissed from the program at the discretion of the Program Director. See the admission criteria page for more information on minimum grade and course requirements.

Completion of all clinical site on-boarding requirements – Students attending clinical rotations are required to have completed all On-Boarding requirements listed on the Senior Year Summer Semester – Professional Training page prior to the start of their clinical rotation. Failure to complete these items may result in a delay of clinical start date, and it may be necessary to delay the clinical rotation until the following academic year after all requirements have been met, switch to a submajor that does not include a clinical rotation, and/or dismissal from the MLS submajor.

Professionalism – Students must begin to prepare for clinical rotations by demonstrating accountability during the summer session. This includes, but is not limited to:

- Being in attendance at all required lecture and lab sessions, as well as being at your bench on time.
- Exhibiting professional conduct towards instructors, TAs, and fellow students.
- Avoiding the use of alcohol, drugs, and medications that may cause impairment during class time.

Some lab sessions rely on group work, and frequent tardiness or impairment may impact other students learning and/or pose a potential safety hazard. Once in clinical rotations, the clinical sites may be relying on students to begin quality control, analyzer maintenance, or perform patient testing. Impairment due to alcohol, drugs, or medications may be a safety concern both in the lab and in regard to reporting accurate test results, and a delay due to tardiness can delay the reporting of real patient results. Laboratory instructors during the summer semester will begin to report any professional conduct, attendance, tardiness, or suspected impairment issues to the program director, and corrective actions may be required if there are serious infractions or frequent occurrences. Persistent issues with professional conduct, attendance, tardiness, or impairment during the on-campus courses or while completing clinical rotations may result in professional probation and/or dismissal from the program at the discretion of the Program Director and Biomedical Sciences Program.

Courses

BMS 529: Intro to Immunohematology

BMS 530: Immunohematology/Blood Bank Lab

These two courses train students in the concepts of Immunohematology/Blood Banking, with BMS 530 being the last laboratory course of the submajor prior to clinical rotations. These classes are condensed, 8 week courses, starting at the beginning of the semester and ending prior to the start of rotations (the end of October). Much like in the summer semester, the short nature of each course results in an increased emphasis on attendance. Immunohematology is a very conceptual topic, so absence from one single class period may result in missing key concepts or assignments that may impact the overall grade and understanding of the course. In addition, there is increased preparation needed to set up each student laboratory experiment, so make-up labs are not usually possible. Attendance to all lecture and lab sessions must be made a priority.

BMS 547: Clinical Lab Diagnosis

This is a course that is taught by multiple instructors, and is often referred to as the “case studies” course. Like blood bank, it is an 8 week course that begins at the start of the semester and ends prior to clinical rotations (end of October). The purpose of this course is to correlate laboratory data with pathophysiological and clinical findings to better understand the role of the laboratory in diagnosis of disease and management of the patient. Each week consists of a review of different topics (one week of microbiology, one week of hematology, one week of chemistry, etc.), with most instructors utilizing case study assignments. Though some instructors may give a basic review of the topic, students are expected to utilize their notes, course materials, and what they’ve already learned from previous courses in order to complete the work in this course. BMS 547 is a variable credit course taken by several submajors. As an MLS student, you must enroll in 5 credits for BMS 547.

BMS 523: Lectures in Advanced Hematology

BMS 555: Toxicology & Therapeutic Drug Monitoring

These two courses start at the beginning of the semester, and are 16 week courses that continue through the entire Fall semester. Weeks 1-8 may be held in-person on campus, but once clinical rotations start (beginning of November), these courses are converted to an online format and students are not expected to be on-campus to complete them.

BMS 548: Clinical Lab Practicum

This course is a placeholder for grades earned during the clinical rotation. Due to the nature of the clinical rotation spanning multiple semesters, the grade for BMS 548 will be initially entered as NR in the fall and will not be official until the completion of clinical rotations after the spring semester. This may have an impact on financial aid. If this does, the financial aid advisor typically will reach out to the program director in early January to confirm that the student is in good-standing with the course, and there is no ultimate impact on financial aid. If students have any questions or concerns, they should reach out to the program director. NOTE: You DO NOT need to enroll again in BMS 548 for the spring semester.

Preparation for Clinical Training

Start/end date for clinical rotations

UWM provides each site with a clinical rotation “window”, which typically begins week 9 of the fall semester (the week after Blood Bank and Case Studies end) and ends at the completion of the spring semester in May of the following year. Most sites begin right away on the first day of that window, and end dates vary by site. If a start date is pushed back beyond week 9, the program director typically will communicate this with the student prior to the beginning of rotations. Unless otherwise notified, students should expect to begin rotations on the first Monday of week 9 (the week after Blood Bank and case studies ends).

Communication from site coordinator

Students may begin to receive communication from their on-site education coordinator during the period prior to the start of rotation, but the timing varies. Each coordinator operates independently, with some reaching out very early and providing schedules, and others preferring to wait until the start of rotations to provide this information. The expectation of UWM is that the clinical site will provide the student with a schedule by the first day of clinical rotations, and students should plan on attending rotations from November-May, Monday-Friday from 7/8am-3/4pm each day until they receive their official schedule from their clinical site.

Planning Vacation Time

Though some limited exceptions may exist for things like sickness or a death in the family, students are not granted time off during the clinical rotation period and should not plan any vacations during this time. Once at clinical rotations, students no longer follow the UWM class schedule and are expected to follow the schedule provided by their clinical site. Though most sites grant a short break over Christmas/New Years, this is not as long as the typical holiday break at UWM and usually only spans 1-2 weeks. Students also do not follow the UWM Spring Break schedule, though some sites do choose to schedule off during this period. Any vacations or trips should be planned only after the official schedule is received from the clinical site to ensure that no time is missed, and students should not expect to request vacation time during the rotation period.

Dress Code

Sites will have an official dress code policy that the student is expected to follow, and generally scrubs or business casual attire is acceptable as long as it follows standard laboratory safety policies (no open toed shoes, legs completely covered, etc.). Most students prefer to purchase and wear scrubs during clinical rotations, and with few exceptions, any color is acceptable. Any questions about dress code can be asked to the site education coordinator, or students may reach out to Brad at bkdepons@uwm.edu.

Tattoos, piercings, hair color

Some sites may include provisions about tattoos, piercings, and hair color in their official dress code. Some common provisions apply to those employees that will have direct patient contact, and since students are expected to complete a phlebotomy rotation, they may apply. Generally speaking, hair color must be “natural”, tattoos must be covered, and piercings (other than in the ears) must be covered or removed during direct patient contact. Any questions about specific policies can be asked to the site education coordinator, or students may reach out to Brad at bkdepons@uwm.edu.

Return to the MLS Program Resource Center