ASH provides care through three large services - Adult Psychiatric Services, Specialty Adult Services, and Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Services. The adult services program consists of five acute adult admission units, two intermediate care units, and one forensic unit. Specialty adult programs include the older adult unit, longer-term cognitive behavioral and multiple disabilities unit, and the deaf services and longer-term behaviorally stabilized unit. Child and adolescent programs offer services to children to the age of 12, an adolescent girls unit, and an adolescent boys unit.

Clinical specialties provide assessment, evaluation, and treatment, including psychiatry, nursing, social work, psychology, education/rehabilitation services, nutrition, and spiritual care. Additional clinical support is provided through the medical and dental clinics, x-ray and laboratory services, and other consultative services. The average length of stay at the hospital is about 18 days. Services are paid for through general revenue funds from the State of Texas, private payment, private third party insurance, as well as through Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Clinical Laboratory Science Program

The Austin State Hospital Program in Medical Technology, established in 1957, is an integral part of the Regional Clinical Laboratory of DSHS, which serves the clinical needs of DSHS consumers throughout the state of Texas. The Clinical Laboratory is located in the Medical Unit of Austin State Hospital and is directed by a consulting pathologist who is Board Certified in Clinical and Anatomical Pathology.

The Clinical Laboratory Science Program is designed for the instruction of students in both academic and practical phases of laboratory medicine. Graduates are eligible to take the certifying examination given by the Board of Registry (ASCP) or the National Credentialing Agency (NCA).

The practice of modern medicine would be impossible without the tests performed in the clinical laboratory. The Clinical Laboratory Scientist helps determine the presence, extent, or absence of disease and provides data needed to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment. Laboratory procedures require an array of complex precision instruments and a variety of automated and electronic equipment. Clinical Laboratory Scientists must be accurate, reliable, have an interest in science and be able to recognize their responsibility for human lives.

Admission Requirements
General academic requirements for admission are those specified by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences. Students with a Bachelor's degree and all required courses will be given equal consideration with undergraduates who meet all requirements.

Minimal Prerequisites
Baccalaureate Degree Program: completion of all prerequisite academic courses (90-100 hours) as outlined in the Clinical Laboratory Science degree program at each respective university. Check with the registrar of your school for exact degree requirements and school affiliations.
or
Baccalaureate Degree: In related science with a minimum of 16 semester hours of biological sciences (including courses in immunology, anatomy/physiology, genetics/molecular biology and microbiology), 16 semester hours of Chemistry (including organic/biochemistry), and one semester of statistics. Other course work can be substituted for required courses if deemed equivalent by the University or Program Director.
or
Foreign Baccalaureate Degree: Must submit a transcript evaluation verifying U.S. baccalaureate degree equivalency. This evaluation must accompany the application form and will be required to determine the applicant's initial eligibility. The evaluations may be obtained from one of the evaluation agencies listed on the insert.

Applicants should be:
# in good health and highly motivated
# fluent in written and spoken English
# able to discriminate between colors
# possess manual dexterity
# possess good near vision

Curriculum
Students enrolled in the program spend approximately eight hours a day, Monday through Friday, in clinical instruction. Supplemental training occurs at our affiliates, Brackenridge Hospital and Texas Department of Health, Bureau of Laboratories. Clinical instruction includes training under direct supervision of Clinical Laboratory Scientists as well as daily group lectures given by supervisory instructors in their specialty areas.

Students rotate on an individual basis through five major areas of study. These departments and the approximate times are as follows:
Clinical Chemistry - 13 weeks (includes general chemistry, toxicology, & special chemistry)
Microbiology - 13 weeks (includes bacteriology, mycology, and parasitology)
Hematology, Coagulation & Phlebotomy 11 weeks
Blood Bank/Immunology/Serology 8 weeks
Urinalysis - 3 weeks
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Essential Requirements for CLS

Essential Observational Requirements for the Clinical Laboratory Sciences

The CLS student must be able to:

1. Observe laboratory demonstrations in which biologicals (i.e. body fluids, culture materials, tissue sections, and cellular specimens) are tested for their biochemical, hematological, immunological, microbiological, and histochemical components.
2. Characterize the color, odor, clarity, and viscosity of biologicals, reagents, or chemical reaction products.
3. Employ a clinical grade binocular microscope to discriminate among fine structural and color (hue, shading, and intensity) differences of microscopic specimens.
4. Read and comprehend text, numbers, and graphs displayed in print and on a video monitor.

Essential Movement Requirements for the Clinical Laboratory Sciences

The CLS student must be able to:

1. Move freely and safely about a laboratory.
2. Reach laboratory benchtops and shelves, patients lying in hospital beds or seated in specimen collection furniture.
3. Travel to numerous clinical laboratory sites for practical experience.
4. Perform moderately taxing continuous physical work, often requiring prolonged sitting, over several hours.
5. Maneuver phlebotomy and culture acquisition equipment to safely collect valid laboratory specimens from patients.
6. Control laboratory equipment (i.e. pipettes, inoculating loops, test tubes) and adjust instruments to perform laboratory procedures.
7. Use an electronic keyboard (i.e. 101-key IBM computer keyboard) to operate laboratory instruments and to calculate, record, evaluate, and transmit laboratory information.

Essential Communication Requirements for the Clinical Laboratory Sciences

The CLS student must:

1. Read and comprehend technical and professional materials (i.e., textbooks, magazine and journal articles, handbooks, and instruction manuals).
2. Follow verbal and written instructions in order to correctly and independently perform laboratory test procedures.
3. Clearly instruct patients prior to specimen collection.
4. Effectively, confidentially, and sensitively converse with patients regarding laboratory tests.
5. Communication with faculty members, fellow students, staff, and other health care professionals verbally and in a recorded format (writing, typing, graphics, or telecommunication.)
6. Independently prepare papers, prepare laboratory reports, and take paper, computer and laboratory practical examinations.

Essential Intellectual Requirements for the Clinical Laboratory Sciences

The CLS student must:

1. Possess these intellectual skills: comprehension, measurement, mathematical calculation, reasoning, integration, analysis, comparison, self-expression, and criticism.
2. Be able to exercise sufficient judgement to recognize and correct performance deviations.

Essential Behavioral Requirements for the Clinical Laboratory Sciences

The CLS student must:

1. Be able to manage the use of time and be able to systematize actions in order to complete professional and technical tasks within realistic constraints.
2. Possess the emotional health necessary to effectively employ intellect and exercise appropriate judgment.
3. Be able to provide professional and technical services while experiencing the stresses of task-related uncertainty. (i.e., ambiguous test ordering, ambivalent test interpretation), emergent demands (i.e., "stat" test orders), and a distracting environment (i.e., high noise levels, crowding, complex visual stimuli.)
4. Be flexible and creative and adapt to professional and technical change.
5. Recognize potentially hazardous materials, equipment, and situations and proceed safely in order to minimize risk of injury to patients, self, and nearby individuals.
6. Adapt to working with unpleasant biologicals.
7. Support and promote the activities of fellow students and of health care professionals. Promotion of peers helps furnish a team approach to learning, task completion, problem solving, and patient care.
8. Be honest, compassionate, ethical, and responsible. The student must be forthright about errors or uncertainty. The student must be able to critically evaluate her or his own performance, accept constructive criticism, and look for ways to improve (i.e., participate in enriched educational activities.) The student must be able to evaluate the performance of fellow students and tactfully offer constructive comments.
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Faculty
Under the direction of the Medical Director, Program Director, and Education Coordinator, a staff of thirteen certified Clinical Laboratory Scientists' are actively involved in the supervision and training of the students.

Examinations
Practical examinations are given in each department and periodic written examinations are given over the laboratory training and the lecture series.

Accreditation
The Clinical Laboratory Science Program is fully accredited by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences. The Clinical Laboratory is accredited by the College of American Pathologists.

*Contact information for NAACLS is:
8410 W. Bryn Mawr, Suite 670
Chicago, IL 60631
Telephone: 773-714-8880

Financial Information
Students are required to purchase approximately $450 worth of books. A nominal tuition of $300 is charged.

Students are required to purchase personal liability insurance - approximate cost $25.00.

Currently students receive a monthly stipend.

Students should arrange for housing before reporting for training. Apartments or rooms are generally available in neighboring areas.

Benefits
Students in the program are classified by the State of Texas as Professional Trainees and are eligible for group health insurance written for employees of the State of Texas.

Students are allowed to take major state holidays and have limited sick leave available.

Rules and Regulations
Failure to maintain a grade average of 75 or above in each department may result in dismissal from the school. Violation of the school's honor system, misconduct, or any abuse or violation of state regulations will be grounds for dismissal.

Application Procedures
Applications should be filed nine to twelve months before training is to begin. Deadline for applications is January 1st of each year. An Admissions Committee considers each application after the following requirements are met:

1. Completed application form
2. An official College Transcript.
3. Certification of degree status from the Registrar or faculty advisor.
4. Two letters of recommendation from curriculum advisors or from instructors in science courses.
5. Austin State Hospital CLS Program Application

Completed applications are reviewed by the admissions committee after the deadline and personal interviews are scheduled for the best qualified applicants. Final selections are made shortly thereafter.

Factors taken into consideration in selecting applicants for admission include grade point averages, references supplied, and the personal interview. Special academic honors or experience working in a laboratory are also considered.

Four students are admitted each year with a starting date of September 1st.

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This article is reposted with thanks to Austin State Hospital.