Learn more about our program and discover if Medical Laboratory Sciences is the program for you

Medical Laboratory Sciences
Advance your career and become a Medical Laboratory Scientist (MLS). Join our nationally recognized program!
Medical laboratory scientists (MLS) are medical detectives. They are highly skilled professionals who discover the presence or absence of disease and provide data that helps physicians determine the best treatment for the patient. Using sophisticated biomedical instrumentation and technology, as well as highly skilled manual techniques, medical laboratory scientists process and examine biological specimens, perform advance laboratory testing, solve problems and troubleshoot instrumentation, assess new test methods, evaluate and interpret laboratory test results, and report findings for various diseases and conditions. The Medical Laboratory Scientist is a vital part of the health care team that provides accurate, timely and reliable results.
Graduates from program are in demand. They are equipped with the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors to practice medical laboratory sciences in a variety of settings, including hospital labs, reference laboratories, and biotechnology companies.
MLS Career Highlights
The Hidden Profession
In the midst of this global pandemic, the need for medical laboratory scientists has come to forefront as timely and accurate COVID-19 testing is in high demand.
Medical Laboratory Technologist
A medical lab technologist tells Brian how organization and attention to detail are essential for controlling quality.
Clinical Laboratory Technologists
Hear from Ebru, a clinical laboratory technologist, about working at the brand new Microbiology Laboratory at Northwell Health Labs.
Meet a Medical Technologist
Meet a real medical technologist who performs laboratory services at the NIH Clinical Center. Learn about the high tech equipment she uses to process patient blood samples, and find out what she likes to do in her free time.
Skillful Jobs
The differences between MLT and MLS: pay, career paths, job duties, and more.
- 95% of graduates continue to work in the Medical Laboratory Sciences field.
- 28th in a list of 200 jobs according to The Jobs Rated Almanac
- 11% growth in employment from 2019 to 2029 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Contact
MLS advisement: MLS@salud.unm.edu
General questions: RloyaVejar@salud.unm.edu
Phone: (505) 272-5434
Social Media
Physical address
UNM Health Sciences and Services Building (HSSB)
2500 Marble Ave NE
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
Mailing Address
Medical Laboratory Sciences Program
MSC09 5250 HSSB 217
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131