Program Details

• Major Name: Pre-Biomedical Laboratory Diagnostics
• Degree Program: Arts and Sciences
• Degree Designation: AS
• College / School: STEM

The Associate of Science (AS) degree with a major in Pre-Biomedical Laboratory Diagnostics (formerly Pre-Medical Laboratory Science) offers the first two years of courses required for admission into WVU’s Biomedical Laboratory Diagnostics program. These first two years include all the general education, science, and math courses required for admission. Students accepted into that program complete an additional two years of courses in Biomedical Laboratory Diagnostics and receive a bachelor’s degree.

The second two years are based at the WVU Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center and consist of lectures, student laboratory instruction, and clinical experience at one of the program’s affiliated laboratories. There are two Tracks for the Bachelor of Science degree in the Medical Laboratory Science: Clinical Laboratory Science and Histotechnology.

A degree in Biomedical Laboratory Diagnostics can also be used as a preparatory degree to apply to medical school, dental school, and other professional schools.

Graduation Requirements

The AS program includes courses in biology, chemistry, and math. To earn an AS degree in Arts and Sciences with a major in Pre-Biomedical Laboratory Diagnostics, a student must complete a minimum of 60 credit hours of required and elective course work.

Career Outcomes

Clinical Laboratory Scientists are skilled laboratory professionals that perform laboratory testing on blood and bodily fluids to aid in the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of patients. Laboratory testing encompasses such disciplines as clinical chemistry, hematology, immunology, immunohematology, microbiology, and molecular biology. Clinical laboratory science professionals generate accurate laboratory data that are needed to aid in detecting cancer, heart attacks, diabetes, infectious mononucleosis, and identification of bacteria or viruses that cause infections, as well as in detecting drugs of abuse.

A Histotechnologist is a professional who is qualified through academic and applied science education and training to provide service, research, and management in histotechnology and areas related to anatomic pathology. Histotechnologists are integral to the success of the anatomic pathology department by performing routine and complex procedures to preserve and process tissue specimens. Specific tissue structures are visualized by utilizing specialized stains and are examined by a pathologist to diagnose diseases and disorders.