Medical Laboratory Science or Biomedical Science

Medical laboratory science trains the specialists who analyse blood, tissue and other samples in hospital laboratories. Around 70 percent of all medical diagnoses rely on a laboratory result. You learn haematology, clinical chemistry, microbiology, immunology and transfusion science, and you work with the analysers and molecular methods used in modern labs.

In the UK the degree is called Biomedical Science, in Australia and New Zealand Medical Laboratory Science, in the USA Medical Laboratory Science or Medical Technology.

Year 1: Science foundations

• Cell biology, biochemistry and human physiology
• Chemistry for the life sciences
• Laboratory skills and safety
• Statistics for the health sciences

Year 2: Laboratory disciplines

• Haematology and blood transfusion
• Clinical biochemistry
• Medical microbiology and infection
• Immunology and molecular diagnostics

Year 3: Clinical laboratory practice

• Histopathology and cytology
• Quality management in the diagnostic laboratory
• Placement in a hospital laboratory
• Research project

Year 4 (Australia, New Zealand, USA)

• Extended clinical laboratory placement
• Advanced specialisation, for example in molecular pathology

• Coventry University (UK): approx. 20,600 to 24,300 € per year
• University of Hertfordshire (UK): approx. 20,500 to 21,600 € per year
• University of Portsmouth (UK): approx. 22,500 to 25,000 € per year
• Brunel University London (UK): approx. 28,000 to 29,800 € per year
• University of Bradford (UK): approx. 24,500 to 27,000 € per year
• Queensland University of Technology (Australia): approx. 24,000 to 28,800 € per year
• Charles Sturt University (Australia): approx. 19,800 to 22,800 € per year
• Curtin University (Australia): approx. 22,800 to 27,600 € per year
• Griffith University (Australia): approx. 21,600 to 25,200 € per year
• University of Otago (New Zealand): approx. 23,300 to 25,400 € per year
• Auckland University of Technology (New Zealand): approx. 19,100 to 21,200 € per year
• Saint Louis University (USA): approx. 46,400 € per year
• Thomas Jefferson University (USA): approx. 39,600 € per year

Graduates work in hospital and private laboratories, blood services, public health agencies, research institutes and the diagnostics industry.

Laboratory scientists are in short supply in Australia, New Zealand and the UK.