ASCP MLT Exam Breakdown: What is the Syllabus to Pass?
Want to know the ASCP MLT exam breakdown?
Here, you will know
- All subjects for the ASCP MLT exam
- Questions percentage of each content area regarding the exam questions (100%)
- Vital Topics
- Important calculation
- Reference ranges
ASCP MLT Exam Breakdown: Detailed Syllabus of Each Subject
The American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) Board of Certification (BOC) explains an immense syllabus for each subject.
The following is a detailed explanation of the ASCP MLT exam breakdown:
Blood Banking
Out of 100% of questions, this subject is specific to cover 15-20%.
It comprises the following main topics:
- Blood Products
- Serological and molecular testing
- Blood group systems
- Physiology
- Blood group immunology
- Pathophysiology
- Transfusion practice
Urinalysis and Other Body Fluids
5-10% of questions are obtained from this part.
The ASCP MLT exam breakdown that the board allocated for it is:
- Chemical testing
- Microscopic analysis
- Physical testing
- Disease State
- Physiology
Chemistry
This subject encompasses 20–25% of questions out to 100%.
It categorized into
- Carbohydrates
- Electrolytes
- Nutrition & Vitamins
- Heme Derivatives
- Lipids
- Therapeutic drug monitoring
- Nitrogen-containing compound
- Enzymes
- Proteins
- Toxicology
- Acid-base determinations
- Endocrinology
Hematology
The ASCP BOC chooses 20–25% of questions from hematology to create a 100-question exam
The ASCP MLT exam breakdown includes:
- Hemostasis (disease states, physiology, & lab determinations)
- Laboratory testing
- Physiology
- Disease states
Immunology
It presents 5-10% questions for the ASCP MLT exam.
The exam syllabus for this subject is:
- Disease of the immune system
- Principles of immunology
- Test results
- Serologic procedures
- Transplantation
- Infectious disease serology
Microbiology
This exam content area gives 15-20% of questions for the ASCP medical lab technician exam.
The microbiology exam syllabus is broken down into the following topics:
- Analytical procedure for bacteriology
- Preanalytic procedures
- Analytical methods for virology, mycology, parasitology, and mycobacteriology
- Postanalytic methods
Laboratory Operation
It is specific to encompass the 5-10% questions of the entire exam.
The distribution of the ASCP MLT exam breakdown for the lab operation is:
- Quality assessment
- Lab mathematics
- instrumentation
- Automated methodology
- Manual methodology
ASCP MLT Exam Breakdown: Calculation
With the recommended exam content area, you must also learn the following calculations:
- LDL/Friedewald equation/non-HDL
- % Transferrin saturation/UIBC/TIBC
- Time urine calculation
- Unconjugated/indirect bilirubin
- A/G ratio
- Beer’s law
- Creatinine clearance calculation
- Red blood cell indics
- Manual hemocytometer counts
- Corrected WBC counts when > 10 nRBCs present
ASCP MLT Exam Breakdown: Reference Ranges
For Chemistry
Conventional units | SI units | |
Sodium | 136-145 mmol/L | 136-145 mmol/L |
Potassium | 3.5-5.1 mmol/L | 3.5-5.1 mmol/L |
Total CO2 | 22 – 33 mmol/L | 22 – 33 mmol/L |
Chloride | 98 – 107 mmol/L | 98 – 107 mmol/L |
Blood urea nitrogen | 6 – 20 mg/dL | 2.1 – 7.1 mmol/L |
Creatinine | 2.1 – 7.1 mmol/L | 71 – 106 µmol/L |
pH | 7.35 – 7.45 | 7.35 – 7.45 |
pCO2 | 5 – 44 mmHg | 4.7 – 5.9 kPa |
pO2 | > 80 mmHg | > 10.6 kPa |
HCO3- (bicarbonate) | 23 – 29 mmol/L | 23 – 29 mmol/L |
For Hematology
Conventional units | SI unite | |
RBC | 4.00 – 6.00 x 106 /μL | 4.00 – 6.00 x 1012/L |
HGB | 12.0 – 18.0 g/dL | 120 – 180 g/L |
HCT | 35% – 50% | 0.35 – 0.50 L/L |
MCV | 76 – 100 fL | 76 – 100 fL |
MCH | 26 – 34 pg | 26 – 34 pg |
RDW | 11.5 – 14.5% | 0.115 – 0.145 |
For Body Fluids
Conventional units | SI | |
WBC & RBC | 0 – 5/μL | 0 – 5 x 106 /L |
Protein | 15 – 45 mg/dL | 150 – 450 mg/L |
Glucose | 50 – 80 mg/dL | 2.8 – 4.4 mmol/L |
To increase the percentage of getting the certificate with a great score you must cover the A-Z exam syllabus.
Abdelhalim Elshawadfy is an ASCP certified Medical Laboratory Scientist (MLS ASCP), Specialist in Microbiology (SM ASCP), and Molecular Biology Technologist (MB ASCP) with a distinguished career marked by expertise, continuous learning, and a commitment to elevating the standards of clinical laboratory science. As an ASCP Certification Expert and American Board Certification Expert, Abdelhalim Elshawadfy continues to make invaluable contributions to the field, leaving a lasting impact on the medical community.