Medical Laboratory Technology Diploma

Through NAIT’s Medical Laboratory Technology (MLT) program, you'll learn to collect blood samples from patients, analyze blood and body fluids for microorganisms and cellular and chemical components, conduct compatibility testing for blood products, and prepare tissue samples for microscopic examination.

This program focuses on the analysis of human blood, body fluids and tissues. You’ll take general laboratory-related courses with progression to discipline-specific courses in microbiology, transfusion science, hematology, clinical chemistry, and histotechnology.

Upon completion of courses at NAIT, you will progress to affiliated laboratories in Alberta to train alongside registered medical laboratory technologists as part of your required clinical placement. The clinical placements are assigned by the MLT program. While we strive to accommodate first-choice clinical site requests, placement locations are not guaranteed. Clinical site assignments are finalized before the program begins and cannot be changed.

Program phases  

The MLT program is divided into two phases. 

• Phase I of the MLT program begins every September and consists of 49 weeks of classroom instruction with practical laboratory sessions on NAIT Main Campus. This includes two 15-week semesters and one four-week intersession, followed by one additional 15-week semester.  
• Phase II consists of 38 weeks of Work Integrated Learning (WIL) at one of three affiliated training sites in Edmonton, Grande Prairie or Red Deer. WIL provides practical experience in clinical settings. You will apply the concepts studied at NAIT and build your organizational and critical thinking skills, and your professionalism. Completion of IPHE1201 in the first 15 weeks of training is also required.