A model career ladder approach to medical technology education.

The medical technology program at the University of Vermont was modified in 1972 to create a 2 + 2 integrated curriculum with specialty options progressing that associate degree to baccalaureate degree. This design allows the fundamentals acquired in the associate degree curriculum of the medical laboratory technician (MLT) to serve as a practical and theoretical foundation that can be expanded upon in the baccalaureate degree curriculum of the medical technologist (MT). Options in the baccalaureate degree curriculum are generalist, specialist in clinical chemistry, in hematology, and in clinical microbiology. The design of this program provides a response to the changing role of the clinical laboratory practitioner.