2020 exam schedule and fees

Dear MLT and MLA Educators,

We would like to draw your attention to the 2020 exam schedule that has been available on our website since March 2019. Some things have changed and some have stayed the same, so we would like to tell you what’s new.

We have aligned the MLT and MLA exam dates and registration sessions:

• The exam dates now occur in the last week of our traditional exam sessions in February 2020, June 2020 and October 2020.
• The registration sessions for the MLT exams are now open at the same time as the MLA exam sessions.
  o    MLT exam registration is still open for two (2) months but now opens a month later.
  o    In addition, the early exam registration fee dates are open longer, changing from 4 weeks to 6 weeks. Hopefully, this allows candidates who may need to re-write, from the previous exam session, the chance to register for the next exam session online for a lower fee.

Be sure to provide your students with the listed 2020 exam dates. Fee increases for the June 2020 and October 2020 exams will be posted on our website next year in January.

Supporting Your Students’ Mental Health

Many post-secondary students encounter stressors while at school, like homesickness and financial worries. Without their usual support system in place, some students find it difficult to cope.

We have updated the learning resources and practical tools on the “I am a Student” section of the Mental Health Toolkit to help your students take control of their wellbeing. Share this resource with them today!

Be Inspired at LABCON2020

Come to LABCON in Winnipeg to share knowledge, explore new technology and connect with educators from across Canada. The energy you’ll encounter at the conference will inspire you. Learn more.

Revised Textbook Lists

We are revising the reference textbooks list, which may be used when preparing for a CSMLS certification exam.

Here are a few components to expect with this revised list:

• References will be in MLA 8 (Modern Language Association, 8th edition) style reference formatting.

• The list will be alphabetized by author’s name(s).

• New editions will be indicated in parentheses and in bold as (NEW EDITION) at the end of the listed reference.

• New texts will be indicated in parentheses and in bold as (NEW) at the end of the listed reference.

Moving forward, we are aiming to release these lists annually each February. We will continue the process of announcing the updated lists in the Faculty Focus.

One-Stop Shop for Career Success

Do your students need a little career direction? CSMLS recently launched a career toolkit to help guide them on their path to success. With the help of employers across Canada, CSMLS compiled different resources to help them prepare for their first career in the medical laboratory profession.

Haven’t discovered this resource yet? There might be value in our “Career Advice” videos, which provide practical tools to help medical laboratory professionals present themselves as top applicants. After that, check out the “Resume Checklist”, which can be either filled out online or downloaded in a printable version for your convenience.

A Game of Ethics

We want to support open and honest communication about ethical issues that our members may encounter in the clinical environment. To do this, we’ve created an ethical dilemma card game for everyone to play, including you and your students. Have fun imagining yourselves in an ethical dilemma and describing how you would solve the situation.

Program Performance Reviews

CSMLS offers free performance reviews of educational programs offering Medical Laboratory Technology (MLT) and Medical Laboratory Assistant (MLA) diplomas.

We provide you, the educator, with details on how students from your school who took the CSMLS exam fared on each core competency (from the CSMLS Competency Profiles) and whether there are areas of opportunity for your program.

We can help you focus your curriculum so your students are successful when writing the CSMLS Certification Exam.

For more details or to schedule a review please contact Lorna Zilic, Manager, Certification and PLA at lornaz@csmls.org.