INTRODUCTION
The Medical Laboratory Department was established in 1984 in the then Medical Staff Training School (MSTS), NNS QUORRA in Apapa Lagos. The School was relocated to Offa and renamed Nigerian Navy School of Health Sciences (NNSHS) Offa on 26 May 2007. Thereafter, NNSHS was renamed Nigerian Navy College of Health Sciences (NNCHS) Offa, befitting of it current status where all the courses are fully accredited by their respective professional boards and the diploma programmes by National Board for Technical Education (NBTE). The Medical Laboratory department is one of the seven (7) academic departments in NNCHS Offa.
The Medical Laboratory Technician course produces skilled healthcare professionals trained to perform laboratory investigations and operate laboratory equipment under the supervision of a certified Medical Laboratory Scientist. They examine body fluid samples in a laboratory setting to detect parasites, bacteria, and other microorganisms that may be causing the patient’s disease.
The investigations are carried out in specialty areas like clinical chemistry, haematology, immunology, histopathology, and bacteriology on body fluids such as blood, urine, sputum, stool, cerebrospinal fluid, peritoneal fluid, pericardial fluid and synovial fluid.
The department is fully accredited with the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN) for the training of Medical Laboratory Technicians as middle level manpower for the Nigerian Navy Medical services. The department has 2 practical laboratories that are fully equipped, spacious and well ventilated for the training of Medical laboratory technicians.
The department adheres strictly to the latest MLSCN MLT curriculum for training of the students. The NNCHS is thus tasked with the professional training of admitted personnel into reliable, competent, and academically sound professionals.
The course is studied on campus for the whole period the School is in session. Students go on Industrial Training at the end of every second semester spanning a period of 8 weeks.
The course is run for 6 semesters which spans a period of 3 years. The students go for practical/ Laboratory attachments at the end of each session for a period of about 10 weeks. They are posted to different laboratories with the requisite standards and equipment for training. Laboratory Log books are compulsorily filled by the students on their day to day activities carried out in the lab during the period of attachment. These are examined and used to determine the quality of practical training undergone by the students.
An aspiring MLT student must possess a minimum of 5 credits in not more than 2 sittings in NECO, SSCE/ GCE ‘O’ level subjects which must include English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology.
A fully certified Medical Laboratory Technician who has completed the 3-year period of training and has passed the MLSCN MLT Professional examination is licensed and qualified to work in any certified medical laboratory, hospital laboratories, research laboratories etc both in and outside the country where the certificate is recognized.
A Medical Laboratory Technician can aspire higher to become a Medical Laboratory Scientist. This is being made possible by some tertiary institutions who offer direct entry admissions to academically qualified Medical Laboratory Technicians.
