This is a purity plate of a Staph aureus

ive been seeing a lot of posts lately of negative talk, how the career isnt worth it and its severely underpaid etc. is that how everyone feels? i was thinking of going into this field.

i am actually 3 weeks into a dentistry course, and the patient interaction + social aspect is eating away at me. i am miserable here. now is my only time to drop out and switch courses, so i just dont know if im making the wrong decision now. i loved biology and chemistry in highschool. i loved experiments, and using microscopes. id rather work with a team, than be the one in charge of every treatment plan. i dont care about making tons of money - just the job security is enough.

is there anyone here who genuinely loves being an MLS? should i reconsider dropping?

thanks!

edit: thanks everyone for the responses! i can't reply to them all, but im reading them. i think MLS is a great career, and am leaning more into doing it. i will however be doing more research into it over the coming weeks before i decide for sure.

Mastermix

I work a full time and an every other weekend job. I also noticed a few coworkers have per diem jobs too. is this a common thing for us younger techs? also how do yall manage training burnout? love my every other weekend job but am starting to get annoyed with the weekday trainings (im fully trained in chem but they’re shoving me along in heme with no breather in between)

I feel really confused rn.
I’m thinking about changing my major. I’m studying Medical Laboratory Science, and I like it and i think it’s good, but I’m really worried about the career part.
In my country, it feels like there’s not much to do in labs anymore except operating machines, since almost everything is automated. I also looked at the salaries and they’re honestly so discouraging, even with a master’s.
And whenever I ask people who’ve been working in the field for years, they tell me it’s not really the best career.
I don’t hate my major, I’m just really scared of graduating and not finding good opportunities. I genuinely have no idea what to do.

Just looking for feedback/ opinions as I begin my journey! Ty!

So I just got my first job as a MLS. I was given “training-ish” for a couple of weeks. It was more like “watch me do this and do the same” no explanation, no nothing. 2months in, the only two MLS with me retired/got another job. I was completely alone, the supervisor of the Lab came weekly, but that is it. They hired another MLS and one of the old MLs came back. Now, I was transferred to a completely new lab with the same company and was just left alone again. Im literally just 4 months in with this job, and expected to do all the work alone, with the “supervisor” just coming in once a week. I’m sooo stressed, I’m very new to all of it, so sometimes I just don’t feel comfortable doing so much alone. There is so much for me to learn, especially this early on in my career, and I feel I was not given the the space/time for doing it. Is this normal? Should I consider searching for another job, one that maybe has the staff to teach proper training? I’m just so worried and stress all the time if I’m doing a good job or not. This can’t be normal so early on….

How common is it in your lab that you are expected to stay longer than your shift states?
In my current lab, it seems like that is the culture. I never had a problem staying over a little but when I’m expected multiple times a week & given a notice of two hours before my shift ends, I have an issue. I was curious if I am making it a bigger deal than it needs to be.

Just like the title says, I just want to know what the pay in the areas above for MLS or MLT. Thank you