Prepare for your Medical Laboratory Technician exam with these practice questions and answers. This guide covers laboratory procedures, quality control, specimen handling, and safety protocols.
Q: To correctly report a colony count in a urine culture plated using a calibrated 0.001 mL loop, the observed colony count must be multiplied by which of the following?a. 1b. 100c. 1000d. 2000
Answer: c. 1000
Q: Examination of peripheral blood smear revealed 12 nucleated erythrocytes per 100 leukocytes. Which histogram observation correlates with this finding?a. Failure of the granulocyte population to return to baseline on the leukocyte histogramb. Shift to the left of the erythrocyte population on the erythrocyte histogramc. Failure of the lymphocyte population to begin at baseline on the leukocyte histogramd. Shift to the right of the platelet population on the platelet histogram
Answer: c. Failure of the lymphocyte population to begin at baseline on the leukocyte histogram
Q: A specimen for anaerobic culture is place in an anaerobic holding jar in order to:a. Minimize exposure to oxygenb. Maximize spore formationc. Increase the growth rate of the sampled. Decrease the exposure to UV light
Answer: a. Minimize the exposure to oxygen
Q: A clinical laboratory technician wishes to examine an unstained, wet preparation of cells or organism prior to dehydration. Which of the following types of microscopes would be best to use in this scenario?a. Phase Contrastb. Fluorescencec. Brightfieldd. Electron
Answer: a. Phase Contrast
Q: An organism gives the following reactions: TSI and KIA alkaline slant over an acid butt, H2S positive ferments glucose. Based on these reactions, what is the most likely identification of the organism?a. Proteus mirabilisb. Esherichia colic. Pseudomonas aeruginosad. Salmonella sp.
Answer: a. Proteus mirabilis
Q: A pregnant woman who has active syphillis and a RPR of 1:32 is being treated with penicillin. She gives birth to a baby boy. When the cord blood from the baby is tested, the RPR is 1:2. Based on the above data, the most likely interpretation is:a. The baby has congenital syphillisb. The baby does not have syphillis. A titer this low represents passive acquisition of the antibody from the motherc. The baby does not have syphillis. A titer this low represents a biological false positived. No definitive conclusion can be made from this data. Further testing is necessary
Answer: D.No definitive conclusion can be made from this data. Further testing is necessary
Q: Which of the following potential donors would be acceptable for donation of whole blood?a. An individual who had a tattoo appliedb. A phlebotomist with a reported needle stick injury 10 months agoc. An individual who has just immigrated to U.S. from Great Britaind. An 18-year old male taking antibiotics for a severe case of acne
Answer: d.An 18-year old male taking antibiotics for a severe case of acne
Q: An organism from a lung biopsy grew as mould at room temperature and a yeast at 37C. what is the most appropriate way to interpret these results?a. Specimen is contaminated, ask for repeat collectionb. Dimorphic fungus presentc. Two organisms are present but only the mould is significantd. Two pathogens are present
Answer: b.Dimorphic fungus present
Q: In a serological serial dilution, if tube 1 has 1mL of an undiluted specimen and doubling dilutions are used thereafter, what is the dilution in tube 10?a. 1:200b. 1:500c. 1:512d. 1:1024
Answer: c.1:512
Q: Infectious mononucleosis exhibits what serological reaction below when serum from an actively infected patient is tested?a. Agglutination of guinea pig kidney cells after absorption of the serum specimen with horse red blood cellsb. Agglutination of beef red blood cells after absorption of the serum specimen with horse red blood cellsc. Agglutination of horse red blood cells after absorption of the serum specimen by guinea pig kidney cellsd. Agglutination of horse red blood cells after absorption of the serum specimen by beef red blood cells
Answer: c.Agglutination of horse red blood cells after absorption of the serum specimen by guinea pig kidney cells
Q: Proficiency testing should be performed by:a. All personal who routinely perform the procedureb. Individuals on the day shiftc. Section supervisorsd. Newer personal whose performance requires monitoring
Answer: a.All personal who routinely perform the procedure
Q: A DAT profile gave the following results:{Polspecific: +} {IgG:+} {C3b: 0}These results are MOST consistent with:a. Warm autoimmune hemolytic anemiab. Cold autoimmune hemolytic anemiac. Complement deficiencyd. Immunosuppressant
Answer: a.Warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia
Q: A clinical laboratory technician is given an unknown sample to document proficiency in the performance of glucose testing. The clinical laboratory technician obtains a result of 195mg/dL; the control values are within the acceptable range. What should the clinical laboratory technician do?a. Report the result as 195mg/dLb. Repeat the test to confirm the resultc. Ask another clinical lab technician to perform the test to confirm the resultd. Dilute the sample and repeat the test
Answer: a.Report the result as 195 mg/dL
Q: A control has a mean of 2.8 with a standard deviation of 0.3 of the values obtained, 68% should fall within a range of:a. 2.2 – 3.1b. 2.5 – 3.4c. 2.2 – 3.4d. 2.5 – 3.1
Answer: d.2.5 – 3.1
Q: A new method for measuring blood urea nitrogen (BUN) is being considered by the chemistry dept. The following data are obtained for within-run precision studies after running the abnormal level control 10 times using the new method: 45, 48, 52, 53, 57, 55, 44, 45, 46, 50. The reference range for the control is 43 to 57 mg/dL. The manufacturer claims the C.V for the new method is 5.0%. what is the calculated C.V and is this precision acceptable?a. Calculated C.V. at 4.6% is less than the manufacture’s; precision is acceptableb. Calculated C.V. at 9.3% is greater than the manufacture’s; precision is unacceptablec. Calculated C.V. at 9.3% is less that the two times the manufacture’s; precision is acceptabled. Calculated C.V. at 10.8% is greater than the manufacturer’s; precision is unacceptable
Answer: b. Calculated C.V. at 9.3% is greater than the manufacture’s; precision is unacceptable
Q: Which of the following is the serum protein fraction most likely to be DECREASED in nephritic syndrome?a. Albuminb. Alpha2 globulinc. Beta globulind. Gamma globulin
Answer: D.Gamma globulin
Q: Which of the following is an example of a post analytical function of a laboratory information system?a. Delta Checkingb. Laboratory Report Productionc. Order Entry of Testsd. Patient Identification
Answer: b.Laboratory Report Production
Q: A unit of blood was transferred to a transfusing facility. The unit of blood should be returned to the collecting facility if the temperature is:a. 6Cb. 8Cc. 10Cd. 12C
Answer: d.12C
Q: The device used for capturing data from instruments and processing them without delay is:a. A modemb. An interfacec. A CPUd. A printer
Answer: b.an interface
Q: By attending an approved continuing-education program of one-hour in length, and individual can receive credit for:a. 10.0 CEU(continuing education units)b. 1.0 CEUc. 0.1 CEUd. 0.01 CEU
Answer: C.0.1 CEU
Q: While running coagulation tests on a photo-optical instrument, the clinical laboratory technician observes that the PT results for a bath of patient samples are consistently prolonged, but the APTT results for those patient samples are within normal limits. The clinical laboratory technician should check the:a. Reagent delivery pipetb. Level of thromboplastin in the reagent wellc. Patient samples for hemolysisd. Instrument’s light source
Answer: b.level of thromboplastin in the reagent well
Q: A clean 1.0 L volumetric flask is filled to the calibration line with distilled water. To the water in the flask 9.0g of NaCL is added and mixed by inversion. This method of preparation will result in a solution whose concentration is:a. 0.9g/dLb. 9.0g/dLc. Slightly less than 0.9g/dLd. Slightly greater than 0.9g/dL
Answer: c.slightly less than 0.9g/dL
Q: Water which is boiled and the resulting steam cooled characterize which type of water purification?a. Deionizationb. Distillationc. Filtrationd. Reverse osmosis
Answer: b.distillation
Q: In the differential standing technique (Gram’s technique) for bacteria, the counter stain is:a. Iodineb. Acetone-alcoholc. Crystal violetd. Safranin
Answer: d.safranin
Q: The organism corynebacterium diphtheria is BEST described by which of the following Gram’s stain reactions?a. Gram positive coccib. Gram negative coccic. Gram positive rodd. Gram negative rod
Answer: c.gram positive rod
Q: Which of the following is used to measure the RPM of a centrifuge?a. Ohmmeterb. Rheostatc. Voltmeterd. Tachometer
Answer: d.Tachometer
Q: Which is the best anticoagulant to use for a bone marrow aspirate to be sent for cytogentetic studies?a. EDTAb. Sodium heparinc. Sodium fluorided. 3.2% tri-sodium citrate
Answer: b.sodium heparin
Q: A wavelength of 250 nm falls into which category of electromagnetic radiation?a. Visibleb. Infraredc. Ultravioletd. Radio waves
Answer: c.Ultraviolet
Q: Which parasite is passed in the feces as a noninfective rhabditiform larva?a. Strongyloides stercoralisb. Hymenolepis nanac. Dipylidium caninumd. Schistosoma mansoni
Answer: a.Strongyloides stercoralis
Q: A clinical laboratory technician consistently prepares peripheral blood smears that are very thin and cover the majority of the slide. What is the appropriate corrective action?a. Use a larger drop of bloodb. Alcohol was the slide firstc. Increase the spreading speedd. Increase the angle of the spreading slide
Answer: d. Increase the angle of the spreading slide
Q: What is the total magnification produced when using a 15 X ocular lens and a 25 X objective lens on a light microscope?a. 525 Xb. 250 Xc. 375 Xd. Cannot be determined without additional information
Answer: c.375 X
Q: A procedure calls for an incubation at 86F. Your water bath has a thermometer that only reads in degrees Celsius. What should the thermometer read when the water bath is at the correct temperature for this procedure?a. 25Cb. 30Cc. 32Cd. 37C
Answer: b.30C
Q: Which of the following crystals would represent an abnormal finding in a urine specimen?a. Cystineb. Uric acidc. Calcium oxalated. Ammonium biurate
Answer: a.Cystine
Q: A patient’s peripheral blood smear examination reveals normochromic erythrocytes and the patient’s hemoglobin is 8.2 g/dL. Which hematocrit value correlates with these data?a. 0.15b. 0.25c. 0.30d. 0.33
Answer: b.0.25
Q: The QC chart of an instrument which runs stat chemistry panels shows 10 consecutive data points on one side of the mean. The first thing the clinical laboratory technician should do is:a. Report the results with a a disclaimer that they may be erroneousb. Repeat the control sera on the next runc. Repeat the entire run with new reagentsd. Follow the trouble shooting procedures for the test method
Answer: d. Follow the trouble shooting procedures for the test method
Q: You are a phlebotomist and must draw a blood sample from a trauma patient in the emergency room. The patient has an IV in his left wrist and a cast on this right arm. Which of the following sites should be used to obtain blood for a glucose analysis?a. Vein in the left handb. Left median cubital veinc. Right median cubital veind. Earlobe
Answer: a.Vein in the left hand