Meghna Bhat — Medical Laboratory Technologist, Haematology and Clinical Biochemistry
Bengaluru, Karnataka
B.Sc MLT graduate with three years on diagnostic benches across haematology, biochemistry and blood bank. Resequenced the morning run at a 260-sample-a-day laboratory, taking haematology turnaround from 5 hours 20 minutes to 3 hours 5 minutes.
Experience
Medical Laboratory Technologist, Haematology, Nirmalya Diagnostics · November 2024 – present
NABL-accredited reference laboratory. Runs a five-analyser haematology and biochemistry bench on the morning shift.
- Resequenced the morning run and moved calibration to the night shift, cutting haematology turnaround from 5 hours 20 minutes to 3 hours 5 minutes.
- Traced a recurring potassium drift to a single centrifuge rotor; replacing it ended 40 to 60 spurious haemolysis flags a month.
- Runs the daily Levey-Jennings review for 18 analytes and has held the bench inside two standard deviations on every quality assurance cycle for seven quarters.
- Wrote the peripheral smear reporting checklist six technologists now follow, which halved the smears sent back for re-staining.
Laboratory Technologist (rotational intern, then technologist), Panchvati Speciality Hospital · July 2023 – October 2024
- Rotated through microbiology, histopathology, blood bank and biochemistry, completing 11 months of supervised bench work before taking an independent shift.
- Brought sample rejection at the phlebotomy counter from 4.1% to 1.3% by redrawing the tube-order chart and retraining 14 collection staff.
- Maintained the blood bank cross-match register for about 900 units a year with no clerical discrepancy across two internal audits.
Projects
- Manual versus automated differential counts in anaemia workups — Final-year project across 300 peripheral smears at a district hospital laboratory.
Education
- B.Sc. Medical Laboratory Technology · Manipal College of Health Professions, Manipal Academy of Higher Education · August 2020 – June 2023
- Pre-University (Science) Physics, Chemistry, Biology · St Aloysius Pre-University College · June 2018 – April 2020
Skills
- Bench work: Automated haematology analysers, Peripheral smear morphology, Clinical biochemistry, Coagulation (PT/INR, aPTT), Urinalysis, Phlebotomy
- Quality: Levey-Jennings charts, Westgard rules, External quality assurance, ISO 15189 documentation, Calibration and maintenance logs
- Systems and safety: LIS entry and validation, Barcode sample tracking, Biomedical waste segregation, Spill and exposure protocol, Cold chain handling
Certifications
- Registered Medical Laboratory Technologist, Karnataka (registration number on request) — Karnataka State Allied and Healthcare Council
- Internal Auditor, ISO 15189 — National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories
- External Quality Assurance Programme, Clinical Biochemistry — Christian Medical College, Vellore
- Biomedical Waste Management and BSL-2 Biosafety — Karnataka State Pollution Control Board
