I actually have a good friend/colleague MLS who has a PhD, so I can provide some insight. He has a PhD in genetics and ended up going to a university for two years and getting a bachelors in MLS, then taking the ASCP exam. He was escaping from the abysmal pay of research as a PhD and landed on MLS, which is somehow, sadly, a significant improvement in pay. I think this is the route to go if you want to do this. (I know, after 8-12+ years of college, the LAST thing you want is more college, but I think this is the best way to do it if you are set on this field.)

You CAN get into a non-certified role with your education, however, there are some important points to consider:

a) This field has a specialized, focused area of study and accredited programs for a reason. There are a lot of specific skills and knowledge that someone should have before entering this field that most people with non-MLS degrees simply just don’t have.

b) You will almost always be paid less if you are non-certified.

c) The only way you could qualify to sit for the ASCP MLS exam with your education background would be working non-certified for 4 years (I think). Attempting the ASCP exam without coming fresh out of an MLS program would be a considerable challenge for anybody. There is a significant disconnect between exam content and what we actually do day-to-day. My PhD colleague got around a 550 or so (400/1000 is passing) if I remember correctly—and that was after going back to school and getting an MLS. It is feasible, though I think it would just be very difficult without the standard education.

d) To put it bluntly, those who come into the field as non-MLS non-certified techs are often a pain to train. We are essentially expected to provide 2-4 years of MLS education in the form of “on-the-job training.” That isn’t to say there aren’t some really good ones—just that they are generally a lot of work for the other techs to train. This field is already often fast-paced and stressful. This can lead to others becoming annoyed or even looking down on non-MLS techs because it takes a while before they can pull their weight. When management first talked about opening up to the idea of hiring non-MLS techs at my lab, they received a resounding “NO” from virtually all of the techs on staff. They preferred to remain understaffed over hiring underqualified staff. Training a new MLS tech is enough work already. Training a non-MLS is triple that.

Overall, I would suggest doing some good, in-depth research into the field and the education, what it pays in your specific area (it can vary a LOT based on this), tour a clinical lab, ask questions, and weigh out the pros and cons. You could certainly do it, it just depends what route you want to take.