Rukia's Pathway

Medical laboratory scientists can follow any number of professional paths once they graduate from an accredited program, like the University of Minnesota’s.

And a number of pathways can lead them to them to the University’s Medical Laboratory Sciences (MLS) program, in the first place.

Rukia Qassem enrolled after she graduated from high school online, and then received a two-year degree in Medical Laboratory Technology from a community college.  She enrolled in the University of Minnesota and its MLS program as a junior, with a clear vision of the path she wants to follow after she graduates.

"I personally want to become an educator in the MLS field. I want to teach others about the MLS field because it is not as well-known as any other health field," she says. "If a test result isn’t accurate, doctors might treat patients the wrong way. The risk is patient care will decline. As a medical laboratory scientist, you’re working to mainly do testing. I want to teach that."

Rukia is one of five children in her family attending college, which poses a financial strain on her parents, who are supporting them. When she learned of the Pathways Scholarship, a new grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for students in the University’s MLS program, she applied.
Soon after, an email popped up in her inbox.

"I got the scholarship," she says. "I celebrated with my family. To have financial help and not have to worry about money is a great motivation to keep going. [The University is] essentially telling me they have my back as long as I keep moving forward."

Here are the specific qualifying guidelines for University of Minnesota MLS students to receive funding from The MLS Pathways Scholarship, and descriptions of the many other scholarships that students in the MLS program can apply to receive.

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