WPCC MLT students compete in National Cell Bowl

Pictured are students celebrating their participation in the National Cell Bowl competition.

Western Piedmont Community College’s first-year Medical Laboratory Technology (MLT) students recently competed in the National Cell Bowl, which is sponsored by the American Society for Clinical Pathology. This is the competition’s second year in existence, but it was WPCC’s first time competing.

The Cell Bowl is for MLT students to correctly identify as many blood cells as they can while being timed. In the competition, there are 85 teams in total across the nation. Running a total of 7 weeks, the first four weeks are regional competition and the following 3 weeks are narrowed down to a semi-final and final. WPCC’s program completed their participation in the National Cell Bowl with the US Eastern Regional competition. 

“I really enjoyed participating in the 2022 Cell Bowl. It was a fun way of learning cell identification and the competition against other schools gave some of us the nudge to try even harder. It was a great experience that I look forward to next year,” current MLT student Trish Passman said. 

The MLT program recognized and rewarded their top scorers each week of the competition. They also recognized the student who improved their score the most over the first four weeks in the regional competition. Our MLT program celebrated the end of the 2022 National Cell Bowl competition by hosting a Cell Bowl Party on November 1st.

WPCC MLT Instructor Laura Marley-Trotter said that WPCC’s MLT program was very excited to be part of this national competition.

“The Cell Bowl has been a unique learning experience that has challenged our Medical Laboratory Students all while making learning exciting,” Marley-Trotter said. “We look forward to participating in the Cell Bowl 2023!” 

The Medical Laboratory Technology program at WPCC offers an Associate in Applied Science Degree. For more information, contact April James, MA, MLS (ASCP) at (828) 448-6033 or Laura Marley-Trotter, BS, MLS (ASCP) at (828) 448-3541.