BTI’s tuition-free Laboratory Associates Program is designed to provide the skills needed for a career in the life sciences.
The program consists of two components:
- BioSTART, our 6-week bridge program designed to jumpstart candidates’ skills and knowledge in basic math, communications, and critical workplace skills, and to build a sense of teamwork; and
- A second more intense component, the 9-week Laboratory Associates Program approved by the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC), provides the academics, conceptual and hands-on laboratory skills necessary for success.
After the completion of the 15 weeks, graduates take one of two routes: they either 1) secure a paid laboratory position, OR 2) complete a required 100-hour, paid internship, which BTI helps arrange.
Successful completers are eligible for 7 credits toward an Associate of Applied Science degree in biotechnology through an agreement with Baltimore City Community College.
Our classroom instructors are fully qualified, kind, caring, and expert in helping students master all aspects of the program and go on to a successful and fulfilling career as a lab associate professional.
Curriculum
Topics and skills include:
- Techniques in cell culture
- FDA-sanctioned Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)
- Laboratory safety and Good Laboratory Practices (GLP)
- Cleaning and sterilization
- Gowning techniques
- Clean room practices
- Weights and measurements
- Laboratory math
- Introduction to animal care
- Techniques in molecular biology.
Lab skills such as pipetting and contamination control and documentation, critical to success in any lab environment, are taught and reinforced in every lab session.