I will give it a stab as nobody else has. I am not a MLAB TECH but I have had a number work with/for me in the past.
1. You need to do the Basic Military Qualification and the Primary Leadership Qualification to be a substantive Master Corporal which is the working rank of MLAB TECH. There will be additional training in blood banking, parasitology and military lab topics. There is also exposure to field lab set ups and common field equipment. Both of these are part of a one year mentorship program you complete in your first year. You will have the opportunity to conduct maintenance of clinical skills in civilian hospitals for those skills you do not use regularly in your day-to-day practical (such as transfusion services and micro) . You will also occasionally (but infrequently) be able to deploy to the field with a field ambulance or the Field Hospital during larger exercises. In some units there will be a requirement for deployment readiness which means yearly shooting and solider skills training / verification.
2. Travel is not overly frequent. No more than anyone else.
3. When we have field hospital deployed we always have at least two lab techs deployed. Lab Techs generally work in a two person (Jr Lab Tech - MCpl / Sr. Lab Tech - Sgt) team. It is a small trade and the rotations to the deployed setting matches demand versus supply. Right now we do not have a field hospital deployed. There is little chance at deployments outside of this. There is also a Lab Tech assigned to the Disaster Assistance Response Team, which is a humanitarian standby capability on a shorter notice to move.
4. All most all MLAB TECH work in Canadian Forces Health Services Centres around Canada. Think of this like a walk-in clinic with between 1-5 primary health care teams. It is generally a blended civilian / military / contracted workforce. Work for a Jr. Lab Tech involves running labs ( mostly hematology, and chemistry - nothing sexy), calibrating machines, reporting results, drawing blood, dispatching labs and receiving results, keeping the lab clean and well functioning. Expect occasional secondary duties in most units.
Good luck and I hope you apply or at least visit a recruiting centre to check us out!
MC
