Australia has had Science degree courses in pathology for over 20 years. After "matriculating" from high school (a culmination of 12 years schooling), you hope to have a high enough score to get into University. In laboraory medicine, you can major in Biochemistry, Microbiology, Cellular pathology (histo and cytology) and haematology. Lately you can also major in molecular biology. This can take three to four years.
To be employed as a science officer in a pathology laboratory, you must have a science degree majoring in one or more of the above disciplines. Technicians on the other hand require a certificate or diploma from a College of further education or similar, though this may change. To hold a managerial role in histopathology you must be a science officer (accreditation requirements).
Pay scales in Australia are overall tied into Professional Officers Payscales ( with a little variation). These professional officers include university qualified nurses, physiotherapists, psychologists etc.
A degree is more than just a piece of paper. You are presented with knowledge of a complex nature in the fields you are majoring in. Your analysis and writing skills are developed. You are taught to think laterally, to solve and more importantly to predict problems. To apply knowledge from other sciences to develop new procedures. This is what is expected of Science Officers.
Many of the older med techs had to aquire these skills the hard way. Fortunately, in Australia many of these "oldies" are much involved in teaching and maintaining the quality of these degrees. Their experience is the foundation of our Science degrees.
Following are links to Australian tertiary education centres that offer courses in medical laboratory science:
Several institutions offer Technician qualifications. These courses prepares students for a career as a senior technician. Students are trained to a basic level in all four disciplines of pathology - biochemistry, microbiology, haematology and histopathology - and to an advanced level in one of these disciplines.
Graduates of these courses are able to:
For the recognition of Medical Laboratory Science qualifications in Australia DEET handle all such requests.