The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia is accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP), the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB), and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). The laboratory is fully computerized (it uses the Cerner Client Server Laboratory Information System), and it provides a broad range of clinical laboratory services (in 2006, it performed more than 6.3 million tests).

Microbiology is a section of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. It operates daily between 6:00am and 11:00pm; between 11:00am and 6:00am on-call staff are available to process STAT requests.

Microbiology receives more than 230,000 specimens per year, and it is divided into six subsections:

General Bacteriology (includes set up and processing)

• receives and processes approximately 11,000 samples per month
• staff includes three senior medical laboratory technologists and 17 staff medical laboratory technologists
• services include: STAT test for bacterial antigen analysis of CSF, routine cultures, bacterial/fungal identification, MRSA and VRE screening, and bacterial isolation

Parasitology

• receives and processes approximately 900 samples per month
• staff includes one laboratory technology specialist and one staff medical laboratory technologist
• services include: fecal fat screen, reducing substances, sedimentation technique on ova and parasites, pinworm prep, and Leishmania culture

Mycobacteriology and Mycology

• receives and processes approximately 500 samples per month
• staff includes one senior medical laboratory technologist and three staff medical laboratory technologists
• services include: acid fast bacilli stain and culture, detection and species identification of all mycobacteria, antibiotic sensitivity testing, and fungal culture and species identification

Clinical Microscopy and Urinalysis

• receives and processes approximately 5,000 samples per month
• staff includes one senior medical laboratory technologist and two staff medical laboratory technologists
• services include: pregnancy test and renal microscopy

Molecular Diagnostics

• receives and processes approximately 600 samples per month
• staff includes one laboratory technology specialist and three staff medical laboratory technologists
• services include: Hepatitis B and C quantitation and genotyping, viral load and resistance typing, and HIV-RNA quantitation

Virology

• receives and processes approximately 1,500 samples per month
• staff includes one senior medical laboratory technologists and three staff medical laboratory technologists
• services include: identification of viral and bacterial antigens, virus isolation, Clostridium difficile cytotoxin culture assay, and Chlamydia detection by immunoassay and DFA

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree (USA) or Diploma in Medical Technology (Canada), and
• Current Technologist-level (e.g., MT, M) registration with the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) or the Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science (CSMLS), and
• A minimum of two years current experience as a registered Medical Technologist in microbiology a mid- to large-sized hospital in North America.

Benefits:

• Tax-free income
• Single-status contract
• Accommodations provided
• Relocation allowance
• More than 7 calendar weeks of vacation