What Does a Medical Lab Technician Do?

A medical lab technician plays a vital role in the health care system. These technicians help diagnose and treat diseases. As is the case with most health care employment, job opportunities are expected to be Excellent for those who are well trained.

Medical lab technicians typically require a bachelor's degree to qualify for entry-level employment. This degree may be in medical technology, or in an applicable science, such as Biology, chemistry or math.

Additionally, some states may require a license or registration. To determine if your state has these requirements, contact your state board of health.

More than half of all medical lab technicians find employment in hospitals. Others find employment in other health care professional offices, such as those of doctors, or in professional diagnostic laboratories. Additional technicians find work in educational settings, such as universities or community colleges.

Many laboratory technicians work day shifts exclusively, particularly if they work in a doctor's office. Others may work rotating shifts or exclusively night shifts, and some places of employment require their technicians to be on call during nights and weekends.

The primary job of a technician is to look for bacteria and other parasites in bodily fluids and cells. They also test drug levels and analyze blood for proper transfusion matching. Further job duties may include preparing specimens for other health care professionals to examine, counting cells, and examining the chemical content of bodily fluids and cells. Technicians report their findings to doctors and nurses.

In smaller health care settings, technicians must be able to perform a wide variety of these tasks. But in larger hospital settings, technicians may be divided into specialty categories, depending upon the type of work they perform.

Salaries vary, depending upon the place of employment. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the median annual salary is as high as $36,840 for those working in hospitals and as low as $31,320 for those working in various ambulatory services.

When broken down into hourly wages, the median wage for a technician in a hospital is $18.54. Private clinics and physician offices pay less, at $17.00 and $16.96, respectively.