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What Is a Medical Lab Technician? Job Description & Career Growth

Learn what you’ll do in a medical lab technician job.

The Basics

What you’ll do: You’ll work under the supervision of a medical technologist or physician to perform tests that help physicians diagnose and treat diseases. Medical lab technicians prepare samples for analysis, use equipment to locate microorganisms, monitor tests and procedures, analyze the chemical content of fluids, match blood for transfusions, and test for drug levels in the blood.

Where you’ll work: Hospitals, clinics, private laboratories, public health organizations, research and development departments of pharmaceutical companies

Degree you’ll need: Associate’s degree or postsecondary certificate

Average annual salary: $44,380*

Job Environment

Medical technologists act as supervisors for medical technicians, who perform many of the same duties in a physician’s office or lab. On the job, you’ll collect and analyze body fluids, tissue and other substances to determine normal or abnormal findings. You’ll operate sophisticated equipment and instruments to identify the results.

Both technicians and technologists perform tests and procedures that physicians or other healthcare personnel order. However, technologists perform more complex tests and laboratory procedures than technicians do. In these roles, you’ll work side by side in doctor’s offices, clinics, diagnostic labs and research environments.

Medical laboratory technicians often wear eye shields, gloves and other gear to prevent the spread of infection and to protect themselves from solutions and reagents used in testing.

Career Advancement

If you’d like to advance and gain more responsibility and autonomy in the field, you can move into a medical technologist position. There, you can specialize in a variety of areas such as:

Blood bank technology (immunohematology)
Clinical chemistry technology
Cytotechnologist
Immunology
Microbiology
Molecular biology
Phlebotomy
Histotechnology

Certification of medical laboratory technologists and technicians is required for licensure in some states and by some individual employers. Although certification isn’t required to enter the occupation in all cases, earning it indicates your dedication to employers, and your commitment to high standards and continued improvement.

Credentialing Agencies Include:

The American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) and American Medical Technologists offer national testing for the title of Certified Medical Laboratory Technician (MLT)

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2019 Occupational Employment Statistics; Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians.

^{*The salary information listed is based on a national average, unless noted. Actual salaries may vary greatly based on specialization within the field, location, years of experience and other factors. National long-term projections of employment growth may not reflect local and/or short-term economic or job conditions, and do not guarantee actual job growth.}