Medical Technologist

Career Area: Health Care including Nursing

Occupation Group: Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians

Salary

Percentile wages tell how much a certain percentage of an overall population in a geographic area or within a given industry or field makes. The percentile wage estimate is the value of a wage below which a certain percent of workers fall.

An example would be the 25th percentile, 25 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 75 percent earn more than the estimated wage value. At the 75th percentile, 75 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 25 percent earn more than the estimated wage value.

A typical Medical Technologist earns the following wages (national and state):

State

The average salary in North Carolina for those pursuing this career is $52,802

National

The average salary in the United States for those pursuing this career is $57,029

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

Collects and analyzes samples of body fluids, tissues, and other substances for diagnostic and research purposes. Works in a laboratory or healthcare facility. May conduct a variety of tests, or specialize in types of tests or types of substances; may examine cells for cancerous growth or collect and prepare blood for transfusions. Performs work similar to a medical laboratory technician, but usually conducts more complex procedures and tests.

Employment Trends

The job demand and job growth statistics shown here were derived from job posts over the past year. Expected job growth projections are extrapolated from year-over-year job post listing history.

Job demand and job growth is expected at the following rates:

Skills

A professional in this position typically utilizes the following skills in the course of everyday work in this exciting and challenging field:

Baseline Skills

The following are baseline skills every Medical Technologist is expected to have in order to experience success in this field:

• Troubleshooting: Troubleshooting or dpanneuring is a form of problem solving, often applied to repair failed products or processes on a machine or a system.
• Communication Skills: The ability to convey information to another effectively and efficiently.
• Problem Solving: Problem solving consists of using generic or ad hoc methods, in an orderly manner, for finding solutions to problems.
• Research: Experience performing creative and systematic work to understand a product, market, or customer, either before building a new solution, or to troubleshoot an existing issue
• Computer Literacy: The ability to use computers and related technology efficiently for work tasks.

Specialized Skills

These skills are specific to working in this career:

• Medical Technology: Working experience of Medical Technology, which can be considered as any technology used to save lives in individuals suffering from a wide range of conditions. In its many forms, medical technology is diagnosing, monitoring and treating most diseases or conditions.
• Quality Assurance and Control: Working experience with processes used to measure and assure the quality of a product and ensuring products and services meet consumer expectations.
• Laboratory Testing: Laboratory testing refers to the process of performing any medical tests or procedures that are conducted in a controlled environment where the appropriate equipment, supplies, and certified expertise are available. Laboratory testing can be simply referred to as a laboratory test or lab test.
• Patient Care: The services rendered by members of the health profession and non-professionals under their supervision for the benefit of the patient.
• Laboratory Procedures: A laboratory (CommE or , AmE ; informally, lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed.

Distinguishing Skills

Any Medical Technologist that possesses the following skills will stand out against the competition:

• Phlebotomy: Phlebotomy is the process of making an incision in a vein with a needle.
• Specimen Collection: As a scientific collection is referred to any systematic collection of objects for the study of nature or of the human history as well as the institutions, organizations or sub-organizations that build such collections preserve, develop systematically and make accessible and useful.
• Clinical Pathology: Working experience of Clinical Pathology, which is a medical specialty that is concerned with the diagnosis of disease based on the laboratory analysis of bodily fluids, such as blood, urine, and tissue homogenates or extracts using the tools of chemistry, microbiology, hematology and molecular pathology.
• Disease Treatment: Working experience of Disease Treatment, which are efforts to cure or improve a disease or other health problem. In the medical field, therapy is synonymous with the word treatment. Among psychologists, the term may refer specifically to psychotherapy or talk therapy. Common treatments include medications, surgery, medical devices, and self-care. Treatments may be provided by an organized health care system, or informally, by the patient or family members.
• Radiologic Technology: Radiologic technology is a general term applied to the allied health profession that encompasses the use of ionizing radiation (x-ray), sound or radio waves, radioactive substances to produce an image, and magnetic imaging. These resultant images are used by the radiologist to help in making a diagnosis.

Salary Boosting Skills

A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills:

• Radiologic Technology: Radiologic technology is a general term applied to the allied health profession that encompasses the use of ionizing radiation (x-ray), sound or radio waves, radioactive substances to produce an image, and magnetic imaging. These resultant images are used by the radiologist to help in making a diagnosis.

Experience

This position typically requires the following level of experience. The numbers presented in the pie charts below were derived from actual job posts over the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Common Job Titles

It is possible to find work in this field in positions commonly listed as the following job titles:

• Medical Technologist
• Travel Medical Technologist
• Travel Interventional Radiologist Technician/Catheterization Laboratory Technologist
• Cath Laboratory Technologist/Cath Laboratory
• Medical Technologist Prn

Similar Occupations

If you are interested in exploring similar occupations, you may want to research the following job titles:

• Clinical Laboratory Technician