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How to Save a Life: A Career as a Lab Technician

By Clare Kaufman
Learning & Life Columnist
August 24, 2007

Getting another step closer to the cure for cancer, Alzheimer's, or another medical breakthrough--it's all in a day's work for the medical research team. Medical lab technicians perform the scientific detective work that sheds light on medical mysteries and ultimately saves lives.

Together, the medical research team conducts clinical trials and experiments to determine the cause of disease and develop treatments or a potential cure. Depending on their training, medical research staff may serve as lab technicians or scientists.

• Medical Laboratory Technicians (MLTs), also known as clinical laboratory technicians, are qualified to carry out laboratory tests and procedures. An MLT may collect and analyze biological specimens, perform chemical tests, record experimental data, and maintain lab instruments.
• Clinical Laboratory Scientists (CLS) (also called medical technologists) take on more responsibility and perform more advanced testing, such as molecular diagnostics and complex microbiological procedures. They may conduct their own research and supervise a team of technicians.

Many medical research technicians and scientists specialize in a particular area--either in a technology, such as sonography or radiology, or in a scientific process such as hematology (blood), biotechnology, bacteriology, or DNA analysis. Online Career Training for Lab Techs
Lab technicians can enter the field with a two-year associate's degree from an NAACLS-accredited medical laboratory technician program. Clinical laboratory scientists or medical technologists qualify with a four-year bachelor's degree in the field. Specialized online degrees are available for histotechnicians and histotechnologists, cytogenic technologists, and diagnostic molecular scientists. All these jobs require successful completion of a certification exam.

Job opportunities in medical research are excellent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, especially in medical and diagnostic laboratories. Median annual earnings for technicians were $30,840 in 2004. Scientists/technologists earned significantly more, coming in at $45,730.

Rosy job prospects are good, but the satisfaction of helping others is even better. As CLT Barbara Brown puts it, "It is so rewarding to know I am making a difference in people's lives."

Sources

• Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians"
• Explore Health Careers
• National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS)

About the Author
Clare Kaufman is a freelance writer who covers education and career-related topics. She has a graduate degree in English.

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