Mattie Said:

What else could you do with a degree in Medical Laboratory Technician?

We Answered:

MLTs are employed by hospital laboratories, clinics and doctor's offices, reference labs, public health labs, the military, and sometimes in research and development. Some experienced MLTs and MTs move into positions as sales or service representatives for companies that produce automated instrumentation or other products used in laboratory testing. More opportunities become available with experience.

To advance or move into management you would probably need to pursue a career as a Medical Laboratory Scientist (formerly known as a Medical Technologist) and pass the MLS(ASCP) exam (see link below) which requires a bachelor's degree in medical technology/clinical laboratory science.

Tommy Said:

Question for someone who is Medical Laboratory Technician?

We Answered:

No they are very different degrees when it comes to the paycheck. A medical laboratory tech can function independently where a MLTA, operates under the scope or supervision of a med tech, or pathologist. The mlt earns several dollars an hour more.

Terry Said:

Medical laboratory technician, Histotechnician or Cytotechnologist?

We Answered:

These professionals are not the same at all, so you need to do more research before you jump to the conclusion that they are all similar.

First, you need to understand the terminology.
Medical Laboratory Technician (also know as Clinical Laboratory Technician) - Only needs an associates degree, and preforms a lot of simplistic tasks in the lab. They do not do any analysis, because they have neither the training nor the education to perform analysis. You are the "set-up" person of the lab, you fill out paper work, you put samples into a machine, take out the samples, and deliver them to the Medical Technologist (see below). These technicians do NOT make a lot of money, and are not hired by hospitals (why hire a technician, when you can hire a technologist to do even more?).

Medical Laboratory Technologist (also known as a Clinical Laboratory Scientist/Technologist) - Needs a bachelor's degree in terms of education, and performs all the basic tasks in the lab. They are 4 specialties (Hematology, Immunohematology (blood bank), Microbiology, Chemistry), and most often a Technologist will be a "generalist" and specialize in all 4 (as they are more likely hired by hospitals) THIS is the job that is in high demand right now, and it is on par with the nursing shortage (2 percentage points below). They preform all the task a technician would perform, but also perform analysis, and give their results to physicians. They are a critical part of diagnosing a patients aliment. This jobs pays more than the technician, obviously.

Technician is always BELOW Technologist.

Cytotechnology is a technologist who specializes in the study of cells, and determining early stages of cancer or other abnormalities on the cellular level. They perform lots of microscopy, preparing slides to view and visually determining cellular abnormalities. You must have a Bachelor's level of education to do this job, and it pays slightly better than a Medical Technologist (as there is a high degree of specialization)

Histotechnican is a technician. They are FAIRLY limited in what they can do, because a technician is BELOW the technologist. A histotechnician probably collects and prepares the body tissue for examination by the histotechnologist. A histotechnologist specializes in the study of tissues, and looks for abnormalities in human tissues.

So, as you can see, they are Extremely different fields. I would suggest if you are looking for a stable career to go to a Medical Technologist field. If you feel you have an affinity to either tissues or cells, you can specialize AFTER you have completed the medical technologist education and certification.

If you have any more questions, I'd be more than happy to tell you more. Just email m.

Martha Said:

How can I improve the quality of my work as a Medical Laboratory Technician ?

We Answered:

Follow directions and do your best!

Dean Said:

How much does a Medical Laboratory Technician (MLT) with an associates degree earn in a year?

We Answered:

The best place to check is salary.com. It is really a good website because you put in the zip code where you are planning on working and it will give you a range of what people make in that area with that degree.