A Clinical Lab Technician performs routine tasks in a Laboratory, usually in a hospital but also in research institutes and clinics. The main duties include conducting lab tests that aid in the detection, diagnosis and treatment of a disease, for instance collecting blood samples, labeling them and performing simple tests on them.
Clinical Lab Technician Jobs And Schooling
To become a Clinical Lab Technician you must have a high school diploma or its equivalent. High school courses in science and math will also hold you in good stead. After high school you will generally need specialized training in either an associate degree from a junior college or community, or a certificate from a hospital, a vocational or a technical school. Although certification is not required, it can be an advantage in finding a job or indeed advancing in the field. Manual dexterity and normal color vision are also generally required. The best way to become a Clinical Lab Technician is to take a two year accredited training program offered in community and junior colleges, four-year colleges, and universities. It is very important that before you start your training that you fully review the training program, this can aid you when you are searching for a job as certain areas of medicine have different training requirements.
The outlook for this profession is excellent through the year 2014, with employment expected to increase faster than average. As the older population grows, so will the volume of testing and the number of clinical labs needing technicians. The U.S News and the World Report has listed this career in the top 50 best career opportunities of 2010, referring to them as the ‘unsung heroes of the health care industry’. Knowing that your work behind the scenes can save someone’s life can be extremely satisfying and rewarding. Not to mention being in demand like with all the Kaiser Permanente jobs available right now is a very good feeling.
A Clinical Lab Technician can easily advance in their careers to become technologists, which in turn can lead to supervisory positions in laboratory work or may become chief medical lab technologists. Both of these would require some extra training but are more than easily attainable.
This can be a very rewarding career choice in both job satisfaction and salary which can be anywhere between $35,000 and $50,000 per annum. A good respectable income for a very respectable job. Extra benefits from employers also usually include paid holidays and vacations and in some cases a pension plan. If you have a scientific, mathematical mind and would like a practical career with excellent prospects, then this is definitely a path that you should consider.
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