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How to become Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologist in 2024

Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologist Perform complex medical laboratory tests for diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. May train or supervise staff.

Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologist is Also Know as

In different settings, Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologist is titled as

  • Clinical Laboratory Scientist (CLS)
  • Clinical Laboratory Technologist
  • Histologist Technologist
  • Medical Laboratory Technologist (Medical Lab Tech)
  • Medical Technologist (MT)
  • Microbiology Technologist

Education and Training of Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologist

Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologist is categorized in Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed

Experience Required for Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologist

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Education Required for Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologist

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

Degrees Related to Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologist

Training Required for Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologist

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Related Ocuupations

Some Ocuupations related to Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologist in different industries are

What Do Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologist do?

  • Analyze laboratory findings to check the accuracy of the results.
  • Conduct chemical analysis of body fluids, including blood, urine, or spinal fluid, to determine presence of normal or abnormal components.
  • Operate, calibrate, or maintain equipment used in quantitative or qualitative analysis, such as spectrophotometers, calorimeters, flame photometers, or computer-controlled analyzers.
  • Enter data from analysis of medical tests or clinical results into computer for storage.
  • Analyze samples of biological material for chemical content or reaction.
  • Set up, clean, and maintain laboratory equipment.
  • Provide technical information about test results to physicians, family members, or researchers.
  • Supervise, train, or direct lab assistants, medical and clinical laboratory technicians or technologists, or other medical laboratory workers engaged in laboratory testing.
  • Develop, standardize, evaluate, or modify procedures, techniques, or tests used in the analysis of specimens or in medical laboratory experiments.
  • Cultivate, isolate, or assist in identifying microbial organisms or perform various tests on these microorganisms.
  • Obtain, cut, stain, and mount biological material on slides for microscopic study and diagnosis, following standard laboratory procedures.
  • Select and prepare specimens and media for cell cultures, using aseptic technique and knowledge of medium components and cell requirements.
  • Conduct medical research under direction of microbiologist or biochemist.
  • Harvest cell cultures at optimum time, based on knowledge of cell cycle differences and culture conditions.
  • Establish or monitor quality assurance programs or activities to ensure the accuracy of laboratory results.
  • Collect and study blood samples to determine the number of cells, their morphology, or their blood group, blood type, or compatibility for transfusion purposes, using microscopic techniques.

Qualities of Good Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologist

  • Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
  • Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
  • Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
  • Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
  • Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
  • Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
  • Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
  • Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
  • Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
  • Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
  • Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
  • Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
  • Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
  • Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
  • Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
  • Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
  • Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
  • Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
  • Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
  • Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
  • Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
  • Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
  • Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
  • Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
  • Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
  • Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
  • Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
  • Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
  • Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
  • Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
  • Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
  • Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
  • Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
  • Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
  • Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
  • Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
  • Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
  • Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
  • Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
  • Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
  • Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
  • Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
  • Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
  • Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
  • Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
  • Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
  • Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.

Tools Used by Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologist

  • 22-gauge needles
  • 5-part differential automated hematology analyzers
  • 8 and 12 channel pipettes
  • Agglutination viewers
  • Anaerobe jars
  • Analytical balances
  • Antigen-coated test plates
  • Autoclaves
  • Automated chemistry analyzers
  • Automated coagulation analyzers
  • Automated hematology analyzers
  • Automated platelet analyzers
  • Automated urinalysis equipment
  • Automated/semi-automated dipstick analysis systems
  • Automatic pipetter diluters
  • Automatic pipetters
  • Automatic tissue processors
  • Balances
  • Bench refractometers
  • Blood agar plates
  • Blood bank refrigerators
  • Blood collection needles
  • Blood collection syringes
  • Butterfly needles
  • Calorimeters
  • Candle jars
  • Capillary sticks
  • Capillary tubes
  • Cell counters
  • Cell washers
  • Centrifuges
  • Chemistry analyzers
  • Chromatographs
  • Coagulation analyzers
  • Collection tube holders/adapters
  • Colorimeters
  • Compound light microscopes
  • Desktop computers
  • Differential cell counters
  • Differential hematology analyzers with laser technology
  • Diluters
  • Dropping pipettes
  • Electrical mixers
  • Electrolyte analyzers
  • Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay ELISA plate readers
  • Evacuated blood collection tubes
  • Flame photometers
  • Flow cytometers
  • Fluorescence microscopes
  • Fume hoods
  • Gel electrophoresis equipment
  • Glass slides
  • Glucose monitoring systems
  • Hemacytometers
  • Hemaglobinometers
  • Hematology analyzers
  • Hematology task-targeted automation TTA systems
  • Heterologous test systems
  • Homologous test systems
  • Hot air ovens
  • Incubators
  • Label printers
  • Laboratory vacuum pumps
  • Laminar flow cabinets
  • Laminar flow hoods
  • Laser printers
  • Light microscopes
  • Manual pipettes
  • Microhematocrits
  • Micrometers
  • Microtiter plates
  • Needle holders
  • Notebook computers
  • Osmometers
  • Personal computers
  • Petri dishes
  • pH meters
  • Photometer
  • Photomicroscopes
  • Plasma extractors
  • Plasma thawers
  • Plate washers
  • Platelet rockers
  • Portable coagulation analyzers
  • Safety pipetting devices
  • Scintillation counters
  • Semiautomated hematology analyzers
  • Sensitivity plates
  • Serological kits
  • Serology tube rotators
  • Single-channel pipettes
  • Spectrometers
  • Spectrophotometers
  • Sterile blood lancets
  • Sterile transfer tubes
  • Stylets
  • Thermal cyclers
  • Tissue cassettes
  • Tissue embedding equipment
  • Tourniquets
  • Triple beam balances
  • Ultracentrifuges
  • Unopettes
  • Urinometers

Technology Skills required for Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologist

  • Commercial plate reader software
  • Database software
  • eClinicalWorks EHR software
  • Electronic medical record EMR software
  • Email software
  • FileMaker Pro
  • Hematology laboratory workflow management software
  • Laboratory information system LIS
  • Medical digital imaging software
  • Medical procedure coding software
  • Medical software
  • Medical system integration software
  • MEDITECH software
  • Microscopic image capturing software
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Office software
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Microsoft Project
  • Microsoft Word
  • Quality control software
  • Reimbursement screening software
  • Specimen tracking software
  • Spreadsheet software
  • Test result delivery software
  • Test routing software
  • Word processing software