How to become a Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technician 2024

Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technician Perform routine medical laboratory tests for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. May work under the supervision of a medical technologist.

Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technician is Also Know as

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

Certified Clinical Laboratory Technician
Clinical Laboratory Technician (Clinical Lab Technician)
Laboratory Assistant (Lab Assistant)
Laboratory Technician (Lab Tech)
Medical Laboratory Technician (MLT)
Medical Laboratory Technicians (Medical Lab Technician)
Medical Technician

Education and Training of Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technician

Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technician is categorized in Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed

Experience Required for Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technician

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Education Required for Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technician

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Degrees Related to Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technician

Training Required for Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technician

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Related Ocuupations

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

What Do Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technician do?

Conduct chemical analyses of body fluids, such as blood or urine, using microscope or automatic analyzer to detect abnormalities or diseases and enter findings into computer.
Analyze the results of tests or experiments to ensure conformity to specifications, using special mechanical or electrical devices.
Analyze and record test data to issue reports that use charts, graphs, or narratives.
Perform medical research to further control or cure disease.
Conduct blood tests for transfusion purposes and perform blood counts.
Obtain specimens, cultivating, isolating, and identifying microorganisms for analysis.
Examine cells stained with dye to locate abnormalities.
Collect blood or tissue samples from patients, observing principles of asepsis to obtain blood sample.
Consult with a pathologist to determine a final diagnosis when abnormal cells are found.
Inoculate fertilized eggs, broths, or other bacteriological media with organisms.
Cut, stain, and mount tissue samples for examination by pathologists.
Supervise or instruct other technicians or laboratory assistants.
Prepare standard volumetric solutions or reagents to be combined with samples, following standardized formulas or experimental procedures.
Test raw materials, processes, or finished products to determine quality or quantity of materials or characteristics of a substance.
Set up, maintain, calibrate, clean, and test sterility of medical laboratory equipment.

Qualities of Good Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technician

Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
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).
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
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.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
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.
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).
Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
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.
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).
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.
Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
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.
Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
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.
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.
Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
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.
Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
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 Technician

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 platelet analyzers
Automated/semi-automated dipstick analysis systems
Automatic pipetters
Bench refractometers
Blood agar plates
Blood bank refrigerators
Blood collection needles
Blood collection syringes
Blood culture incubators
Butterfly needles
Candle jars
Capillary sticks
Capillary tubes
Cell counters
Cell washers
Centrifuges
Chemistry analyzers
Chromatographs
Coagulation analyzers
Collection tube holders/adapters
Colorimetric devices
Compound microscopes
Desktop computers
Differential hematology analyzers with laser technology
Diluters
Dropping pipettes
Dry bath incubators
Electrical mixers
Electrolyte analyzers
Evacuated blood collection tubes
Flow cytometers
Fluorescence microscopes
Gas chromatographs GC
Glass slides
Glucose monitoring systems
Hemacytometers
Hematology analyzers
Hematology task-targeted automation TTA systems
Heterologous test systems
Homologous test systems
Incubators
Label printers
Laboratory vacuum pumps
Laminar flow hoods
Laser printers
Light microscopes
Microhematocrits
Micrometers
Microtiter plates
Needle holders
Notebook computers
Personal computers
Petri dishes
pH meters
Plasma extractors
Plasma thawers
Plate washers
Platelet rockers
Portable coagulation analyzers
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 Technician

Billing software
Commercial plate reader software
Data entry software
Database software
Electronic medical record EMR software
Email software
FileMaker Pro
Google Docs
Hematology laboratory workflow management software
IBM Notes
Laboratory information system LIS
Medical digital imaging software
Medical software
Medical system integration software
MEDITECH software
Microscopic image capturing software
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office software
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft Word
Minitab
National Instruments LabVIEW
Quality control software
Quizlet
Reimbursement screening software
SAP software
Specimen tracking software
Spreadsheet software
Sunquest Information Systems Sunquest Laboratory
Test result delivery software
Test routing software
Word processing software

US Universities

How to become Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technician in 2024