What Does a Medical lab Technician Do?

Though he mainly works behind the scenes, a medical lab technician is an important part of the health care process. With many diseases and infections showing few outward signs and those that do resembling many different possibilities, the purpose of a medical lab technician is to run the tests that will determine what problem, if any, exists. Most physicians will rely heavily on the medical lab technician report when making a diagnosis.

Documentation

One of the first things a medical lab technician must do is to make sure all specimens are logged correctly. If there are any mistakes, the wrong tests could be performed or the wrong report could end up with the wrong specimen, eventually leading to the wrong diagnosis. In addition, some specimens must be logged in certain ways to ensure chain of custody safeguards are followed to prevent tampering.

Preparation

In some cases, a specimen that comes into the lab will need additional attention before tests can be performed. The blood may need to be spun in a centrifuge, for example, to separate key components for testing. Urine samples may need to be divided so that different tests can be run on the same sample. These duties often are part of the medical lab technician's job.

Testing

After the previously mentioned duties have been handled, the next step is to run the test. Typically, a medical lab technician does this by using one of several machines meant for specific purposes. Many machines can run more than one test, but one machine cannot run all tests. Often, this is a completely automated process, requiring the technician only to request the type of test to be performed and log the results at the end. Once completed, these results are sent to the ordering physician.

Observation

If the test is not completely automated, then the medical lab technician may have additional duties. For example, this may include counting the number of a certain type of cell, from a sample put on a microscope slide or looking for any anomalies that may indicate what the problem may be. This type of work is meticulous, requires attention to detail and could take a great deal of time

Other Services

Some medical lab technicians are required to perform phlebotomy services on patients, which involves drawing their blood using needles. In other cases, a dedicated phlebotomist will do those duties, but may need help with some patients, especially younger children who are scared of needles and will not stay still. This requires a medical lab technician to not only have good technical skills, but also good people skills.

References

• BLS Medical Lab Technologists/Technicians
• Medical Lab Job Description

Resources

• American Society for Clinical Pathology
• Medical Lab Technician Schools by State