How to Become a Medical Laboratory Technician

Are you thinking about becoming a medical laboratory technician? There is a definite demand for people trained in this field. Medical laboratory technicians help doctors diagnose and find treatments for illnesses by setting up and conducting experimental procedures with specimens and recording the results. They also operate and maintain lab equipment and machinery.

Things You'll Need

• High school diploma
• Training from an accredited school

Instructions

1. Get trained. Graduate from high school and then complete a program for medical laboratory technicians, which is normally a one- or two-year Associate's Degree or certification from an accredited technical or community school.

2. Take courses in immunology, microscopy, microbiology, chemistry and pathology while attending your educational training as a technician.

3. Decide if you want to specialize in a specific area of work. Many medical laboratory assistants decide to specialize in such healthcare fields as tissue analysis or histopathology, blood examination or hematology or cell testing or cytology. Some technicians take two more years of school in order to advance their career.

4. Find out from the department of health if the state in which you will work requires a license or registration for medical laboratory technicians. Also, you may want to become certified by a professional organization in order to increase your opportunities for finding a good position and advancement.

Tips & Warnings

• The more education a technician has, the better the opportunities for advancing to higher level positions, such as medical laboratory technologist.

Resources

• American Medical Technologists