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The differences between animal care specialists and certified medical technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become an animal care specialist, becoming a certified medical technician takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, an animal care specialist has an average salary of $59,197, which is higher than the $38,859 average annual salary of a certified medical technician.
The top three skills for an animal care specialist include PET, animal handling and quality customer service. The most important skills for a certified medical technician are patients, vital signs, and CPR.
| Animal Care Specialist | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $59,197 | $38,859 |
| Hourly rate | $28.46 | $18.68 |
| Growth rate | 19% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 78,339 | 164,424 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 28% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 12 |
Animal Care Specialists are responsible for caring for an animal's health and safety. Their duties include grooming and feeding animals, cleaning and disinfecting living quarters, perform a physical examination, administer medication and vaccinations, and deliver post-operative assistance. They also arrange for adoptions as well as participate in animal rescues. An animal care specialist working in laboratories may collect blood samples, conduct lab tests, and record results. They help answer phone calls and administer individual queries.
Certified Medical Technicians are specialists in medical diagnoses by performing laboratory testing and analysis for hospitals and physicians. Their duties include lab sanitization to prepare for testing and collection, recording medical samples for testing, specimen preparation, blood drawing for donation and testing, and assisting physicians with sample collection as well as equipment handling in surgical rooms. They must also understand how to use complex and sensitive testing equipment such as cell counters, analyzers, microscopes, and centrifuges.
Animal care specialists and certified medical technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Animal Care Specialist | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Average salary | $59,197 | $38,859 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $155,000 | Between $28,000 And $53,000 |
| Highest paying City | Baltimore, MD | Denton, TX |
| Highest paying state | Maryland | Alaska |
| Best paying company | SPCA of Wake County | Favorite Healthcare Staffing |
| Best paying industry | - | Health Care |
There are a few differences between an animal care specialist and a certified medical technician in terms of educational background:
| Animal Care Specialist | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 28% |
| Most common major | Biology | Nursing |
| Most common college | Cornell University | University of Connecticut |
Here are the differences between animal care specialists' and certified medical technicians' demographics:
| Animal Care Specialist | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 29.7% Female, 70.3% | Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 1.4% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 6.1% Asian, 4.8% White, 83.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 15.9% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 10.0% White, 53.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 15% | 8% |