Certified medical technician vs senior laboratory technician

The differences between certified medical technicians and senior laboratory technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a certified medical technician and a senior laboratory technician. Additionally, a senior laboratory technician has an average salary of $48,530, which is higher than the $38,859 average annual salary of a certified medical technician.

The top three skills for a certified medical technician include patients, vital signs and CPR. The most important skills for a senior laboratory technician are lab equipment, patients, and research projects.

Certified medical technician vs senior laboratory technician overview

	Certified Medical Technician	Senior Laboratory Technician
Yearly salary	$38,859	$48,530
Hourly rate	$18.68	$23.33
Growth rate	5%	9%
Number of jobs	164,424	63,876
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 28%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	12	12

What does a certified medical technician do?

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.

What does a senior laboratory technician do?

A Senior Laboratory Technician is responsible for supervising and coordinating scientific investigations and experiments. They supervise staff, provide technical support, and construct, maintain, and operate standard laboratory equipment.

Certified medical technician vs senior laboratory technician salary

Certified medical technicians and senior laboratory technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Certified Medical Technician	Senior Laboratory Technician
Average salary	$38,859	$48,530
Salary range	Between $28,000 And $53,000	Between $34,000 And $67,000
Highest paying City	Denton, TX	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Alaska	California
Best paying company	Favorite Healthcare Staffing	Genentech
Best paying industry	Health Care	Manufacturing

Differences between certified medical technician and senior laboratory technician education

There are a few differences between a certified medical technician and a senior laboratory technician in terms of educational background:

	Certified Medical Technician	Senior Laboratory Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 28%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Most common major	Nursing	Biology
Most common college	University of Connecticut	New York University

Certified medical technician vs senior laboratory technician demographics

Here are the differences between certified medical technicians' and senior laboratory technicians' demographics:

	Certified Medical Technician	Senior Laboratory Technician
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6%	Male, 58.6% Female, 41.4%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 12.0% White, 54.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between certified medical technician and senior laboratory technician duties and responsibilities

Certified medical technician example responsibilities.

Maintain the cleanliness of storage areas, trays, centrifuges, refrigerators, freezers and work area.
Administer medications to patients according to their medication record as scheduled, as needed according to physician orders.
Perform laboratory test and procedures in areas including chemistry, hematology, urinalysis, coagulation, serology, and bacteriology.
Perform first aid and apply CPR when necessary.
Perform first aid or CPR during medical emergencies until paramedics arrive.
Assist the residents in their ADL needs and prepare their meals.

Senior laboratory technician example responsibilities.

Lead aerobic, anaerobic and UV light testing, chemical residue testing and centrifuge to separate chemicals from water.
Operate a binary distillation column using LabView to separate a mixture of methanol and water.
Provide and sign certificate of analyses for wet chemistry and microbiology.
Perform CFU-blast, CFU-C, CFU-D, CFU-S assays.
Create raw material library on FTIR.
Perform manual titration, including testing bacteria and other water tests.

Certified medical technician vs senior laboratory technician skills

Common certified medical technician skills

Patients, 17%
Vital Signs, 12%
CPR, 8%
Administer Medications, 7%
Resident Care, 6%
HIPAA, 6%

Common senior laboratory technician skills

Lab Equipment, 9%
Patients, 8%
Research Projects, 5%
Cell Culture, 4%
Safety Procedures, 4%
Molecular Biology, 4%

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Certified Medical Technician vs Senior Laboratory Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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