Echo technician vs certified medical technician

The differences between echo technicians 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 echo technician, becoming a certified medical technician takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, an echo technician has an average salary of $75,952, which is higher than the $38,859 average annual salary of a certified medical technician.

The top three skills for an echo technician include patients, BLS and echocardiography. The most important skills for a certified medical technician are patients, vital signs, and CPR.

Echo technician vs certified medical technician overview

	Echo Technician	Certified Medical Technician
Yearly salary	$75,952	$38,859
Hourly rate	$36.52	$18.68
Growth rate	10%	5%
Number of jobs	14,522	164,424
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 54%	Bachelor's Degree, 28%
Average age	45	44
Years of experience	2	12

What does an echo technician do?

An echo technician is responsible for operating specialized equipment to develop ultrasound images of patients' hearts, diagnosing possible illnesses, and monitoring their conditions. Echo technicians carefully explain the process to the patients, assist the physicians in data interpretation, and ensuring that the image document was stored and developed properly for reference. They also inspect the machine and equipment's efficiency for operations and immediately call for repairs for any defects and malfunctions that may cause inaccuracies in the results.

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.

Echo technician vs certified medical technician salary

Echo technicians and certified medical technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Echo Technician	Certified Medical Technician
Average salary	$75,952	$38,859
Salary range	Between $49,000 And $117,000	Between $28,000 And $53,000
Highest paying City	Springfield, OR	Denton, TX
Highest paying state	California	Alaska
Best paying company	University of Maryland Medical System	Favorite Healthcare Staffing
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between echo technician and certified medical technician education

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

	Echo Technician	Certified Medical Technician
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 54%	Bachelor's Degree, 28%
Most common major	Medical Technician	Nursing
Most common college	Duke University	University of Connecticut

Echo technician vs certified medical technician demographics

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

	Echo Technician	Certified Medical Technician
Average age	45	44
Gender ratio	Male, 32.4% Female, 67.6%	Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 3.3% Hispanic or Latino, 12.8% Asian, 13.9% White, 58.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	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	8%	8%

Differences between echo technician and certified medical technician duties and responsibilities

Echo technician example responsibilities.

Assist with placement and manage intra-aortic balloon pumps.
Perform cardiac defibrillation, CPR, and initiate invasive procedures on patients in cardiac arrest.
Utilize 2D , 3D, m-mode, and color Doppler.
Perform EKG's and treadmill stress testing.
Perform stress echo's, dobutamine stress echo's and bubble studies.
Assist physician with echo stress tests as well as treadmill only studies.

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.

Echo technician vs certified medical technician skills

Common echo technician skills

Patients, 19%
BLS, 10%
Echocardiography, 10%
Echocardiogram, 9%
Patient Care, 8%
Cardiology, 6%

Common certified medical technician skills

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

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Echo Technician
Echo Technician vs Certified Medical Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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