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The differences between environmental health specialists and certified medical technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become an environmental health specialist, becoming a certified medical technician takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, an environmental health specialist has an average salary of $54,789, which is higher than the $38,859 average annual salary of a certified medical technician.
The top three skills for an environmental health specialist include environmental health, EHS and OSHA. The most important skills for a certified medical technician are patients, vital signs, and CPR.
| Environmental Health Specialist | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $54,789 | $38,859 |
| Hourly rate | $26.34 | $18.68 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 69,497 | 164,424 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 28% |
| Average age | 45 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 12 |
An Environmental Health Specialist is responsible for determining the existence of possible health hazards and taking measures to prevent or corect them. They monitor health and safety conditions in resedential, industrial, commercial, and recreational settings.
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.
Environmental health specialists and certified medical technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Environmental Health Specialist | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Average salary | $54,789 | $38,859 |
| Salary range | Between $38,000 And $77,000 | Between $28,000 And $53,000 |
| Highest paying City | Santa Rosa, CA | Denton, TX |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | Alaska |
| Best paying company | ICU Medical | Favorite Healthcare Staffing |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Health Care |
There are a few differences between an environmental health specialist and a certified medical technician in terms of educational background:
| Environmental Health Specialist | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 28% |
| Most common major | Public Health | Nursing |
| Most common college | University of California, Berkeley | University of Connecticut |
Here are the differences between environmental health specialists' and certified medical technicians' demographics:
| Environmental Health Specialist | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Average age | 45 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 62.8% Female, 37.2% | Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 5.7% White, 62.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% | 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 | 7% | 8% |