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The differences between field technicians and certified medical 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 field technician and a certified medical technician. Additionally, a certified medical technician has an average salary of $38,859, which is higher than the $37,520 average annual salary of a field technician.
The top three skills for a field technician include customer service, ladders and test equipment. The most important skills for a certified medical technician are patients, vital signs, and CPR.
| Field Technician | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $37,520 | $38,859 |
| Hourly rate | $18.04 | $18.68 |
| Growth rate | 8% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 123,149 | 164,424 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 28% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A field technician is responsible for providing technical and maintenance support for the customers by area visits. Field technicians' duties include diagnosing technical problems, replacing malfunction components, upgrading systems for efficiency, running equipment tests to ensure stability, creating draft reports of performed processes, utilizing vehicles and other tools safely, following client's specifications on operating equipment, and adhering to the safety standards. A field technician must have excellent communication and decision-making skills, as well as extensive knowledge of the technological industry.
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.
Field technicians and certified medical technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Field Technician | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Average salary | $37,520 | $38,859 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $48,000 | Between $28,000 And $53,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Denton, TX |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | Alaska |
| Best paying company | DCP Midstream | Favorite Healthcare Staffing |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a field technician and a certified medical technician in terms of educational background:
| Field Technician | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 28% |
| Most common major | Business | Nursing |
| Most common college | - | University of Connecticut |
Here are the differences between field technicians' and certified medical technicians' demographics:
| Field Technician | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 88.5% Female, 11.5% | Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.5% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.8% Asian, 1.7% White, 71.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | 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 | 1% | 8% |