Front desk administrative assistant vs certified medical technician

The differences between front desk administrative assistants 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 a front desk administrative assistant, becoming a certified medical technician takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a certified medical technician has an average salary of $38,859, which is higher than the $33,037 average annual salary of a front desk administrative assistant.

The top three skills for a front desk administrative assistant include customer service, patients and data entry. The most important skills for a certified medical technician are patients, vital signs, and CPR.

Front desk administrative assistant vs certified medical technician overview

	Front Desk Administrative Assistant	Certified Medical Technician
Yearly salary	$33,037	$38,859
Hourly rate	$15.88	$18.68
Growth rate	-8%	5%
Number of jobs	95,732	164,424
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 28%
Average age	50	44
Years of experience	2	12

What does a front desk administrative assistant do?

A front desk administrative assistant is responsible for performing administrative duties to support daily business functions and operations. Front desk administrative assistants assist guests, respond to their inquiries and concerns, and direct them to the appropriate personnel for their needs. They also monitor office inventories, write purchase requests, and distribute mails across the departments. A front desk administrative assistants review business and financial transactions to generate reports, update information on the company's database, and sort documents for reference.

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.

Front desk administrative assistant vs certified medical technician salary

Front desk administrative assistants and certified medical technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Front Desk Administrative Assistant	Certified Medical Technician
Average salary	$33,037	$38,859
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $39,000	Between $28,000 And $53,000
Highest paying City	Springfield, MA	Denton, TX
Highest paying state	Connecticut	Alaska
Best paying company	University of California, Berkeley	Favorite Healthcare Staffing
Best paying industry	Professional	Health Care

Differences between front desk administrative assistant and certified medical technician education

There are a few differences between a front desk administrative assistant and a certified medical technician in terms of educational background:

	Front Desk Administrative Assistant	Certified Medical Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 28%
Most common major	Business	Nursing
Most common college	Western Carolina University	University of Connecticut

Front desk administrative assistant vs certified medical technician demographics

Here are the differences between front desk administrative assistants' and certified medical technicians' demographics:

	Front Desk Administrative Assistant	Certified Medical Technician
Average age	50	44
Gender ratio	Male, 10.0% Female, 90.0%	Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.1% 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	6%	8%

Differences between front desk administrative assistant and certified medical technician duties and responsibilities

Front desk administrative assistant example responsibilities.

Manage day-to-day operations including scheduling and coordinating appointments, verify patient insurance, prepare correspondences between medical providers and their patients.
Process member and team member paperwork; including member cancellations, updates, new hires/terminations/status changes, and payroll paperwork.
Monitor and complete payroll information.
Demonstrate great initiative in assisting tech team with minor technical issues and create PowerPoint presentations for business strategic purposes.
Register patients, verify eligibility of insurance, interview them in order to obtain other demographic information that are needed.
Manage day-to-day operations including scheduling and coordinating appointments, verify patient insurance, prepare correspondences between medical providers and their patients.

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.

Front desk administrative assistant vs certified medical technician skills

Common front desk administrative assistant skills

Customer Service, 15%
Patients, 12%
Data Entry, 8%
Phone Calls, 8%
Front Desk Operations, 7%
Check-In, 4%

Common certified medical technician skills

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

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Front Desk Administrative Assistant
Front Desk Administrative Assistant vs Certified Medical Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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