Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between lead medical assistants 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 lead medical assistant and a certified medical technician. Additionally, a certified medical technician has an average salary of $38,859, which is higher than the $38,303 average annual salary of a lead medical assistant.
The top three skills for a lead medical assistant include patients, vital signs and patient care. The most important skills for a certified medical technician are patients, vital signs, and CPR.
| Lead Medical Assistant | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $38,303 | $38,859 |
| Hourly rate | $18.41 | $18.68 |
| Growth rate | 16% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 163,228 | 164,424 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | - |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 27% | Bachelor's Degree, 28% |
| Average age | 37 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A lead medical assistant performs administrative support tasks for clinical teams to provide optimal care and services to patients. They work under the supervision of a clinical manager whom they report to regularly. Among their responsibilities include establishing staff schedules and guidelines, conducting research and analysis, coordinating staff, reviewing medical charts and reports, organizing documents, and training new members of the workforce. Moreover, they may also assist patients by answering inquiries, performing follow-up calls to confirm appointment schedules, and preparing patients by giving them the information they need.
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.
Lead medical assistants and certified medical technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Lead Medical Assistant | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Average salary | $38,303 | $38,859 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $63,000 | Between $28,000 And $53,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Denton, TX |
| Highest paying state | - | Alaska |
| Best paying company | - | Favorite Healthcare Staffing |
| Best paying industry | - | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a lead medical assistant and a certified medical technician in terms of educational background:
| Lead Medical Assistant | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 27% | Bachelor's Degree, 28% |
| Most common major | Medical Assisting Services | Nursing |
| Most common college | - | University of Connecticut |
Here are the differences between lead medical assistants' and certified medical technicians' demographics:
| Lead Medical Assistant | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Average age | 37 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 11.9% Female, 88.1% | Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 26.6% Asian, 8.7% White, 49.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0% | 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% |