Medical laboratory scientist vs histologic technician

The differences between medical laboratory scientists and histologic technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a medical laboratory scientist and a histologic technician. Additionally, a medical laboratory scientist has an average salary of $54,377, which is higher than the $49,962 average annual salary of a histologic technician.

The top three skills for a medical laboratory scientist include patients, ASCP and clinical laboratory. The most important skills for a histologic technician are ASCP, patients, and tissue specimens.

Medical laboratory scientist vs histologic technician overview

	Medical Laboratory Scientist	Histologic Technician
Yearly salary	$54,377	$49,962
Hourly rate	$26.14	$24.02
Growth rate	-	-
Number of jobs	121,913	6,785
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Bachelor's Degree, 53%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	2	2

What does a medical laboratory scientist do?

As a medical laboratory scientist, you will be responsible for analyzing various types of body specimens, including blood, tissue, and urine. You will conduct scientific testing on samples and report the results to physicians. These results play an essential role in the diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions or illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes. Your duties and responsibilities may include maintaining laboratory equipment such as microscopes and cell counters, tracking patient outcomes, and conducting differential cell counts. You are also expected to oversee the work of laboratory technicians.

What does a histologic technician do?

A Histologic Technician prepares tissue specimens for routine and special procedures to confirm a patient diagnosis. They work in hospital laboratories, government agencies, public health departments, and other institutions.

Medical laboratory scientist vs histologic technician salary

Medical laboratory scientists and histologic technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Medical Laboratory Scientist	Histologic Technician
Average salary	$54,377	$49,962
Salary range	Between $41,000 And $71,000	Between $33,000 And $75,000
Highest paying City	Reno, NV	Sacramento, CA
Highest paying state	Alaska	Alaska
Best paying company	Eli Lilly and Company	Battelle
Best paying industry	Health Care	-

Differences between medical laboratory scientist and histologic technician education

There are a few differences between a medical laboratory scientist and a histologic technician in terms of educational background:

	Medical Laboratory Scientist	Histologic Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Bachelor's Degree, 53%
Most common major	Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science	Biology
Most common college	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	Stanford University

Medical laboratory scientist vs histologic technician demographics

Here are the differences between medical laboratory scientists' and histologic technicians' demographics:

	Medical Laboratory Scientist	Histologic Technician
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 33.7% Female, 66.3%	Male, 30.4% Female, 69.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.8% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 17.3% Asian, 12.7% White, 53.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 17.1% Asian, 12.0% White, 54.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between medical laboratory scientist and histologic technician duties and responsibilities

Medical laboratory scientist example responsibilities.

Attain extensive phlebotomy experience with a challenging pediatric patient population.
Perform complex laboratory diagnostic tests as medical laboratory scientist in hematology, clinical chemistry, microbiology, urinalysis and blood bank.
Evaluate quality control within the laboratory using standard laboratory test and measurement controls while maintaining compliance with CLIA and OSHA.
Execute and analyze test in areas including, hematology, urinalysis, serology, bacteriology, chemistry and transfusion services.
Assist in Cerner LIS system implementation and resource as super user.
Experience in immunology, infectious disease testing, and therapeutic drug monitoring.

Histologic technician example responsibilities.

Perform routine histology/cytology procedures and IHC and manage 7-20 staff members.
Develop and implement health and safety protocols and procedures in accordance with CLIA and OSHA regulations
Develop a higher grade eosin for stainline.
Enter patient specimens into the EMR system/file patient records.
Cut all control slides for research and run all immunofluorescence slides.
Perform processing, embedding, microtomy, cryostating, routine and special stains.

Medical laboratory scientist vs histologic technician skills

Common medical laboratory scientist skills

Patients, 13%
ASCP, 11%
Clinical Laboratory, 10%
MLS, 8%
Proficiency Testing, 5%
Patient Care, 4%

Common histologic technician skills

ASCP, 15%
Patients, 12%
Tissue Specimens, 5%
CLIA, 4%
IHC, 4%
Sectioning, 4%

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Medical Laboratory Scientist vs Histologic Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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