Medical laboratory scientist vs laboratory specialist

The differences between medical laboratory scientists and laboratory specialists 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 laboratory specialist. Additionally, a medical laboratory scientist has an average salary of $54,377, which is higher than the $50,357 average annual salary of a laboratory specialist.

The top three skills for a medical laboratory scientist include patients, ASCP and clinical laboratory. The most important skills for a laboratory specialist are chemistry, patients, and test results.

Medical laboratory scientist vs laboratory specialist overview

	Medical Laboratory Scientist	Laboratory Specialist
Yearly salary	$54,377	$50,357
Hourly rate	$26.14	$24.21
Growth rate	-	10%
Number of jobs	121,913	68,634
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 laboratory specialist do?

A laboratory specialist develops the areas assigned to them and promotes maximum resource allocation and utilization to achieve their goals. Laboratory specialists handle storage and backup devices, support telecommunication-associated equipment, and relay customer requests and issues. It is their job to process specimens in toxicology, coagulation, microbiology, hematology, chemistry, and urinalysis. Skills and knowledge in a photo lab, cell culture, customer service, and test cases are necessary for this position.

Medical laboratory scientist vs laboratory specialist salary

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

	Medical Laboratory Scientist	Laboratory Specialist
Average salary	$54,377	$50,357
Salary range	Between $41,000 And $71,000	Between $36,000 And $69,000
Highest paying City	Reno, NV	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	Alaska	Hawaii
Best paying company	Eli Lilly and Company	Nokia
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between medical laboratory scientist and laboratory specialist education

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

	Medical Laboratory Scientist	Laboratory Specialist
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	SUNY Stony Brook

Medical laboratory scientist vs laboratory specialist demographics

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

	Medical Laboratory Scientist	Laboratory Specialist
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 33.7% Female, 66.3%	Male, 47.3% Female, 52.7%
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, 10.8% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 17.3% Asian, 12.0% White, 54.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between medical laboratory scientist and laboratory specialist 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.

Laboratory specialist example responsibilities.

Manage patient, and corporate information with compassion and confidentiality.
Process specimens in the areas of chemistry, toxicology, hematology, urinalysis, coagulation, serology, and microbiology.
Perform general routine clinical laboratory testing in the areas of clinical chemistry, hematology, coagulation, urinalysis and blood bank.
Perform DNA and RNA isolation, standard and real time PCR, primer design, gene sequence analysis.
Perform clinical laboratory procedures in hematology, clinical chemistry and urinalysis.
Provide customer service to patients and clinicians while collecting specimens and providing patient education.

Medical laboratory scientist vs laboratory specialist skills

Common medical laboratory scientist skills

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

Common laboratory specialist skills

Chemistry, 10%
Patients, 10%
Test Results, 8%
Laboratory Tests, 7%
Patient Care, 6%
Centrifuges, 5%

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Medical Laboratory Scientist
Medical Laboratory Scientist vs Laboratory Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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