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The differences between medical laboratory specialists and pharmacist technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a medical laboratory specialist has an average salary of $51,304, which is higher than the $36,090 average annual salary of a pharmacist technician.
The top three skills for a medical laboratory specialist include patients, urinalysis and body fluids. The most important skills for a pharmacist technician are patients, math, and direct supervision.
| Medical Laboratory Specialist | Pharmacist Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $51,304 | $36,090 |
| Hourly rate | $24.67 | $17.35 |
| Growth rate | - | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 89,770 | 73,800 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 1 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 41% | Bachelor's Degree, 35% |
| Average age | 44 | 38 |
| Years of experience | 2 | - |
A Medical Laboratory Specialist performs tests on the tissue, blood, and body fluids of patients. They determine patients' blood types for transfusions, as well as conduct medical research and analysis.
Pharmacist technicians assist pharmacists in their daily activities. They receive prescription medicine order requests of customers, validate the prescription, prepare the medicines, properly label medicine bottles, and hand them off to customers. They also answer customer inquiries and attend to customer concerns. Pharmacist technicians also manage the pharmacy's inventory and ensure that all records are up to date. They are also authorized to create purchase requisition requests for medicines that are running low and need to be refilled, but these requests should still be authorized by a doctor.
Medical laboratory specialists and pharmacist technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Medical Laboratory Specialist | Pharmacist Technician | |
| Average salary | $51,304 | $36,090 |
| Salary range | Between $37,000 And $71,000 | Between $26,000 And $48,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | Alaska |
| Best paying company | - | Valley Presbyterian Hospital |
| Best paying industry | - | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a medical laboratory specialist and a pharmacist technician in terms of educational background:
| Medical Laboratory Specialist | Pharmacist Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 41% | Bachelor's Degree, 35% |
| Most common major | Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science | Pharmacy |
| Most common college | SUNY Stony Brook | - |
Here are the differences between medical laboratory specialists' and pharmacist technicians' demographics:
| Medical Laboratory Specialist | Pharmacist Technician | |
| Average age | 44 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 56.2% Female, 43.8% | Male, 24.9% Female, 75.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 13.2% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 17.1% Asian, 11.0% White, 52.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 10.1% White, 60.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 5% |