How To Become A Medical Microbiologist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a medical microbiologist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Kim O'Neill

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a medical microbiologist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $33.5 an hour? That's $69,679 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 9% and produce 1,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a medical microbiologist?

Dr. Kim O'Neill

Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, Brigham Young University

I would advise an undergraduate from the minute they arrive at university seeking a degree in Microbiology and Molecular Biology to obtain a research laboratory experience. It does not matter what career you wish to pursue, whether it be in medicine, or a PhD program, or to go straight into the work force, it is essential to get a research experience...

ScoreMedical MicrobiologistUS Average

Salary

5.4

Avg. Salary $69,679

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.6

Growth rate 9%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.58%

Asian 11.13%

Black or African American 2.31%

Hispanic or Latino 6.35%

Unknown 4.95%

White 74.69%

Gender

female 64.00%

male 36.00%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

5.6

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.6

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a medical microbiologist

Explore medical microbiologist education requirements

Most common medical microbiologist degrees

Bachelor's

65.0 %

Master's

15.0 %

Diploma

15.0 %

Start to develop specific medical microbiologist skills

Skills	Percentages
GLP	100.00%

Complete relevant medical microbiologist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New medical microbiologists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a medical microbiologist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real medical microbiologist resumes.

Research medical microbiologist duties and responsibilities

Manage and implement microbiological efforts with the goal of FDA market approval of a low temperature vaporize hydrogen peroxide terminal sterilizer.
Perform serological tests such as Widal, VDRL, ELISA, RIA, Immuno-diffusions, and Electrophoreses.
Test process equipment and production areas for contamination and environmental pathogens to monitor the effectiveness of sanitation measures throughout the facility.
Perform maintenance and troubleshooting on Microscan (TM) automate bacterial identification and susceptibility testing.

Prepare your medical microbiologist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your medical microbiologist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a medical microbiologist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable medical microbiologist resume templates

Build a professional medical microbiologist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your medical microbiologist resume.