Medical technologist vs laboratory specialist

The differences between medical technologists 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 technologist and a laboratory specialist. Additionally, a medical technologist has an average salary of $53,249, which is higher than the $50,357 average annual salary of a laboratory specialist.

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

Medical technologist vs laboratory specialist overview

	Medical Technologist	Laboratory Specialist
Yearly salary	$53,249	$50,357
Hourly rate	$25.60	$24.21
Growth rate	-	10%
Number of jobs	116,495	68,634
Job satisfaction	5	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 53%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	2	2

What does a medical technologist do?

A medical technologist's role is to conduct laboratory tests with accuracy and speed. It is their responsibility to gather, prepare, and analyze samples such as blood, tissues, and bodily fluid. The produced results will be crucial to a patient's diagnosis and further treatments. It is also essential for medical technologists to keep a precise record of data and coordinate with fellow team members and physicians to ensure the fast and efficient delivery of results. Furthermore, a medical technologist can choose to work in different establishments such as a hospital, laboratory, or private clinic.

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 technologist vs laboratory specialist salary

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

	Medical Technologist	Laboratory Specialist
Average salary	$53,249	$50,357
Salary range	Between $41,000 And $68,000	Between $36,000 And $69,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	Alaska	Hawaii
Best paying company	Children's Hospital Colorado	Nokia
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between medical technologist and laboratory specialist education

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

	Medical Technologist	Laboratory Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 53%
Most common major	Medical Technician	Biology
Most common college	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	SUNY Stony Brook

Medical technologist vs laboratory specialist demographics

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

	Medical Technologist	Laboratory Specialist
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 31.5% Female, 68.5%	Male, 47.3% Female, 52.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.1% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 17.8% Asian, 11.9% 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 technologist and laboratory specialist duties and responsibilities

Medical technologist example responsibilities.

Manage departmental recovery activities after installation of upgrades affecting the LIS affect.
Perform medical/laboratory procedures in all departments including microbiology, chemistry, blood bank, hematology, urinalysis, and immunology.
Perform laboratory test to corporal fluids applying analysis fields like biochemistry, microbiology, hematology, immunology, urinalysis and blood bank
Execute and analyze laboratory test in biochemistry, urinalysis, hematology, microbiology, blood bank and serology department.
Direct participation on proficiency testing programs on hematology, chemistry, urinalysis, blood bank, serology, and bacteriology.
Work full-time as an evening/night shift generalist rotating through hematology, urinalysis, serology, chemistry, blood bank and microbiology.

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 technologist vs laboratory specialist skills

Common medical technologist skills

Patients, 10%
Clinical Laboratory, 8%
ASCP, 7%
Customer Service, 6%
Patient Care, 4%
Microbiology, 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 Technologist vs Laboratory Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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