Medical technologist vs pharmacist

The differences between medical technologists and pharmacists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a pharmacist has an average salary of $118,968, which is higher than the $53,249 average annual salary of a medical technologist.

The top three skills for a medical technologist include patients, clinical laboratory and ASCP. The most important skills for a pharmacist are patients, customer service, and employee development.

Medical technologist vs pharmacist overview

	Medical Technologist	Pharmacist
Yearly salary	$53,249	$118,968
Hourly rate	$25.60	$57.20
Growth rate	-	2%
Number of jobs	116,495	50,943
Job satisfaction	5	3.67
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Average age	44	42
Years of experience	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 pharmacist do?

Pharmacists are medical experts who distribute prescribed medications and immunizations to individuals. They are responsible for ensuring the quality of medicines supplied to patients, which should be within the law and prescribing only what is suitable to the condition of the user and provide proper knowledge on how to take them and possible reactions or side effects that may occur. Pharmacists could work in all environments where medications are used, or medication therapy is appraised as part of patients' care plan but most commonly in hospitals, community-based setting, and health systems.

Medical technologist vs pharmacist salary

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

	Medical Technologist	Pharmacist
Average salary	$53,249	$118,968
Salary range	Between $41,000 And $68,000	Between $93,000 And $151,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	Sacramento, CA
Highest paying state	Alaska	California
Best paying company	Children's Hospital Colorado	Safeway
Best paying industry	Health Care	Retail

Differences between medical technologist and pharmacist education

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

	Medical Technologist	Pharmacist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Most common major	Medical Technician	Pharmacy
Most common college	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Medical technologist vs pharmacist demographics

Here are the differences between medical technologists' and pharmacists' demographics:

	Medical Technologist	Pharmacist
Average age	44	42
Gender ratio	Male, 31.5% Female, 68.5%	Male, 43.2% Female, 56.8%
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, 7.0% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 5.6% Asian, 20.9% White, 62.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	8%	11%

Differences between medical technologist and pharmacist 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.

Pharmacist example responsibilities.

Perform diabetes interviews along with physician collaboration agreement to manage therapy and optimal goals.
Dose and manage all Vancomycin and Aminoglycoside antibiotics throughout the entire hospital including overseeing, evaluating, and ordering antibiotic labs.
Perform critical care and oncology medication therapy management reviews for all patients assign to both satellite pharmacies.
Assist with transition to new computer system pending start of permanent PIC.
Deliver approximately 20K prescriptions per day to patients through budgeting Dr. Andy Nguyen, Pharm.
Provide small-group formal educational presentations for cardiac rehabilitation patients.

Medical technologist vs pharmacist skills

Common medical technologist skills

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

Common pharmacist skills

Patients, 22%
Customer Service, 11%
Employee Development, 8%
Allergies, 6%
Patient Care, 6%
Drug Therapy, 5%

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Medical Technologist vs Pharmacist

Updated January 8, 2025

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