Mental health technician vs certified medical technician

The differences between mental health technicians and certified medical technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a certified medical technician has an average salary of $38,859, which is higher than the $32,118 average annual salary of a mental health technician.

The top three skills for a mental health technician include patients, vital signs and CPR. The most important skills for a certified medical technician are patients, vital signs, and CPR.

Mental health technician vs certified medical technician overview

	Mental Health Technician	Certified Medical Technician
Yearly salary	$32,118	$38,859
Hourly rate	$15.44	$18.68
Growth rate	9%	5%
Number of jobs	103,710	164,424
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 52%	Bachelor's Degree, 28%
Average age	34	44
Years of experience	-	12

What does a mental health technician do?

A mental health technician's primary responsibility is to provide care and assistance to patients with mental health issues. Their tasks mainly revolve around administering scheduled and prescribed medication, monitoring vital signs, assisting during therapy sessions, and assessing patients' progress and behavior. They may also have administrative support tasks such as processing necessary documentation, preparing reports, managing schedules, and even reaching out to patients' guardians and families. A mental health technician may also build a healthy rapport with patients, giving them guidance and positive influence.

What does a certified medical technician do?

Certified Medical Technicians are specialists in medical diagnoses by performing laboratory testing and analysis for hospitals and physicians. Their duties include lab sanitization to prepare for testing and collection, recording medical samples for testing, specimen preparation, blood drawing for donation and testing, and assisting physicians with sample collection as well as equipment handling in surgical rooms. They must also understand how to use complex and sensitive testing equipment such as cell counters, analyzers, microscopes, and centrifuges.

Mental health technician vs certified medical technician salary

Mental health technicians and certified medical technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Mental Health Technician	Certified Medical Technician
Average salary	$32,118	$38,859
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $39,000	Between $28,000 And $53,000
Highest paying City	Sacramento, CA	Denton, TX
Highest paying state	Vermont	Alaska
Best paying company	CARE	Favorite Healthcare Staffing
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between mental health technician and certified medical technician education

There are a few differences between a mental health technician and a certified medical technician in terms of educational background:

	Mental Health Technician	Certified Medical Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 52%	Bachelor's Degree, 28%
Most common major	Psychology	Nursing
Most common college	California State University - Long Beach	University of Connecticut

Mental health technician vs certified medical technician demographics

Here are the differences between mental health technicians' and certified medical technicians' demographics:

	Mental Health Technician	Certified Medical Technician
Average age	34	44
Gender ratio	Male, 36.0% Female, 64.0%	Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 14.3% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 20.1% Asian, 6.4% White, 51.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%	Black or African American, 15.9% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 10.0% White, 53.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	15%	8%

Differences between mental health technician and certified medical technician duties and responsibilities

Mental health technician example responsibilities.

Prevent and manage aggressive behavior among patients and administer CPR in emergency intervention.
Assist and organize workshops consisting of education, personal self-defense, CPR, and other techniques relating to mental health patients.
Assist in taking care of mental health patients, doing rounds on the ward, helping patients with compassion and care.
Apply immeasurable levels of compassion to preserve and safeguard the dignity of patients at all times.
Observe patient behaviors, if patients become physically violent, CPI training restraint techniques may become necessary.
Conduct patient rounds, assist with ADL care, offer therapeutic support, and provide written reports on assign patients

Certified medical technician example responsibilities.

Maintain the cleanliness of storage areas, trays, centrifuges, refrigerators, freezers and work area.
Administer medications to patients according to their medication record as scheduled, as needed according to physician orders.
Perform laboratory test and procedures in areas including chemistry, hematology, urinalysis, coagulation, serology, and bacteriology.
Perform first aid and apply CPR when necessary.
Perform first aid or CPR during medical emergencies until paramedics arrive.
Assist the residents in their ADL needs and prepare their meals.

Mental health technician vs certified medical technician skills

Common mental health technician skills

Patients, 26%
Vital Signs, 7%
CPR, 6%
Social Work, 5%
Crisis Intervention, 5%
Patient Safety, 4%

Common certified medical technician skills

Patients, 17%
Vital Signs, 12%
CPR, 8%
Administer Medications, 7%
Resident Care, 6%
HIPAA, 6%

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Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Mental Health Technician
Mental Health Technician vs Certified Medical Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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