Outpatient dietitian vs certified medical technician

The differences between outpatient dietitians and certified medical technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become an outpatient dietitian, becoming a certified medical technician takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, an outpatient dietitian has an average salary of $62,717, which is higher than the $38,859 average annual salary of a certified medical technician.

The top three skills for an outpatient dietitian include patients, medical nutrition therapy and patient care. The most important skills for a certified medical technician are patients, vital signs, and CPR.

Outpatient dietitian vs certified medical technician overview

	Outpatient Dietitian	Certified Medical Technician
Yearly salary	$62,717	$38,859
Hourly rate	$30.15	$18.68
Growth rate	7%	5%
Number of jobs	10,972	164,424
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 69%	Bachelor's Degree, 28%
Average age	42	44
Years of experience	2	12

What does an outpatient dietitian do?

An Outpatient Dietitian is responsible for providing medical nutrition therapy, such as nutrition assessment, nutrition support, patient intervention, and education. They also identify the educational needs of others, develop formal educational training programs or classes, and teach or instruct others.

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.

Outpatient dietitian vs certified medical technician salary

Outpatient dietitians and certified medical technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Outpatient Dietitian	Certified Medical Technician
Average salary	$62,717	$38,859
Salary range	Between $38,000 And $102,000	Between $28,000 And $53,000
Highest paying City	-	Denton, TX
Highest paying state	-	Alaska
Best paying company	-	Favorite Healthcare Staffing
Best paying industry	-	Health Care

Differences between outpatient dietitian and certified medical technician education

There are a few differences between an outpatient dietitian and a certified medical technician in terms of educational background:

	Outpatient Dietitian	Certified Medical Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 69%	Bachelor's Degree, 28%
Most common major	Dietetics	Nursing
Most common college	University of Maryland - College Park	University of Connecticut

Outpatient dietitian vs certified medical technician demographics

Here are the differences between outpatient dietitians' and certified medical technicians' demographics:

	Outpatient Dietitian	Certified Medical Technician
Average age	42	44
Gender ratio	Male, 7.5% Female, 92.5%	Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.1% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.1% Asian, 8.5% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	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	8%	8%

Differences between outpatient dietitian and certified medical technician duties and responsibilities

Outpatient dietitian example responsibilities.

Manage the anemia status of patients by reviewing necessary lab data and initiating or adjusting medication doses.
Perform nutritional education, complete comprehensive assessments, calculate patient needs for nutrition support and determine patients at risk for malnutrition.
Create educational lesson discussing hypertension prevention, risk factors, MNT.
Monitor patients' nutrition status, laboratory values, diet tolerance, and motivate them to adhere to dietary/medications recommendations.
Provide clinical nutrition coverage as needed for medical-surgical, telemetry, intensive care unit, behavioral health and rehabilitative floors.

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.

Outpatient dietitian vs certified medical technician skills

Common outpatient dietitian skills

Patients, 30%
Medical Nutrition Therapy, 11%
Patient Care, 6%
Nutrition Services, 5%
Home Health, 4%
Healthcare Professionals, 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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Outpatient Dietitian
Outpatient Dietitian vs Certified Medical Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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