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The differences between patients transporters and operating room assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-3 months to become both a patients transporter and an operating room assistant. Additionally, an operating room assistant has an average salary of $34,177, which is higher than the $29,476 average annual salary of a patients transporter.
The top three skills for a patients transporter include patients, customer service and CPR. The most important skills for an operating room assistant are patients, surgery, and anesthesia.
| Patients Transporter | Operating Room Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $29,476 | $34,177 |
| Hourly rate | $14.17 | $16.43 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 126,533 | 218,839 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 36% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 3 | 3 |
A patients transporter is responsible for transporting patients from one place to assigned healthcare facilities to receive medical care and treatment. Patients transporters assist with moving the patients, such as on wheelchairs and beds, depending on their conditions. They also deliver laboratory tests, medical equipment, specimens, and other medical-related records to different institutions advised by healthcare management. A patients transporter must always adhere to the regulatory procedures to maintain safe and secure operations, especially on ensuring patients' comfort during transportation.
An operating room assistant works alongside the surgeons in maintaining the orderly and sterile nature of operating rooms. The assistant ensures that all surgical equipment is clean and hygienic, all monitoring equipment is functional, and everything needed by the doctor is present inside the operating room. The assistant position is vital during an operation. The surgeon may become too focused on the operation at hand that helpful assistants must ensure an operation's smooth flow.
Patients transporters and operating room assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Patients Transporter | Operating Room Assistant | |
| Average salary | $29,476 | $34,177 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $37,000 | Between $26,000 And $43,000 |
| Highest paying City | Lewiston, ME | Santa Monica, CA |
| Highest paying state | Vermont | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Lifespan | University of California, Berkeley |
| Best paying industry | - | - |
There are a few differences between a patients transporter and an operating room assistant in terms of educational background:
| Patients Transporter | Operating Room Assistant | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 36% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between patients transporters' and operating room assistants' demographics:
| Patients Transporter | Operating Room Assistant | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 58.3% Female, 41.7% | Male, 46.8% Female, 53.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.0% Asian, 7.5% White, 60.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% | Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 7.1% White, 61.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |