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The differences between production technicians 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 a production technician, becoming a certified medical technician takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a certified medical technician has an average salary of $38,859, which is higher than the $37,550 average annual salary of a production technician.
The top three skills for a production technician include hand tools, preventative maintenance and quality checks. The most important skills for a certified medical technician are patients, vital signs, and CPR.
| Production Technician | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $37,550 | $38,859 |
| Hourly rate | $18.05 | $18.68 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 135,266 | 164,424 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 34% | Bachelor's Degree, 28% |
| Average age | 45 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 12 |
A production technician is an individual who is responsible for assembling and testing manufactured goods before they are marketed to the general public. Production technicians usually work with manufacturing and quality assurance personnel to ensure that high-quality work standards are implemented by workers. By maintaining high-quality work, production technicians must implement up-to-date, efficient methods of production as well as production equipment maintenance procedures. They also schedule training for workers and educate them regularly on health and safety regulations.
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.
Production technicians and certified medical technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Production Technician | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Average salary | $37,550 | $38,859 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $49,000 | Between $28,000 And $53,000 |
| Highest paying City | Frederick, MD | Denton, TX |
| Highest paying state | Maryland | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Cornerstone Research | Favorite Healthcare Staffing |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a production technician and a certified medical technician in terms of educational background:
| Production Technician | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 34% | Bachelor's Degree, 28% |
| Most common major | Business | Nursing |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Connecticut |
Here are the differences between production technicians' and certified medical technicians' demographics:
| Production Technician | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Average age | 45 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 71.4% Female, 28.6% | Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% Asian, 7.5% White, 60.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | 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 | 6% | 8% |