What is a Pulmonary Function Technician?

The primary duty of a pulmonary function technician is to conduct tests on patients who have possible respiratory disorders or diseases. Their role is essential in providing an accurate diagnosis of the patient's illness, which leads to proper and timely treatment.

Aside from conducting various tests, a pulmonary function technician also coordinates with other health care providers to diagnose and recommend the appropriate treatment. They may also be responsible for implementing respiratory therapies, educating patients on using equipment and medications, and providing assistance in respiratory emergencies.

An aspiring pulmonary function technician needs to have a bachelor's or associate's degree in medical technology, respiratory therapy, or another relevant field. Depending on the state, one may also need to obtain a license before practicing as a pulmonary function technician.

A pulmonary function technician typically works in a laboratory or a respiratory care unit. On average, they make around $30 an hour or roughly $63,000 per year.

What Does a Pulmonary Function Technician Do

There are certain skills that many pulmonary function technicians have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed hand-eye coordination, interpersonal skills and technical skills.

How To Become a Pulmonary Function Technician

If you're interested in becoming a pulmonary function technician, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 43.3% of pulmonary function technicians have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 3.6% of pulmonary function technicians have master's degrees. Even though some pulmonary function technicians have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Pulmonary Function Technician

Top Pulmonary Function Technician Jobs Near You

Pulmonary Function Technician Career Paths

In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of technician you might progress to a role such as team leader eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title practice manager.

Average Salary for a Pulmonary Function Technician

Pulmonary Function Technicians in America make an average salary of $50,458 per year or $24 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $75,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $33,000 per year.

Average Pulmonary Function Technician Salary

$50,458 Yearly

$24.26 hourly

$33,00010%

$50,000Median

$75,00090%

What Am I Worth?

Roles and Types of Pulmonary Function Technician

The role of a pulmonary function technician includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general pulmonary function technician responsibilities:

Explains test procedures to patients to relieve apprehension
Perform routine pulmonary function tests on patients, to include sweat chloride tests
Performs ordered pulmonary function and pulmonary stress testing. Monitors

There are several types of pulmonary function technician, including:

Technician

Role:

To be a technician, you have to know your stuff. Some may refer to you as an expert in your field or maybe people will know you as skilled in an art or craft. Then again, you may just be needed to look after technical equipment.

Your workload as a technician will vary, depending on what you're trained in. You may be needed to set up a new computer system or maybe you'll need to fix an electricity problem. Either way, you'll probably only need to work 40 hours a week.

The degree of education required for this job depends on what you're specific skillset is. Some technicians only need a high school diploma, others may want to complete an associate's program or earn a certificate to help their employment opportunities. There's definitely something for everyone in the field of technicians.

Average Salary: $38,045
Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Overview How To Become Job Description Jobs

Monitor Technician

Role:

A monitor technician is a professional who observes and examines the heart monitors of various patients and detects and reports abnormalities and inconsistencies.

They are tasked with setting up the monitors, using them on patients, and participating in some simpler medical procedures. They are also tasked with using other equipment and medical tools to run tests on a patient's heart, reporting on and helping fix cardiovascular issues, analyzing test results, and training new staff members.

Monitor technicians need to have strong analytical and critical thinking skills. They also need to be able to stay calm in stressful environments and situations. It is important to have technical skills to operate hospital equipment and medical software.

Monitor technicians usually need at least a high school diploma. Some employers do not require specific training, but many prefer a certification and at least one year of experience in medical monitoring or a related field. CPR certification is also typically required.

Average Salary: $35,460
Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Overview How To Become Job Description Jobs

EKG Technician

Role:

Most people dread going to hospitals. Some people may feel symptoms of diseases but are too afraid to go. They fear the needles and the machines and the tests involved in diagnosing problems and diseases. However, most machines and tests are non-invasive. One such machine is the electrocardiograph, where electrodes are placed on the patient's chest area to monitor heart activity. The person operating this machine is called the EKG Technician. EKG Technicians handle the electrocardiograph.

They operate the equipment and help monitor the activity of the heart. Once the results of the EKG are in, these technicians endorse the results to the physicians assigned to the patient. EKG Technicians are not doctors, nor are they expected to be medically trained. Most of the time, they are trained to only operate and maintain the equipment. Even so, their role is vital in a hospital or clinic.

If you are good with machines and are accountable enough to be given the responsibility of looking after a machine, you might like this. Of course, even if you are not a doctor, you need to practice proper bedside manners. As such, an approachable demeanor would be a plus!

Average Salary: $35,160
Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Overview How To Become Job Description Jobs

States With The Most Pulmonary Function Technician Jobs

Number Of Pulmonary Function Technician Jobs By State

Rank	State	Number of Jobs	Average Salary
1	Florida	3,562	$34,744
2	New York	1,503	$56,552
3	Pennsylvania	1,348	$58,303
4	Illinois	1,310	$29,377
5	New Jersey	1,142	$42,845
6	North Carolina	1,062	$42,163
7	Ohio	1,040	$45,225
8	Virginia	996	$45,782
9	Arizona	965	$39,670
10	Indiana	927	$39,532
11	Washington	819	$39,342
12	Connecticut	595	$54,831
13	South Carolina	521	$46,611
14	Iowa	498	$29,269
15	Oregon	424	$54,934
16	Oklahoma	343	$42,008
17	Nebraska	265	$32,470
18	Mississippi	261	$38,863
19	New Mexico	252	$47,452
20	West Virginia	228	$43,756
21	Nevada	179	$49,510
22	Rhode Island	160	$45,938
23	Vermont	157	$44,032
24	Idaho	154	$46,461
25	Delaware	127	$47,851
26	Wyoming	68	$39,714
27	California	0	$74,129
28	North Dakota	0	$51,614
29	Alabama	0	$47,287
30	New Hampshire	0	$48,820
31	Texas	0	$47,802
32	Massachusetts	0	$50,049
33	Maryland	0	$52,302
34	Wisconsin	0	$45,346
35	Michigan	0	$43,626
36	Alaska	0	$44,385
37	Maine	0	$43,130
38	Georgia	0	$43,310
39	Hawaii	0	$49,026
40	Arkansas	0	$41,084
41	Tennessee	0	$40,395
42	Utah	0	$41,555
43	Colorado	0	$41,267
44	Minnesota	0	$39,426
45	Kentucky	0	$38,832
46	Louisiana	0	$37,823
47	South Dakota	0	$34,984
48	Montana	0	$36,978
49	Missouri	0	$35,268
50	Kansas	0	$29,119

Pulmonary Function Technician Education

Pulmonary Function Technician Majors

Medical Technician

35.9 %

Biology

12.5 %

Business

5.7 %

Pulmonary Function Technician Degrees

Associate

44.2 %

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 24.5% of pulmonary function technicians listed patients on their resume, but soft skills such as hand-eye coordination and interpersonal skills are important as well.

Patients, 24.5%

Respiratory Care, 10.8%

Patient Care, 9.8%

Spirometry, 8.0%

Respiratory Therapy, 5.6%

Other Skills, 41.3%

Choose From 10+ Customizable Pulmonary Function Technician Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Pulmonary Function Technician templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Pulmonary Function Technician resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Pulmonary Function Technician diversity

Pulmonary Function Technician Gender Distribution

Male

52%

Female

48%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

Among pulmonary function technicians, 48.0% of them are women, while 52.0% are men.

The most common race/ethnicity among pulmonary function technicians is White, which makes up 58.6% of all pulmonary function technicians.

The most common foreign language among pulmonary function technicians is Spanish at 85.7%.

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Part Time

Internship

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How Do Pulmonary Function Technicians Rate Their Jobs?

Top Pulmonary Function Technician Employers

Most Common Employers For Pulmonary Function Technician

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	Solectron Corp	$91,535	$44.01	3
2	Battelle	$74,242	$35.69	2
3	Pacific Pulmonary Services	$67,621	$32.51	2
4	JRMC	$64,598	$31.06	2
5	NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital	$62,773	$30.18	2
6	Boston Children's Hospital	$61,912	$29.77	5
7	Columbia University in the City of New York	$61,015	$29.33	6
8	National Jewish Health	$54,190	$26.05	11
9	University of Michigan	$53,181	$25.57	2
10	Hospital for Special Surgery	$52,603	$25.29	2

Updated April 6, 2023

What is a Pulmonary Function Technician?

What Does a Pulmonary Function Technician Do

How To Become a Pulmonary Function Technician

Pulmonary Function Technician Career Paths

Average Salary for a Pulmonary Function Technician

Roles and Types of Pulmonary Function Technician

Technician

Role:

Monitor Technician

Role:

EKG Technician

Role:

States With The Most Pulmonary Function Technician Jobs

Number Of Pulmonary Function Technician Jobs By State

Pulmonary Function Technician Education

Pulmonary Function Technician Majors

Pulmonary Function Technician Degrees

Top Colleges for Pulmonary Function Technicians

1. University of Southern California

2. San Diego State University

3. SUNY Stony Brook

4. New York University

5. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

6. Duke University

7. Howard University

8. SUNY at Buffalo

9. Western Carolina University

10. University of Pennsylvania

Top Skills For a Pulmonary Function Technician

Choose From 10+ Customizable Pulmonary Function Technician Resume templates

Pulmonary Function Technician diversity

Pulmonary Function Technician Gender Distribution

Online Courses For Pulmonary Function Technician That You May Like

How Do Pulmonary Function Technicians Rate Their Jobs?

Top Pulmonary Function Technician Employers

Most Common Employers For Pulmonary Function Technician

Pulmonary Function Technician Related Careers

Pulmonary Function Technician Related Jobs

What Similar Roles Do

Resume For Related Jobs