Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between refrigeration technicians and certified medical technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a refrigeration technician, becoming a certified medical technician takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a refrigeration technician has an average salary of $50,701, which is higher than the $38,859 average annual salary of a certified medical technician.
The top three skills for a refrigeration technician include preventative maintenance, hand tools and ladders. The most important skills for a certified medical technician are patients, vital signs, and CPR.
| Refrigeration Technician | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $50,701 | $38,859 |
| Hourly rate | $24.38 | $18.68 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 131,115 | 164,424 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 31% | Bachelor's Degree, 28% |
| Average age | 40 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 12 |
A refrigeration technician is responsible for managing refrigeration and cooling systems for private households and commercial establishments. Refrigeration technicians install refrigeration components, requiring them to have an excellent analysis of blueprints and schematics. They inspect the system components and inform the household owners and management for preventive maintenance and troubleshooting for minor defects and inconsistencies, as well as calculating costs and materials for repairs. A refrigeration technician must be well-equipped with mechanical knowledge to identify failures and upgrade units as necessary.
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.
Refrigeration technicians and certified medical technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Refrigeration Technician | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Average salary | $50,701 | $38,859 |
| Salary range | Between $33,000 And $75,000 | Between $28,000 And $53,000 |
| Highest paying City | Baltimore, MD | Denton, TX |
| Highest paying state | Delaware | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Micron Technology | Favorite Healthcare Staffing |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a refrigeration technician and a certified medical technician in terms of educational background:
| Refrigeration Technician | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 31% | Bachelor's Degree, 28% |
| Most common major | Heating And Air Conditioning | Nursing |
| Most common college | - | University of Connecticut |
Here are the differences between refrigeration technicians' and certified medical technicians' demographics:
| Refrigeration Technician | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Average age | 40 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 97.2% Female, 2.8% | Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.2% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 23.7% Asian, 2.5% White, 61.6% 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 | 2% | 8% |