Sample prep technician vs certified medical technician

The differences between sample prep 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 sample prep technician, becoming a certified medical technician takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a sample prep technician has an average salary of $42,504, which is higher than the $38,859 average annual salary of a certified medical technician.

The top three skills for a sample prep technician include QC, lab equipment and AA. The most important skills for a certified medical technician are patients, vital signs, and CPR.

Sample prep technician vs certified medical technician overview

	Sample Prep Technician	Certified Medical Technician
Yearly salary	$42,504	$38,859
Hourly rate	$20.43	$18.68
Growth rate	7%	5%
Number of jobs	63,971	164,424
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 45%	Bachelor's Degree, 28%
Average age	38	44
Years of experience	2	12

What does a sample prep technician do?

Sample Prep Technicians are responsible for carrying out sample preparation and laboratory testings. Their duties include client samples sorting and logging, conducting preliminary sample preparation, monitoring temperatures of freezers and refrigerators, cleaning of N-Evap, water baths refrigerators, and foreheads, and making sure proper procedures for sample returning, disposal, and archiving. They calibrate equipment such as pipettes, syringes, and balances, wash glassware, dispose of waste solvents, salinize liners and glass wools and sustain standard inventory. Sample Prep Technicians also perform equipment repair, assist laboratory technician, and ensure work adhere to organizations environmental, quality, health, and safety policies.

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.

Sample prep technician vs certified medical technician salary

Sample prep technicians and certified medical technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Sample Prep Technician	Certified Medical Technician
Average salary	$42,504	$38,859
Salary range	Between $28,000 And $63,000	Between $28,000 And $53,000
Highest paying City	Fall River, MA	Denton, TX
Highest paying state	Rhode Island	Alaska
Best paying company	Los Alamos National Laboratory	Favorite Healthcare Staffing
Best paying industry	Automotive	Health Care

Differences between sample prep technician and certified medical technician education

There are a few differences between a sample prep technician and a certified medical technician in terms of educational background:

	Sample Prep Technician	Certified Medical Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 45%	Bachelor's Degree, 28%
Most common major	Biology	Nursing
Most common college	Stanford University	University of Connecticut

Sample prep technician vs certified medical technician demographics

Here are the differences between sample prep technicians' and certified medical technicians' demographics:

	Sample Prep Technician	Certified Medical Technician
Average age	38	44
Gender ratio	Male, 67.6% Female, 32.4%	Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 16.9% Asian, 10.5% White, 56.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%	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 sample prep technician and certified medical technician duties and responsibilities

Sample prep technician example responsibilities.

Assist in managing technical and regulatory site visits to the laboratory and interface with QA and RA on all vendor/regulatory audits.
Maintain cleanliness of car wash.
Certify weights of shipments of grain and shipping containers according to USDA regulations.
Perform quality control (QC) testing of environmental samples within assign sample batches.
Perform calibration checks on pipettes monthly, on microwaves weekly, on scales daily.
Experience utilizing proper PPE for task, and ensuring a safe work area through housekeeping.

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.

Sample prep technician vs certified medical technician skills

Common sample prep technician skills

QC, 12%
Lab Equipment, 10%
AA, 10%
Safety Regulations, 7%
Sample Prep, 6%
Lims, 6%

Common certified medical technician skills

Patients, 17%
Vital Signs, 12%
CPR, 8%
Administer Medications, 7%
Resident Care, 6%
HIPAA, 6%

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Sample Prep Technician vs Certified Medical Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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