Student clinician vs certified medical technician

The differences between student clinicians 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 student clinician, becoming a certified medical technician takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a student clinician has an average salary of $59,506, which is higher than the $38,859 average annual salary of a certified medical technician.

The top three skills for a student clinician include language disorders, patients and autism. The most important skills for a certified medical technician are patients, vital signs, and CPR.

Student clinician vs certified medical technician overview

	Student Clinician	Certified Medical Technician
Yearly salary	$59,506	$38,859
Hourly rate	$28.61	$18.68
Growth rate	21%	5%
Number of jobs	36,281	164,424
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 75%	Bachelor's Degree, 28%
Average age	40	44
Years of experience	2	12

What does a student clinician do?

A Student Clinician is a healthcare practitioner who works as caregiver of a patient in a hospital or clinic. They integrate knowledge obtained in courses into the clinical practicum assignments.

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.

Student clinician vs certified medical technician salary

Student clinicians and certified medical technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Student Clinician	Certified Medical Technician
Average salary	$59,506	$38,859
Salary range	Between $41,000 And $85,000	Between $28,000 And $53,000
Highest paying City	-	Denton, TX
Highest paying state	-	Alaska
Best paying company	-	Favorite Healthcare Staffing
Best paying industry	-	Health Care

Differences between student clinician and certified medical technician education

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

	Student Clinician	Certified Medical Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 75%	Bachelor's Degree, 28%
Most common major	Communication Disorders Sciences	Nursing
Most common college	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	University of Connecticut

Student clinician vs certified medical technician demographics

Here are the differences between student clinicians' and certified medical technicians' demographics:

	Student Clinician	Certified Medical Technician
Average age	40	44
Gender ratio	Male, 16.5% Female, 83.5%	Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.9% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 9.6% Asian, 4.5% White, 76.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	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%

Differences between student clinician and certified medical technician duties and responsibilities

Student clinician example responsibilities.

Provide group base intervention for elementary age students who use AAC, with and without communication disorders
Deliver speech therapy in individual and group settings; focuse on improving overall functional communication in patients with non-fluent aphasia.
Evaluate patients in the acute care setting for communication disorders, develop and implement therapy for acute care and rehabilitation patients.
Provide speech and language intervention for a varying population with stuttering, receptive-expressive language delay, aphasia, and articulation deficits.
Addressed concerns such as articulation, augmentative alternative communication, autism-spectrum disorders, pragmatic issues, expressive and receptive language issues.
Provide AAC training utilizing communications book.

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.

Student clinician vs certified medical technician skills

Common student clinician skills

Language Disorders, 19%
Patients, 15%
Autism, 10%
Traumatic Brain Injury, 5%
Group Therapy Sessions, 4%
Aphasia, 3%

Common certified medical technician skills

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

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Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Student Clinician
Student Clinician vs Certified Medical Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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