Clinical Laboratory Technician Job Descriptions and Career

Diagnosing diseases for treatment and adequate health care requires clinical tests and that, specifically is the job of the Laboratory Technologist who are also known as the clinical laboratory technician.

Job Features

Such technicians carry out a number of clinical functions. It includes –
Carrying out multiple tests on the patient;
It could be tests on tissues, fluids, cells, blood types, drug concentration in blood, and presence of bacteria;
Identification of parasites, bacteria, fluid compositions in the physique; and
Conducting all similar tests and experimentations.

Instruments Used

These technicians use a variety of instruments for performing the clinical tests including -
Microscopes;
Automated equipments;
Multiple test equipments ; and

With the help of these instruments they summarize all the data and send the information to the doctors for their reviews of the same and effective treatments. With the rapid growth of technology, the analytical skills of the technicians are also increasing rapidly.

Required Education and Training

One of the most important factors for taking up such career is the level of education and training required.
Most of the technologies undergo four year degree courses in life science while some of them also go for similar courses in medical technology;
Work experience is very important and can substitute a part of the required educational qualifications;
Training during certification as well as in job training on microscopic, immunologic, biological, hematological, bacteriological, and chemical tests are essential for the technicians to succeed in their career.
Education and training are both aimed at enhancing the ability of the prospective technician in identifying harmful elements in the anatomy of the patients.

Base and Supervisory Roles

Role of the clinical laboratory technician could be specialized or supervisory. Usually in the smaller units they assume a supervisory stance while in the larger enterprises it is always specialization.

Technician Types

Multiple types of clinical laboratory technicians are there. Some of the most important types are –
Microbiology technologists specializing in identification of microorganisms;
Blood bank technicians involved in the use and transfusion of blood;
Blood bank technicians involved in collection of blood and analyzing them;
Immunology specialists who take care of human immune systems; ‘
Molecular biology technicians sampling the cells using nucleic acid; and
Cytotechnologists dealing with cell microscopically.

Work environments for the technicians will largely depend on the employer and the tests are conducted manually or using automated machines.

At state university website viewers will find job descriptions and careers relating information of all types of jobs including the technology oriented ones like the clinical laboratory technician. Besides highlighting various aspects of the careers the site also provides information on relevant U.S universities training.