All About Medical Lab Technician Jobs

Not all healthcare careers require direct interaction with patients. You can have a positive impact on people’s lives while still working behind the scenes! One of these careers is a Medical Lab Technician, or MLT, known to be one of the most important team members in the medical lab. Their responsibility is to collect, test and evaluate sample results that are ordered by the doctor.

For students who are looking to take this path and work as a medical lab tech, you must be able to work in a team with physicians and scientists, be detail-oriented and follow strict procedures.

In this article we will be talking about medical lab technician job duties and responsibilities, skills and qualifications required, and much more.

Medical Lab Technician Duties And Responsibilities?

A Medical Lab Technician's job is to perform lab tests and procedures ordered by doctors to detect all types of abnormalities and medical conditions.

Here are some of the duties and responsibilities of a Medical Lab Technician:

Sanitize and clean laboratory equipment

Perform tests on tissues, blood, and other body fluids

Assist physicians with diagnosis and treatments of diseases

Match blood compatibility for transfusions

Issue reports with recorded test data

Analyze fluid chemical content

Collect blood, tissues, and body fluids from patients

Maintain a clean environment and ensure all safety guidelines are strictly followed at all times.

Medical Laboratory Technician (MLT) Soft Skills

A medical lab technician job requires several skills to be able to succeed in this career and to effectively perform their daily duties. Including the hard skills learned in school, all medical techs should acquire the following soft skills to become successful medical lab technicians.

Active Listening - Can communicate with coworkers and understand the instructions given to you; you will need to have excellent listening skills to communicate expertly.

Critical Thinking - A medical lab tech should be able to determine and compare all the options they have and choose the one with the most positive outcome.

Reading Comprehension - This is an important ability to have in a medical lab technician job, as it shows your ability to understand, interpret, analyze, and infer written information given to you.

Organization - A medical lab technician job requires individuals to be well organized, to be able to carry out large volumes of medical tests in a short period, and prioritize the most important and urgent matters first.

Responsibility - A medical lab technician is responsible to do his job right and oversee and carry out lab tests on patient samples that they are provided.

Detail Orientation - A medical lab technician job requires you to be focused on all the small details when running lab tests to assure that you provide accurate results.

Physical Stamina - Physical stamina is required in a medical lab technician job as most of the time you will be on your feet, and you may have to lift disabled patients to collect samples for testing.

Dexterity - Having good eye coordination and dexterity is required to handle needles and lab instruments effectively.

Medical Lab Technician (MLT) Hard Skills

Medical lab equipment is mostly electronic and high-tech equipment which requires some hard skills to learn how to use, here is a list of all the hard skills you need for a medical lab technician job:

Laboratory Equipment - Medical lab technicians must know how to maintain, operate, and calibrate laboratory equipment.

Computer Skills - Basic knowledge of MS Office, especially Excel, is required for you to be able to input tests and record lab tests data.

Laboratory Safety Protocols - Wearing gloves and safety equipment while working with bodily fluids is required when working as a medical lab technician, you might get some training in your program or when you start your job about these safety protocols you have to follow.

Sterilization of Lab Equipment - You should be able to properly sterilize all the equipment you work with. This will ensure the accuracy of the lab results testing.

In conclusion, being a medical lab technician is a great opportunity to help you build your career in the healthcare field.

We hope that this article was informative and educational for you and for the people that have an interest in pursuing this as a career. If you are, or you know someone that is a medical lab technician, you can sign up for Caring Support to start developing your career with tons of employment opportunities we have available!

If you have any questions about Medical Lab Technician (MLT), or questions about how to join our platform as a healthcare worker, please don't hesitate to leave us a comment below or contact us directly.

Source: https://www.caringsupport.com/blog/all-about-medical-lab-technician-jobs