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Medical Techs
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Posted 9 months ago Does anyone have experience as an medical tech? I know that there are many types, but I have no idea what is needed to get into the various hot medical technology fields. |
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| Posted 7 months ago Medical technology in the way of clinical laboratory medicine? Or medical technology in the way of instrumentation and engineering? |
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| Posted 7 months ago Any and all of the above! |
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| Posted 7 months ago Personally, I can only rate on medical technology, the degree, going along with clinical laboratory science and not the instrumentation/engineering. The med tech (MT) field itself is a hot one to get into right now for two reasons which stem from the same area. The population of the US is aging, due to the Baby Boomers reaching their 60s. This means that there is additional employees needed to compensate for the increase in lab tests being performed. More and more hospitals are already seeing an increase in patients and all those things that go along with it. At the same time...the workforce itself is aging, again, because a large part of it is the Baby Boomer generation. So in the next 5-10 years, A LOT of people are going to be retiring, thus opening up more and more positions that will need to be filled. Once being certified as a Med Tech, you can work in a clinical lab (hospital or private practice), research, reference labs, government, and so much more. Within the clinical lab, there is clinical chemistry, hematology, coagulation studies, microbiology, blood banking, and serology/immunology. There is also histotechnology and cytogenetics, which, typically require different certification/educational processes. Let's not forget plebotomy, but many med techs don't draw blood and special training and certification programs are available if you want to do specifically phlebotomy. The field itself is growing and new technology is always being developed, especially with DNA technology becoming more and more commonplace, along with new tumor markers, proteins, and other such analytes always being discovered, as well as those we've known about for a long time where we're just starting to understand their clinical significance. I hope this helped in some way. Send me a PM if you would like more specific info about any of it! |
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| Posted 4 months ago Look for med tech schools where you live. Call a hospital lab and ask if they know where a med tech school is. I know that Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs has a med tech program. I believe there may be a few med tech schools in Denver. And in Utah, I believe that you can get a Master's Degree in Medical Technology at Weber State University and University of Utah. It is a tough field. I am an "old school" med tech. I graduated with a B.S. in Medical Technology in 1988. A minor in Chemistry was part of my med tech curriculum. Don't think you have to take analytical chemistry anymore. You can make more money (absolutely) working for a reference lab such as Quest Diagnostics or LabCorp. You will probably average 50-55 hours per week. Ten to 15 hour overtime can add up quickly, however you may only do limited testing like 1500 to 2000 total PSA's per night using for example BeckmanCoulter's Access 2's and BeckmanCoulter UniCel system. Some good things about being a med tech (besides helping the medical staff and the patient) is that you will more than likely start making atleast $20/hour up to say $26/hour. You can choose from small medical clinics, small hospitals, large hospitals, or reference labs.
Good Luck!
The United States needs more med techs, that's for sure. Be highly conscientious. This will reduce errors. |