<p>Hi,
I'm considering the possibilty of switching my major in going into my uni's 3+1 medical technology program (3 years of academia plus a full year of clinical placement). I'm intrigued by the direct focus, the good job market, science, and flexible hours, but a tad worried about health risks (pathogen exposure and the whatnot) and repetitiveness of work. Any insights on the job outlook, major, pay, personal experience, or anything else that might had in my decision would be very much welcome and appreciated.</p>
<p>I have a degree in medical technology, though I haven't worked in the field in 18 years. Pathogen exposure is a risk, though infection control practices have gotten better over the years. When I worked, we rarely wore latex gloves when working with blood specimens, but you won't see that anymore.</p>
<p>Hospital laboratory work is not always repetitive. In a smaller hospital lab, the techs might cover more than one area of the lab or rotate through different departments. Even in a large hospital, techs are frequently rotated through different stations within a department. So, you might be assigned to the chemistry department, but you would be assigned to a different analyzer each week.</p>
<p>Even at that, you aren't just standing in front of a machine all day. There are reports to prepare, procedure manuals to update, and new products to test.</p>
<p>I spent quite awhile working in a hospital blood bank and immunochemistry department, and that was very repetitive. Granted, you had the occasional life and death crisis where someone came in yelling that they needed blood now, so that broke up the monotony a bit. :-)</p>
<p>Since I have been away from the field for so long, I can't give you any help in the area of pay and job outlook. I did a 3 + 1 program like you are considering, and I did enjoy med tech school very much.</p>
<p>Another ex-med tech here. I haven't been a med for 25 years so also can't give you a heads up on current job market.</p>
<p>Left the field to become a lawyer.</p>
<p>Upside--steady shifts times--8-4:30 pm and then I was off. As I lawyer, I worked MANY more hours a week.</p>
<p>Downside--labs run 24/7, 365 days a year. I worked many a holiday over the years. I worked in the chemistry department, and I found the study of med tech fascinating--but the actual lab work consisted of running tests by setting up a machine to perform the tests. It wasn't particularly mentally stimulating. That's why I left.</p>
<p>But I found it to be the kind of job where someone with the college education/degree can provide medical benefits, retirement benefits and a good living for their family.</p>
<p>My mom did this part time for many years. There was a lot of comraderie in her department. Job was far less stressful than teaching. I have no idea what pay scale is like.</p>
<p>Although not an MT, I recruited them for a major medical center for several years. The education is challenging. You'll need to be registered/certified therefore there will be exams to take. Each of the different labs have their own challenges and very likely, their own routines that could become boring. I had always heard that the Chemistry labs were the most routine, but there were always people who only wanted to work in a Chem lab because they loved it. Microbiology, Virology, and Immunology were considered more exciting. In a very large medical center/hospital, you will likely specialize in one area. In a community hospital, you'll likely rotate through all labs. In some locations you could have patient contact and in others there would be none. The profession is also excellent grounding for career changers. I know of several who went on to med school, law school, business school, hospital administration, and sales careers.</p>
<p>Medical Technology can also be a stepping stone to other careers. A fair number of the people in my company (biotech) started out as Med Techs - especially those in Marketing where a med tech who later went on to get an MBA is very common. It gives them a good grounding in general and laboratory science that they need in this business.</p>
<p>Relatively few people have entered this field in the past 20+ years. There are reasons for this: poor pay, poor working conditions and hours, and very limited opportunities for advancement, among others. We used to see this as an issue of supply and demand. In the 70's, hospitals got paid for DRG's and could no longer get paid for laboratory testing. The laboratory became a cost center and budgets got cut. In addition, automation has greatly improved the efficiency and reduced staffing needs. </p>
<p>Now many of the old time techs are reaching retirement age and there is a shortage with an even greater shortage projected for the foreseeable future. Supply and demand should be having an effect, but generally that is not happening. Hospitals claim they have no money and can't increase compensation. They don't seem to have that reservation when it comes to profit centers. They usually pay more for 2 year degree positions with patient contact - such as xray techs. Labs are continuing to automate and consolidate. Workload and responsibilities are increasing, but not the pay. It is also important to note that much of the work is being done on third shift. This is certainly true for commercial labs which provide testing for doctors offices and specialized testing for hospitals. Most of the work is being done overnight in a factory environment with low paid individuals performing repetitive tasks. Hospital labs are also in operation 24x7 so it can take a long time to get a day job and even then holiday and weekend rotations are the norm. </p>
<p>Advancement is an issue. Newer employees and old timer techs earn about the same. Advancement to a supervisory position is not all the desirable. The pay incentive is usually less and 10%, not counted a loss of overtime pay. A lab supervisor's job is tough with lots of pressure due to extensive regulations, low budgets and concerns about production and lab errors. The burnout rate is high and there is even a greater shortage for supervisors than for bench techs. It is rare for anyone to be promoted out of the lab into a desirable hospital management position. Junior administrators and nurses get those jobs. Think twice before you enter this field.</p>
<p>I am a new medical technologist. I graduated with a BS in Clinical Laboratory Science 6 months ago, and I work part-time days in a hospital lab. </p>
<p>The work could be considered repetitive if you look at it that way. But a good MT will continually learn and grow on the job. If you work for a large hospital, you can specialize in one (or a few) of many of different areas: immunology, flow cytometry, cytology, virology, etc. I don't worry excessively about pathogen exposure; I use universal precautions and good sense. I feel my job outlook is very good, pay is slightly less than what nurses earn, and I enjoy my job. </p>
<p>As someone else mentioned, the lab is staffed 24/7/365 including holidays. Be prepared to work your share of holidays and weekends.</p>
<p>I am glad to hear that the situation is better in Oregon. I understand California is still good for techs although I have not visited in many years. California has had licensure requirements for many, many years and that helped. I have seen numerous labs from the southwest, through the midwest, and the northeast. The situation is as I described. There is a large differential between nursing and lab tech pay. In addition, nurses have much more opportunity for advancement.</p>
<p>Yes, there are still some large hospital, especially teaching hospitals, with diverse and interesting laboratory operations. That is not the norm. Costs are pushing for consolidation and the smaller, specialized labs are disappearing at a rapid rate.</p>
<p>As a Medical Technologist of 30 years, I've seen many of the pluses and only a few of the minuses described above.</p>
<p>My story: graduated a 3+1 MT program, worked briefly in clinical chemistry with automated (antique now!) analyzers and switched to Microbiology.
Large teaching hospital in NJ. Have NEVER been bored with the work. Much less automation in clinical micro than in other lab sections. The bugs keep morphing, becoming more resistant to antibiotics. Testing methods change continually. DNA probes introduced for rapid identifications. We still run an MT internship program with 8 students yearly. Motivated techs lecture and teach bench rotations. I've helped develop the lab information system micro databases for 3 different packages over the years and continue to process updates and train staff. No need to be 'bored' around here! </p>
<p>The field was, and still is, full of women. Back in the dark ages, women enjoyed the flexibility in caring for their family. Yes, hospitals run 24/7, 365 days a year. This is actually a GOOD thing for anyone looking to work around other responsibilities like family/school. I've had a day shift in micro all along; chemistry/hematology/blood bank are more likely to have openings off hours.</p>
<p>More work with less staff IS the motto of most workplaces, not just clinical labs. The pay is mediocre perhaps but not horrible. Starting pay here in NJ is perhaps 40K at a large lab. Raises are the basic 2-4%/year. But with many years experience and an ASCP Specialist certification, I've been rewarded fairly by my employer. Health benefits are superb.
Compensation in other regions/lab settings might be more or less. Most MTs don't go into the field to become wealthy. The combination of hands on work, mental challenge and yes, the sense of 'helping', has been a great one for me.
Feel free to PM me with any questions.</p>
<p>Depending mainly on the proximity to NYC, NJ med tech salaries are about 25-30% ahead of the national average. Starting salaries in the low 40's are about average for little or no experience. In the same area, an ultrasound tech with no experience and two years of tech school or community college training will start in the upper 40's. RNs generally will start in the low 50's. Both med techs and u.s. techs will top out quickly. Nursing has much more available for career paths, specialization, advanced training -- and salary increases. Salaries over $100k are fairly common in the NJ area. Med Techs hardly ever progress beyond about $60k. Musicmom, I do indeed hope you have been "rewarded fairly" by your employer. I suspect your rewards are far short of those for nurses or even other health care professions requiring only a 2 year degree.</p>
<p>Coureur made an interesting point. About half of the graduates of med tech programs never work as techs. They use the training to gain entry into other healthcare professions such as physician assistant.</p>
<p>edad-
Unlike many of my peers in the lab, I don't engage in the battle of MT vs Nursing salaries. To me, it's just apples to oranges.<br>
Nurses do enjoy many more opportunities for advancement. (Although we have seen some MTs here progress to management roles in IT and Infection Control.)
If I had wanted to be a Nurse, I could have been a Nurse (still could, I suppose). Nurses have that big responsibility: hands on care.
It's not something I wanted or thought I'd be very good at.
Nurses are in high demand and warrant the salaries.
Perhaps all us soon to retire MTs will make the MT profession in demand soon also!</p>
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<p>Coureur made an interesting point. About half of the graduates of med tech programs never work as techs. They use the training to gain entry into other healthcare professions such as physician assistant.<<</p>
</blockquote>
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<p>Well, that wasn't quite my point. Most of the med techs that I know who work biotech Marketing and other such corporate jobs <em>did</em> work as a tech at least for a few years early in their careers but then moved on and earned advanced degrees.</p>
<p>Another thing I want to mention is that it's not the same old thing day-in-and-day-out in most clinical labs. In my lab, I work in Hematology and Chemistry. Hematology has 4 techs on any given day, each working in a different area of Hematology. Chemistry has 2 areas. We all rotate, so that a person isn't doing the same thing every day. Eventually I'll also work in Blood Bank, so there's another area. It makes things interesting and keeps the techs well-rounded.</p>
<p>Starting salary here for a full-time brand new ASCP or NCA certified med tech is about $45,000. Evening shift gets a $1.50 an hour additional, night shift $3.00. </p>
<p>Many of the techs at my lab have been there for 20+ years. One of them has been there for 35, is now a technical specialist, and she still loves her job!</p>