Choosing the right healthcare career is a very important decision and weighing the advantages and disadvantages is essential. So, before committing to the medical laboratory technician field, looking at the pros and cons can help you determine if this is the right career for you. Check them out below.
Pros:
- All in the name of science. Medical laboratory technicians have a crucial job in the healthcare field. They work closely with medical professionals to prevent, monitor and treat diseases all through science. If that’s your passion and you love discovering things through chemistry and microbiology, you should consider a career as a medical laboratory technician.
- Help make a difference in patients’ lives. You can help save someone’s life or figure out what’s causing pain or illness by diagnosing what’s wrong with them by looking at their blood or other bodily fluids through a microscope.
- U.S. News and World Report ranks medical laboratory technicians as a top 20 healthcare support job. Lab work has become more complex over the years, especially with viruses on the rise, so the support from a medical lab technician is crucial to help diagnose patients in a timely fashion.
Cons:
- It’s a fast-paced job. This job will keep you on your toes as it requires a lot of work around the lab. At times, it can be very busy or hectic, especially with the pandemic. But this makes the day go by faster.
- Additional training for advancement. Within the medical lab technician field, you can continue your education as a medical technologist and then continue on to become a manager or more. However, this requires additional training and supervisor roles are not always easy to come by.
- You work behind the scenes. You won’t be in the “spotlight” necessarily as medical laboratory technicians work behind the scenes. However, most are content with this decision and happy to be making a difference helping physicians and medical professionals making diagnoses.
If you’d like to make a career out of your passion for science, we recommend our Medical Laboratory Technician program. It’s offered at our Colorado Springs campus and takes 19 months to complete. Bring out your inner scientist at Pima Medical Institute.
