How do you become a Medical Lab Technician?
Asked by tommy11
Do you have to go to a university or vocational school or some other type of school? I also want to know what the difference is between a phlebotomist, clinical lab scientist, or other lab assistant tittles. which one works in a microbiological type of environment?

Best Answer:
Go to http://www.nca-info.org/ They are the accrediting agency that oversees all these jobs. There are different career tracks, but this is the best place to start. Print out the handbook from http://www.nca-info.org/pdfs/NCAHandbookFeb2007.pdf It tells you the requirements for certification for all the programs you are interested in. A Clinical Laboratory Phlebotomist performs venipuctures, processes specimens in preparation for testing and performs quality assurance. A Clinical Laboratory Technician performs blood testing and other specimen testing. A Clinical Laboratory Scientist is a more in-depth technician who specializes more in a certain field. A Clinical Laboratory Specialist in <whatever> is someone who is a Scientist but has specialized studies in a specific area.
http://www.nca-info.org/ I am an NCA certified Laboratory Phlebotomist.
Answered by Sara B

It is my understanding that a phlebotomist (basically a specialist in drawing blood) can get training thru a vocational-technical school as you mentioned or a community college program. A medical lab technican, however, may require an associate's degree in medical lab technology from a community college, and there may be the use of the microscope (microbiology) a lot more than the phlebotomist. There are also medical assistant programs that most likely include phlebotomy as part of their curriculum along with some microbiology education, urinalysis may be included in that and EKG (electrocardiogram) testing which is a non-invasive test of the heart where the ekg tech places electrodes in certain areas of the chest to get a reading of heart waves. A medical assistant program may also teach about medical billing, medical records, medical transcription and office management. I just mentioned that type of program since it might allow you to obtain other jobs in a similar field. I'll leave a website in which community colleges can be searched. And for the medical assistant (there are some associate degree programs but most are a certificate program instead), the local vo-tech school may have one as well (and for a 1/4 fraction of the price of a private school :)
Answered by jannsody