 Let's learn about careers available in a clinical laboratory. Laboratory testing plays a crucial role in the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of disease. Medical laboratory technicians perform general tests in all laboratory areas under the supervision of a medical technologist. Laboratory personnel examine and analyze body fluids, tissues, and cells. They look for bacteria, parasites, and other microorganisms. They analyze the chemical content of fluids, match blood for transfusions, and test for drug levels in the blood to show how a patient is responding to treatment. They also prepare specimens for examination, count cells, and look for abnormal cells. They use automated equipment and instruments capable of performing a number of tests simultaneously, as well as microscopes, cell counters, and other sophisticated laboratory equipment. Then they analyze the results and relay them to physicians. Let's meet with a medical technologist. Why did you choose to become a medical technologist? My cousin who was a medical technologist worked in a laboratory, and I was intrigued by the things that he did. It was nice enough for him as a young person to take me into the laboratory and show me what he was doing. So I got to see what people did in the medical laboratory at that time. Are you happy in your career choice? I'm happy with what I'm doing. That's why I've stayed here. I was even the manager in this department for years, and I stepped down a few years ago so that I could have more time to spend with my family and stuff like that. But instead of at that point leaving and getting out of the career, I'll continue to stay with it until I retire. I enjoy my job. How long does it take to become a medical technologist? The training nowadays for a medical technologist is a minimum of a bachelor's of science degree, which is in most cases a four-year program, in some cases five years, which also includes a medical internship at a certified medical laboratory. What's your favorite part of your job? The favorite part of my job here is the diversity. I never quite do the same things every day. There's always something different. This is a smaller hospital laboratory, and we perform all types of things here. So we're not stuck in one area of the laboratory, but we rotate through all of the departments, and so we're always doing something different every day. What does a medical technologist do? The main functions of a medical technologist is to collect and analyze laboratory specimens. These can be specimens from the human body. They're either blood specimens, urine specimens. We take these specimens back into the laboratory, and we run multiple tests on these samples. Some of these tests are to find out if people have infections, or to check their blood counts. We do some chemistry tests. For example, glucose free of blood sugar, potassium to check the potassium level. We do a liver function test. We do tests to see if people have had damage or disease to their heart, and it's just a multitude of things that can be done in the medical laboratory. If you could change how you prepared for your career, what would you do differently? I would have gotten involved in the computer-related aspect of it sooner than what I did. The computers and the computer sciences play a bigger role in medical technology today, more so than when I started in the field. Educational requirements. An associate's degree in the field or completion of a specialized in-house training program is generally required to become a medical laboratory technician. A bachelor's degree in the field is required to become a medical technologist. The Northwest Wisconsin average salary for a medical laboratory technician is $24,128. The average Northwest Wisconsin salary for a medical technologist is $44,096.