Medical Lab Technician is an important part of a doctor’s team. In fact, he can be considered the most important part of the crucial process started by a doctor along with the other healthcare staff. It is said that once the starting is well then the end is bound to be well. It is here where a lab technician plays its all-important role. When some kind of doubt falls in doctors’ mind or when he wants to make his observation hundred per cent sure that needs to be. Then he takes the supports of technology that the technician is apt to deal with. It is the tests done by an efficient lab technician that a Dr. falls to take its further course of action with confidence towards the treatment of a serious patient. In this way, the role of the technician is considered to be very crucial and important to start a life-saving process of a patient.
Although it is hundred per cent truth that it is the doctor who can save a life by providing his timely service but the fact that doctor cannot do it without the help of his teammates and medical lab technician is one of them and important too. In true sense, the real role of the lab technician starts when the doctor wants to make its manual observation technically approved by taking the test.
To do this work tirelessly with all the care and devotion one requires a lot of hard work. This is the profession in which a person has to have dual character, on the one side one has to be strong hearted to feel the heat of reality when her services will not be enough to save the life of a human being and her devotion will not be able to send a patience to his home and on the other side she has to be quite soft hearted so that she could handle the patients of every nature and kind.
The scope of medical lab technician as a profession is increasing with the fast pace with the awareness among the masses about their health care activities.
To discharge their duties with utmost perfection the prospective medical lab technician required professional knowledge about the field and condition they are going to work in the coming time. For that, they need proper knowledge and training in their respective field which can only be achieved by doing professionally designed courses. So to be in this profession who has to undergo one or more of the ahead given courses?
Medical Lab Technician Eligibility
To become a Lab Technician one has to undergo the following Courses-
1. B.Sc.-M.L.T (BLMT)
Eligibility Conditions
Educational Qualification
To be eligible to join B.Sc.-M.L.T (BLMT) a Bachelor degree one should be 10+2 with Biology, Physics and Chemistry as the main subject with 50% marks for some highly rated colleges providing this course.
Medical Lab Technician Required Skills
- Medical Lab Technicians should possess basic office skills including spelling, grammar and punctuation and basic math skills.
- They also have a working knowledge of common office computer programs such as MS Word, Excel and Outlook medical database software as well as.
- They must have verbal communication skills which are also important in working with other lab personnel.
How to become a Medical Lab Technician?
One has to follow below-given steps for admission process and other related aspects-
Step 1
Interested candidate has to appear in an entrance test conducted by the various state and Independent medical educational bodies to admit candidates in various teaching institutions attached with it according to the rank of the candidate in the entrance exam.
These exams are usually held in the month of May-June and consist of Objective type questions based on the subject of relevant subjects the results of these exams are generally out by June/July
However, some colleges also give admission on the basis of % of marks obtained in the qualifying class.
Step 2
After completing this 3 years of course in which one has to go through all the major aspects of the field of study-Apart from the theoretical part, Lab Technician also goes through practical training courses in the attached Hospitals- one can opt. for some job is private or state run Nursing homes or Hospital as Assistant Lab Technician.
Fees and Other Expenditures: Although varying from college to college, the total course fee for an MLT course ranges from anywhere near 30 thousand at a government college to around Rs 1 Lakh in private institutes.
Diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology (DMLT)
Eligibility Conditions
Educational Qualification
To be eligible to join diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology (DMLT) one should be 10+2 with Biology, Physics and Chemistry as the main subject with at least 50% marks for some highly rated colleges providing this course.
Step 1
Interested candidate has to appear in an entrance test conducted by various state and Independent medical educational bodies to admit candidates in various teaching institutions attached with it according to the rank of the candidate in the entrance exam.
These exams are usually held in the month of May-June and consist of Objective type questions based on the subject of relevant subjects the results of these exams are generally out by June/July.
However, some colleges also give admission on the basis of % of marks obtained in the qualifying class.
Step 2
After completing this 2 years along with compulsory practical training one can opt. for some job is private or state run Nursing homes or Hospital as Assistant Lab technician.
There are also other certificate courses in lab technicians which needs 10+2 as the eligibility. Courses are offered by colleges, universities as well as hospitals.
However, some government agencies provide this course free of cost to the experienced untrained workers already working in this field to improve their knowledge and expertise.
Medical Lab Technician Job Description
During the critical conditions of the patients, the role of medical lab technician become more absorbing as he is the one on whose ability the doctor falls and treats the patient according to the feedback provided by a technician. Here small carelessness on the part of the technician can prove fatal for the patient. He/she may have to work for 24 hours in the emergency condition. Although it a tough ask but the person who is engaged in this profession does not feel so, as this profession give them the mental satisfaction when the patience they have taken care of stands on their feet and go back to their family blessing them for their recovery.
Medical Lab Technician Career Prospects
A well qualified and certified medical laboratory technician may find a challenging career in public and private sector hospital, minor emergency centres, laboratory, blood donor centres. These days with the growth in the private sector there are so many private hospitals, nursing homes, blood banks, pathology laboratories etc. the demand for laboratory technicians is on the upswing. With adequate knowledge and experience, Medical Laboratory Technologists can advance to supervisory or management positions in laboratories and hospitals. These Laboratory Technologists can also run private pathology laboratories. Teaching in medical colleges and institutions is also a very good option for them.
Medical Lab Technician Career Prospects:
- Assistant Lab technician
- Lab Technician
- Senior Lab Technician
- Supervisor
- Manager
Medical Lab Technician Salary
Medical lab Technologists/Technicians get a reasonable salary in government and private hospitals, clinics and diagnostic laboratories etc. The average starting salary of a lab technician ranges between Rs.12,000 to Rs.18,000 per month in hospitals and in clinics. Those working in private hospitals and clinics have more income than those of government employees. Those who are doing private practice are earning handsome returns depending upon their skill, knowledge, experience and popularity in the surrounding areas.
