A medical laboratory technician performs tests on blood, tissue, urine, and stool samples to help diagnose diseases or conditions. They register samples, prepare them for testing, and review reports before sending them to doctors. They may also perform direct examinations of samples under a microscope.
A medical laboratory technician, or medical laboratory technologist, is often called a medical laboratory technician. This individual works in a laboratory performing various tests ordered by doctors. The most common substance tested is blood, but tissue, urine, and stool samples are also routinely handled. The medical laboratory technician may also be responsible for registering samples in the laboratory and preparing them for testing in a variety of ways. Typically, they work very steady shifts, which is somewhat unusual for medical jobs.
The medical laboratory technician is an important person when it comes to finding out what disease or condition a particular patient may have. In most cases, the lab technician will never see the patient. The samples are sent to the laboratory where the patient is. Some medical labs offer phlebotomy services, where the patient enters the lab to have their blood drawn. This is not the job of the medical laboratory technician, but the individual can help in cases where a patient is uncooperative, such as when a child needs to have blood drawn.
Before a sample is tested, it must be registered in the system. In some labs, there are data entry personnel who do nothing more than log in to samples. In other laboratories, this becomes the duty of the medical laboratory technician. While it is possible to simply record the sample using a medical record book, most operations today are computerized. The lab technician is responsible for entering the sample, number, who owns it, what tests they plan to run, and information about the physician.
In many cases, all the medical laboratory technician has to do is simply place the samples to be tested in a machine. Depending on the tests, samples may run through more than one machine. A report is automatically generated. The technician will review certain aspects of the report and send it to the doctor for further analysis.
In some situations, the technician will be responsible for a direct examination of the sample to see what the problem may be. This may involve looking at a sample under the microscope to determine what the problem is. For example, the medical laboratory technician may need to check how many types of cells are present in a blood or tissue sample. This usually involves very tedious and time-consuming work. The count is recorded, with the results sent to the doctor who ordered the test.
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