Medical Laboratory Technicians and Pathologists' Assistants

Nature of work

Medical laboratory technicians play an important supportive role in medical labs. They help medical laboratory technologists by doing routine medical laboratory tests and setting up, cleaning, and maintaining medical laboratory equipment. They work in medical laboratories in hospitals, clinics, research facilities, post-secondary educational institutions, and government research laboratories. Medical laboratory technologists who are also supervisors are included in this group. Pathologists' assistants help at autopsies and examinations of surgical specimens or perform autopsies under a pathologist's supervision. They usually work at hospitals and universities.

Job duties

Medical laboratory technicians:

• Collect blood, tissue, and other samples from patients.
• Log patient samples and prepare them for testing.
• Set up medical laboratory equipment.
• Conduct routine laboratory tests and sample analyses.
• Perform quality assurance of testing techniques.
• Clean and maintain medical laboratory and medical laboratory equipment.

Pathologists' assistants:

• Prepare for autopsies by locating patients' medical records and arranging for radiographic examinations.
• Help with or perform autopsies and surgical specimen examinations under pathologists' supervision.
• Dissect, examine, weigh, and photograph organs and specimens, collect tissue samples for chemical analysis and record findings.
• Discard specimens according to established safety procedures.
• Clean and maintain instruments, equipment, and supplies.
• May prepare bodies for release to funeral homes following completion of autopsies.
• May supervise and train junior resident pathologists and morgue attendants.

Sample job titles

• biological technician - medical laboratory
• blood bank technician
• clinical laboratory technician
• community health technician - medical laboratory
• medical laboratory aide
• medical laboratory helper
• medical laboratory technician
• morgue attendant supervisor
• pathology assistant
• phlebotomist

Skills

This work demands close attention to detail. You must have good manual dexterity and be comfortable working with instruments and technology. Good communication skills and the ability to cooperate with others are important. You should be responsible, dependable, and willing to keep pace with rapid developments in the field.

Job requirements

• Medical laboratory technicians/assistants require completion of a college certificate program in medical laboratory science.
• Certification by the Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science may be required for medical laboratory technicians/assistants.
• Combined laboratory and X-ray technicians require completion of a combined laboratory X-ray technology program.
• Pathologists' assistants require some post-secondary courses or a university degree in life sciences and specialized on-the-job training.

Other considerations

Hours of work may vary. Assistants may work full-time, part-time, or casual relief hours. Standard weekday hours are common, but evening and night shifts may be required. Assistants mainly work in laboratory environments where they may have to spend a lot of time standing and performing repetitive tasks. Safety measures must be followed to reduce the risk to infectious body fluids, dangerous chemicals, or hazardous radiation.

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