Medical laboratory assistants and related technical occupations
Medical laboratory assistants and workers in related technical occupations perform pre-analysis and pre-testing tasks such as collecting blood and other samples, processing specimens, and preparing special chemicals called reagents for use in testing. They conduct routine medical laboratory tests and set up, clean and maintain medical laboratory equipment. They are employed in medical laboratories in hospitals, clinics, research facilities, post-secondary educational institutions and government research laboratories.
Employment Outlooks
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Salary Information
Average: CA$27.72/hr
87.4% of workers in this occupation receive non-wage benefits
Source: Job Bank Canada. Wages may vary by region and experience.
Examples
- medical laboratory aide
- medical laboratory assistant
- medical laboratory technician
- phlebotomist
- phlebotomy aide
- blood bank technician
- clinical laboratory technician
- community health technician - medical laboratory
- histology technician
- laboratory assistant - medical
- medical laboratory aide
- medical laboratory assistant
- medical laboratory helper
- medical laboratory technical assistant
- medical laboratory technician
- phlebotomist
- phlebotomy aide
- renal technician
- technical assistant - medical laboratory
Main Duties
- Set up medical laboratory equipment
- Prepare chemical reagents to be combined with biological samples for testing
- Conduct routine laboratory tests and sample analyses
- This group performs some or all of the following duties:
- Collect, label, sort and prepare blood, tissue and other samples from patients
- Log and validate patient samples and prepare them for testing
- Perform quality assurance of testing techniques and record results
- Clean and maintain medical laboratory and medical laboratory equipment.
Requirements
- Medical laboratory assistants and related technical workers require completion of a college certificate program in medical laboratory science.
- Certification by the Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science is usually required by employers.