Clinical Technologist Career Guide

Career Overview

Clinical technologists are an integral part of health care industry. These professionals work to diagnose and perform analytical procedures on patients by specialized means. With the assistance of doctors and medical experts, clinical technologists make use of suitable techniques and specialized instruments to provide services to patients. To find a prolific job, proper education and continuous training in this field could be a way to enter health industry.

Clinical technologists work as a bridge between doctors and physicians; they also have a direct contact with patients. Health centers have appropriate technology and instruments such as, laser procedures and radio therapy to diagnose and treat various diseases and therefore, there would be an ever increasing demand of these technologists to check, evaluate, and monitor the medical equipments. Critical care, cardiovascular care, nuclear medicine, and neurophysiology care are some of the work areas of a clinical technologist. These professionals also work in general and surgical hospitals, offices of physicians, medical and diagnostic laboratories and outpatient care centers. Experience and skills can make you acquire a higher position, which involves critical thinking and decision making.

Job Outlook

If you end up being specialized in the field of nuclear medicine, it would include scanning different parts of human body and preparing radioactive drugs. When these radioactive drugs are given to patients, the images appear differently on scans, which help clinical technologists to understand it more accurately. They are also responsible to check these machines on a daily basis to avoid any form of technical error, which possibly might lead to a false diagnosis.

There were 21,200 people employed as nuclear medicine technologists, as suggested by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in May 2011. On the other hand, cardiac rehabilitation technician make use of images taken by specialized machines to diagnose cardiac and peripheral vascular illnesses in patients.  They later discuss the results with physicians and come up with a treatment plan for patients. They even keep a track of records of patients and related findings. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were almost 50,410 people employed as cardiac rehabilitation technicians.

Salary Prospects

The salary of clinical technologist according to Bureau of Labor Statistics would be around $69,960 per year.

Education Requirements

The first step to become a clinical technologist is to acquire a Bachelor’s Degree in healthcare. The courses that are taught in this medical technology program include biology, statistics, mathematics and chemistry. Moreover, an internship might provide relevant experience required to acquire a good position at work.

Degrees earned should be accredited along with a license which is a mandatory requirement in some of the states and without it one cannot work legally. You can even go for a clinical technologist certification course after earning a high school diploma if you are unable to afford a graduate program.

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