I am considering a career as a medical technologist. Can you give me the pros and cons of this profession?

I have Bachelor's in Psychology and Business Admin. The jobs I've had so far have been low paying customer service type stuff. Though this could be because I live in Lakeland, FL. I was pre-med at UF and so I've taken classes in Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Statistics, Anatomy and Physiology. I decided against med school since I don't like to deal with people and their problems, but I'm interested in medical research. But I want a job that allows me to have a fair amount of physical motion. Being a factory worker in an automobile manufacturing plant sounds good to me. In other words, I don't want to be in a cubicle and tied down to a phone all day. I don't want to work standard business hours due to my insomnia I have a hard time showing up to work at 8 am. The local hospital has different shifts available for medical technologist. I would have to go through a training program and get licensed. Can you tell me whether this is the right profession for me?

I am considering a career as a medical technologist. Can you give me the pros and cons of this profession?
i am a medical technologist (we call them clinical laboratory scientists) at Johns Hopkins Hospital. of course i went to college for 4 yrs to get this degree and not a training program. school was really hard and the exam was harder. i really like what i do so its a great job for me not sure for you. i have to work with every kind of body fluid known to man but i can stomach it. i work with alot of machines (sysmex, BCS, hitachi) and do differentials under the scope. i started off making $45,000/yr out of college. now im 24 and last year i made $60,000. so for someone my age thats well above average. so really you would have to get blood and urine all over your (gloved) hands all the time so if you are up for that then its for you. contact me if you need anymore info, would be glad to answer questions.
Reply:HMmmm hard to say if you'd like also to be an automobile factory worker....


A MT works in a lab...and you would be a welcome addition to the graveyard shift, believe me!


There are several areas in the lab: chemistry dept, urinalysis, hematology %26amp; coagulation, microbiology, immunology-serology %26amp; blood banking. You would run tests on the specimens--chemical, microscopic, etc. Many are automated these days and not as challenging as they used to be. You could move to a research lab after you get your MT which often is more challenging. Perhaps you could spend the day in the lab observing? The amount of physical motion depends on the department you are in; but you do sit %26amp; do the tests a fair amount of the time. But on the other hand, you don't see any patients unless you draw blood. How about physical therapy? Lots of movement there and you just focus on an issue not all sorts of problems (but it is with patients).