Career Guides

These detailed career guides cover the career outlook, salary, and employment opportunities within medical technology professions. There are lengthy step-by-step “how to become” articles, popular career comparison pieces, and explorations of the various pathways a degree-holder can take after receiving a med-tech education.

Patient-Facing Technology

Anesthesia Technologist - How to Become

Anesthesia technologists provide direct support to anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists. These surgical technologists are required to attend a minimum of two years of school to acquire an associates degree. Further, they are required to complete their associate in anesthesia technology or receive a certificate of completion from an accredited or approved program.

Cardiovascular Technologist - How to Become

From shape-shifting stents to 3D printed hearts, the limits of what cardiologists can do have redefined what’s possible. Expert researchers, surgeons, and physicians have contributed to these deveopments, as well as the skilled cardiovascular technologists who support them.

Dental Assistant (DANB CDA) - How to Become

Certified dental assistants are a critical component of an efficient dentist’s office. Without these knowledgeable professionals, doctors of dentistry would not be able to do their important work. The DANB is the nation’s leading certifier of dental assistants.

Dental Career Guide

Dental careers are as varied as can be. While being a dentist is certainly one option, for those who are not prepared to spend the amount of time and money necessary to earn a DDS, there are still many ways to work in the dental field. This guide will show you the different requirements for dental careers in the U.S., including licensing, education, and demand statistics.

Diagnostic Imaging Career Guide

Diagnostic imaging is an essential part of modern medicine. Without any type of surgery, doctors are able to get complete pictures of a patient's organs and internal systems. But they are only able to do that with the assistance of diagnostic imaging professionals. From x-rays to CT scans to ultrasounds, there are many career opportunities in this growing field. Learn about the different types of diagnostic imaging careers.

Dialysis Technician - How to Become

The job of a dialysis technician is to supervise the proper functioning of the dialysis machine by maintaining and cleaning it, assisting patients with questions and concerns, and monitoring the dialysis process to ensure that it is working correctly.

EKG Technician Salary

Learn how much EKG technicians make, including regional salary data, average pay by the work environment, and salary percentages based on education and experience.

Medical Assistant - How To Become

The American Association of Medical Assistants (2022) details a medical assistant’s typical job responsibilities, including preparing patients for examinations; taking medical histories; administering medication as requested by the attending physician; performing electrocardiograms; changing wound dressings or removing stitches; collecting samples for lab testing; serving as liaisons between doctors and patients; and fulfilling various administrative functions (e.g., scheduling appointments, coding medical services, preparing insurance forms, maintaining medical records, etc).

Medical Assistant Career Guide

The medical assistant profession has been separated into distinct specializations: clinical medical assistants and administrative medical assistants. It is important for anyone considering a career in this profession to understand what to expect, including the day-to-day tasks, potential salary, and other factors.

MRI Technologist - How to Become

Working in a healthcare setting can be extremely rewarding, but it is not always easy to know where to start. If you are interesting in learning how to become an MRI tech, this article can help you decide if it is the right path for you. With detailed information on MRI tech educational programs, essential traits and skills, and facts about MRI tech certification, you may find yourself one step closer to finding the career of your dreams.

Nuclear Medicine Technologist - How to Become

Learn more about steps and requirements to become a nuclear medicine technologist, a potentially lucrative career in medical technology.

Nutritionist and Dietitian - How to Become

To help new RDNs meet the master’s degree requirement, colleges and universities offer accelerated programs that result in earning a bachelor of science and a master of science in less time than it takes to complete two separate degrees.

Nutritionist and Dietitian Career Guide

With nearly 42 percent of Americans living with heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer, who can people trust to help them eat well and live long and happy lives? Enter nutritionists and dietitians.

Pharmacy Career Guide

Pharmacists are an essential piece of the healthcare puzzle, distributing prescription medication, recommending over-the-counter options, and counseling patients on their options and potential hazards of pharmaceuticals. The career requires much more than the counting of pills and the preparation of prescriptions.

Pharmacy Technician - How to Become

The Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) offers its certification exam to candidates who have completed a PTCB-recognized education or training program or have equivalent work experience. Read on to discover how to become a pharmacy technician and what to know about professional certification and program accreditation.

Phlebotomist - How to Become

Most phlebotomy programs can be completed in less than a year, giving students the opportunity to quickly finish schooling to be able to pursue certification and employment.

Phlebotomy Career Guide

Phlebotomists are allied medical professionals who serve a critical purpose in healthcare. Phlebotomists are responsible for the safe collection, processing, and retention of blood samples. Training typically features anatomy, blood collection procedures, proper storage and handling of blood samples, and safety precautions. Regularly using bloodwork for patient assessment, clinical research, and other purposes means phlebotomists can and do work in many healthcare settings.

Psychiatric and Mental Health Technician Career Guide

Once education is completed, psychiatric technicians can choose from a variety of career options. Different employers offer a variety of challenges and opportunities to work with diverse populations. Psychiatric technicians looking to work one-on-one with clients long term might choose to work in a residential care facility or group home, while those interested in working with acute mental illness onset will find work in an emergency room rewarding.

Radiation Therapist - How to Become

Radiation therapists assist in treating cancer and other diseases by administering radiation treatment and explaining radiation therapy to patients; operating x-ray machines and other related medical equipment to ensure they are working up to certain standards; monitoring the patient throughout the course of the treatment; and recording the results of the treatment once it is finished.

Radiologic Technologist - How to Become

Radiologic technologists—also known as rad techs— provide an important service in the healthcare industry. With skills learned in either a two-year or four-year program, they work closely with radiologists to take images of patients and determine the suitability of those images for diagnostic purposes. Learn more about the requirements to become a rad tech, and the reasons why one might consider it (starting with the competitive salary).

Respiratory Therapist - How to Become

Respiratory therapists utilize tools, medicine, and their education to provide respiratory support to individuals. Patients can need a respiratory therapist because of acute conditions such as croup or pneumonia, or because of chronic conditions such as birth defects, asthma, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Sonographer - How to Become

Medical sonographers use a variety of tools to create images of specific parts of the body, and these images can be important in detecting a variety of diseases, including heart and vascular disease. In fact, doctors and healthcare professionals often turn to sonography as the first imaging test to perform to help track down a suspected disease.

Speech-Language Pathologist - How to Become

A speech-language pathologist (SLP) is considered a communication expert. They offer critical services to various individuals, including children and babies. Given the diversity of speech, language, and related disorders within the general population, it is common for professionals to pursue additional specialized training and subsequent certification.

Surgical Technologist - How to Become

Working in a healthcare setting can be extremely rewarding, but it is not always easy to know where to start. If you are interested in learning how to become a surgical technologist, this article can help you decide if it is the right path for you. With detailed information on surgical tech educational programs, essential traits and skills, and facts about surgical tech certification, you may find yourself one step closer to finding the career of your dreams.

Surgical Technology Career Guide

Surgical technologists are responsible for many tasks in the operating room, from preparing the surgery site to dealing with the patient and their needs. Additionally, surgical technologists play a vital role during many surgeries, by passing equipment to the surgeon, and ensuring that the equipment in use is properly sterilized and stored after its use.

Laboratory Technology

Cytotechnologist - How to Become

Anyone who’s ever waited for biopsy results knows the value of a well-qualified cytotechnologist. A cytotechnologist is a medical laboratory professional specializing in examining cells for the presence or absence of cancer.

Medical Lab Assistant - How to Become

Medical assistants work in clinical patient-facing roles while medical lab assistants face patients in clinics and handle pipettes in laboratories. Becoming a medical lab assistant is a great career choice for those looking for a science-based entry-level healthcare job that can expand into future opportunities.

Medical Technology Career Guide

Medical technologists play an important role in modern medicine. However, not everyone that wants to pursue medical work wants to work with patients. For those people, a lab career in medical technology is a great choice. These medical professionals directly affect diagnoses, treatment plans, and patient outcomes through their work with microscopes, test tubes, and other lab equipment. Learn about the different types of lab careers in medical technology and browse through links to professional resources about these career paths.

Natural & Clinical Lab Science

Biochemistry - What Can You Do With a Degree?

Biochemistry explores the complex chemical reactions within living organizations and is the foundation of medical advances, agriculture, and genetic engineering, among other influential scientific disciplines. Here are ten careers open to candidates with degrees in biochemistry.

Biology - What Can You Do With a Degree?

For those interested in a career that studies life, earning a degree in biology can be an ideal entry-level credential. Discover ten potential careers in science to consider.

Biomedical Science - What Can I Do With a Master’s Degree in the Field?

Preparing for an exciting career in the biomedical sciences means exhibiting flexibility, as the job you seek could be in any corner of the industry. Due to extraordinary developments in biotechnologies used in everyday medical practices, many technically-focused positions require a graduate level of education.

Biomedical Scientist - How to Become

Biomedical scientists use scientific research to improve human health. They design studies to test and develop new treatment plans, analyze medical data to investigate pathogens and chronic diseases and develop social programs that can improve outcomes in population health. Biomedical science is the science of medicine. To practice it, biomedical scientists need to be highly educated and supremely dedicated.

Biotechnologist - How to Become

Biotechnology is over 6,000 years old, dating back to the creation of bread, cheese, and preserved dairy products. From that tasty history, biotechnology is now manipulating genetic makeups to reduce disease, harnessing biomass to cleanly fuel the world, and innovating agriculture in more productive and sustainable ways.

Biotechnology - What Can You Do With a Degree?

As a field that touches multiple disciplines, biotechnology careers can vary dramatically in educational requirements, salary benefits, and work environments. But regardless of the specialization one pursues, a degree in biotechnology is the first step into a world where the overarching mandate is to change the limits of what's possible.

Clinical Research Associate - How to Become

Scientists, researchers, and doctors make discoveries about drugs, surgical procedures, behavioral therapies, or medical devices through their work in laboratories and healthcare settings. This is only the beginning of the journey for pharmaceuticals, therapies, and devices, as bringing the findings from the lab to the street requires a vigorous scientific process known as a clinical trial. Clinical research associates (CRAs) are the professionals responsible for ensuring that clinical trials move forward following established guidelines and regulations for ethics, safety, and reporting.

Drug Discovery & Development Career Guide

Pharmaceutical drugs are a key component of this trend, as medical treatments now exist to mitigate or even eliminate many conditions that were fatal not so long ago. From advanced chemotherapy treatments for cancer to the staggering innovations in treating autoimmune disorders like AIDS, many formerly deadly conditions and diseases can now be treated or even healed completely.

Genetics Career Guide

The field of genetics has to be one of the most exciting and dynamic frontiers in science today. While genes have existed for more than a century, the application of genetics to applied sciences and medicine is still fairly new.

Health Science Career Guide

Health sciences subfields include bioinformatics, clinical research, and health information technology. According to the Bureau for Labor Statistics, jobs in healthcare are projected to grow by 16 percent from 2020 to 2030—higher than the average predicted job growth for all occupations during that same period.

Kinesiologist - How to Become

Kinesiology is at a fascinating intersection of several scientific fields that all come together in motion. As a field of study, it is not limited to certain parts of the human body, but to the body as a whole, as well as the interaction of its different appendages, muscles, and nerves.

Medical Laboratory Scientist (MLS) - How to Become

The healthcare industry is ripe with expanding job opportunities, and medical laboratory scientists are in high demand. Although most of their work is not highly visible, medical laboratory scientists play an integral role in the medical field, assisting patients and their physicians by providing accurate and timely test results. Learn about the requirements for becoming a medical laboratory scientist, and the amount of time each required step takes to complete.

Microbiology Career Guide

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects jobs for microbiologists to increase nine percent between 2021 and 2031, on par with the national average. But that only paints a small part of the picture: the study of microbiology can lead to a plethora of diverse career paths, ranging from the environmental to the clinical to the industrial.

Pathologists' Assistant - How to Become

Pathologists’ assistants are physician extenders who work in forensic and surgical pathology labs. They work under the direct supervision of a pathologist or other physician, although they typically work independently.

Veterinarian - How to Become

Since 9000 BC, veterinary work has been essential to animal and human lives. In 1756, the first school for veterinary medicine was opened by Claude Bourgelat in Lyon, France, and the rest is history. Veterinarians are a crucial part of our medical health community and well-being.

Veterinary Career Guide

The field of veterinary medicine is a highly diversified discipline that offers substantial employment opportunities. Read on to learn more about these different types, including information on their duties, compensation, and licensing/certification requirements.

Medical IT & Administration

Health Informatics - What Can You Do with a Degree?

This is a guide to several of the promising careers open to people with degrees in health informatics, as well as a discussion of the typical responsibilities and salary prospects for each job.

Health Information Administrator - How to Become

Registered health information administrators (RHIAs) are valuable to healthcare organizations for their skills in interpreting coded healthcare data for the purpose of improving institutional efficiency and providing quality medical care.

Health Information Management - What Can I Do with a Degree?

This is a guide to several of the promising careers open to people with degrees in health informatics, as well as a discussion of the typical responsibilities and salary prospects for each job.

Health Information Management - What Can You Do With a Degree?

As technology becomes ubiquitous and healthcare institutes veer away from physical medical records, the need for well-trained health information managers increases. These professionals are responsible for collecting, preserving, analyzing, and releasing medical records to patients and other healthcare professionals, as required.

Health Information Manager - How to Become

Careers in healthcare aren’t limited to professions that provide actual care. Those with an interest in business, analytics, compliance, technology or another field may find a great fit with a health information management degree, which is typically offered as a four-year bachelor's degree.

Health Information Technician (RHIT) - How to Become

Much more than filing clerks, registered health information technicians have been called “the brains” of modern medicine because they’re the ones charged with gathering and storing all the moving parts—from insurance codes to billing information to medical terminology—and also filtering out unneeded info.

Healthcare IT Career Guide

Health information technology is an essential part of modern medicine. Professionals trained in health information technology are able to collect and assess health data to improve patient outcomes, support healthcare software and medical billing, and stay abreast of technological challenges and issues facing healthcare facilities. Learn about the different types of health information technology careers and browse through more than 30 links to professional resources about these career paths.

Medical Coder - How to Become

Medical coders perform some of the most critical behind-the-scenes work of medical facilities. They ensure that patient data is accurately logged in electronic health records (EHRs). Medical coding requires a detail-oriented approach and a specialized technical skillset. It is an ideal profession for those who want to work in non-patient-facing positions within the healthcare industry.

Medical Equipment Repair Career Guide

Reading blueprints, schematic drawings, and technical manuals is a part of a medical equipment technician’s job. A medical equipment repairer must know how to read and understand these types of manuals and be able to disassemble broken equipment, identify root causes for the issues, troubleshoot them, and then locate the parts needed for repair and install them.