What Does a Lab Technician Do?

Specimen Preparation

Much of a laboratory technician's day is spent handling specimens and preparing them for testing. Most specimens are biohazards, and technicians have to store and prepare them according to strict guidelines to minimize the risk of illness or contamination. Samples can be treated in a number of ways: Some have to be cultured in a sterile Petri dish, to check for infection. Others must be dissolved or treated with chemicals and preservatives. Mostly, they're turned into slides for viewing under the microscope, which means they have to be sliced razor-thin, tinted with a stain for better visibility, and protected with a preservative.

Testing Procedures

Often, the specimens a technician prepares will be passed along to a pathologist or a specialized technologist for examination. However, there are many tests a technician can perform independently. These are usually routine tests such as blood typing, or examining stool samples for parasites. They can also perform drug tests on urine or blood samples, either to detect substance abuse or to determine how effectively the patient's body is absorbing a medication.

Nonclinical Duties

Laboratory technicians have other duties, aside from preparing samples and performing tests. They're often responsible for retrieving samples from other departments, and sometimes they run samples directly from an operating room to the pathologist during a surgical procedure. Technicians are largely responsible for the cleaning, sanitation and sterilization of the laboratory itself, and the instruments and equipment after usage. In some labs they also perform many of the routine administrative duties, including record-keeping and ordering supplies.

Career Path

Technicians typically enter the field with a two-year associate degree in laboratory science. Some large hospitals and standalone laboratories operate comparable training programs in-house, and so does the U.S. military. Technicians work in hospitals, independent pathology labs, research facilities, universities or pharmaceutical companies, depending on their talents and ambition. Lab techs with good organizational and management skills can become supervisors. Ambitious technicians can advance into management by taking a degree in health care administration, business or management; or they can become technologists by upgrading to a bachelor's degree in laboratory science.