How to become a medical lab technician

Medical lab technicians perform laboratory tests that help diagnose, treat, and prevent diseases. Becoming a medical lab technician requires the completion of education, supervised experience, and certification.

Discover what medical lab technicians do and what steps you need to take to become one.

What does a medical lab technician do?

A medical lab technician collects blood, urine, and tissue samples and performs tests that analyze them. Their duties include preparing samples for lab testing, analyzing samples and recording findings, and using automated equipment capable of analyzing multiple samples simultaneously.

Medical lab technicians work under the supervision of a medical lab technologist or lab manager in settings such as laboratories, hospitals, doctors' offices, clinics, and blood banks.

Steps to become a medical lab technician

To become a medical lab technician, you must earn a degree, complete a clinical rotation, and pass certification and licensing examinations, if applicable. The path to becoming a medical lab technician is as follows:

Step 1: Enroll in an accredited associate degree program in clinical laboratory science

The National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS) and the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES) have approved associate degree programs that lead to a medical lab technician career. These accredited programs meet national standards and make the certification process easier.

Your associate degree should be in medical laboratory technology, and your coursework will typically include chemistry, hematology, microbiology, immunology, and lab operations.

Step 2: Participate in clinical rotations

Your medical laboratory technician program will likely include clinical rotations or an internship. This will give you real-world experience and skills and usually lasts 12 to 16 weeks, providing you with approximately 750 hours of clinical experience.

You may also need to pass a background check and fingerprinting before beginning your clinical rotation.

Most students work 20 to 40 hours per week while rotating through different laboratory departments, such as microbiology, hematology, chemistry, and blood banking. Experienced medical laboratory technologists will supervise you as you complete your clinical rotations.

Before you start your rotations or internship, however, make sure that your program is fully accredited — otherwise it may not count toward the requirements to get certified.

Step 3: Pass a certification exam

Once you have completed your clinical rotation and earned your associate degree, you should consider becoming certified as a Medical Lab Technician (MLT). Most employers will require you to have certification through either the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP), the American Medical Technologists (AMT), or the American Association of Bioanalysts (AAB).

Certification requires you to pass an examination and have a set amount of experience, which varies depending on the certification you seek. Certification will show employers that you meet certain requirements and that your skills, techniques, and knowledge are up to industry standards.

Step 4: Get your state license (if applicable)

According to the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS), as of 2024, 10 states require medical lab technicians to be licensed to work in that state. They include California, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

Licensure requires that you meet minimum education, continuing education, certification, and competency requirements.

Get started on edX

Take continuing education courses in healthcare at edX. These courses can help you to learn more about topics that interest you, further your medical laboratory technology knowledge, and perhaps attain a more advanced medical laboratory technology position.