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Medical Laboratory Technician
Runs lab tests on blood, tissue, and body fluids to help doctors diagnose diseases.
Did you know?
The Gram stain, still usually the first step in identifying bacteria in a lab sample, was invented by Danish scientist Hans Christian Gram in 1884.
How subjects help
- Biology: Grow bacteria from a sample to find out which germ is causing an infection.
- Chemistry: Run machines that measure sugar, salts and other chemicals in a blood sample.
- Mathematics: Calculate dilutions and check that each test result falls in the normal range.
- Computer Science: Use lab software to track samples and send accurate results to doctors.
A famous name
Georgios Papanikolaou: Invented the Pap smear lab test and trained some of the first cytotechnologists to read cell samples.
Try it yourself: Look closer: kitchen powders
- Label three spots on the paper. Put a small pinch of each powder on its own spot. Do not taste them.
- Look at each one through the magnifier. Draw the shapes you see.
- Salt makes little cubes, sugar makes uneven crystals, flour is a fine dust. Could you tell a mystery pinch apart just by looking?
- Ask someone to put a mystery pinch down without telling you. Identify it and explain what gave it away.
Laboratory technicians and pathologists study samples closely, often under microscopes, to find exactly what they contain.
Also try: Pack a match-day lunch.
Known for it in
USA, Canada, Australia, Germany, Japan