Pros and Cons of being a Cytotechnologist – Part Two
This blog is continued from the previous blog.
Continuing on from the previous blog these are more positive aspects to being a cytotechnologist. A job as a cytotechnologist can help many to feel that they are making a difference in the lives of others. Cytotechnologists are part of the healthcare system, and can help improve healthcare for others. A cytotechnologist can have input into the way they do their jobs, something that certainly many employees of other fields do that feel that they have.
There are also several cons to being a cytotechnologist, as there are to any profession. Cytotechnologists often feel that they are not respected by the physicians who rely on the tests that the cytotechnologists perform. Cytotechnologists also don’t get much recognition from patients, the physicians are the ones interacting with the patients and getting most of the respect. On the other hand, when patients are unhappy with their health care, physicians are the ones who often get blamed, so cytotechnologists can enjoy their relative anonymity in those circumstances. Many cytotechnologists do not feel that they are paid enough relative to what others in the health care profession are paid. Being a cytotechnologist can sometimes be stressful when too high of a work load is placed on the shoulders of one person. When a cytotechnologist has too much work to do, they often aren’t able to complete each test with the amount of care that they would like.
All in all, being a cytotechnologist can be a rewarding career for many, although, like with any profession, those who choose to go into the field should research it adequately so they know what they are getting into.
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Pros and Cons of being a Cytotechnologist – Part One
There are good and bad things about any job, cytotechnologist included. This blog will focus on these good and bad points of a job as a cytotechnologist. It can be helpful to reconsider the pros and cons if you are a practicing cytotechnologist, to help you realize why you went into the career of cytotechnologist in the first place. It can be helpful to consider the plusses and minuses also if you are considering a career as a cytotechnologist and are gathering information.
The main reasons that people seem to choose to become a cytotechnologist are part of the pros of the job. Cytotechnologists usually are people who like to help other people. A cytotechnologist is often one who has a natural ability in and affinity for biology and chemistry. The fact that healthcare generally offers stable employment is another thing that might draw one to be a cytotechnologist. Sometimes someone might become a cytotechnologist as an alternative to becoming a physician, pharmacist, or physical therapist if they can’t get into those programs. Those who enjoy working with their hands may find the profession of a cytotechnologist to be appealing. Sometimes the job of cytotechnologist is recommended to people by those who love it for the above reasons or those reasons to come later in this blog. Being a cytotechnologist can also be appealing for those who want to be in the medical field, but who don’t want to work directly with patients.
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An Overview of the Medical Technologist Profession
This video is a quick overview of the medical technologist profession.
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Medical Technologists in Action
Here is another video that shows what medical technologists do each day.
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About being a Medical Laboratory Technician
This is a video that talks about being a medical laboratory technician. I thought it might be nice to actually see a few medical laboratory technicians in action instead of just reading my writing about them.
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The Benefits a Medical Laboratory Technician May See from Automated Urinalysis
Urinalysis can be quite time consuming for medical laboratory technicians. Although some labs have begun automating urinalysis, many medical laboratory technicians are still doing confirmatory tests and microscopy by hand. Those medical laboratory technologists know how much time doing urinalysis by hand can take and how it can swamp a whole laboratory.
Many laboratories don’t have enough resources to have one medial laboratory technician on staff solely for doing urinalysis. As a result, medical laboratory technicians doing other things would be forced to put those tasks on hold to finish the urinalyses.
Automating urinalysis allows a laboratory to keep on the same number of medical laboratory technicians while being able to perform even more urinalysis. Urinalysis technology can be pricey, but medical laboratory technicians are seeing that the technology has gotten much better and cheaper in recent years. Automated urinalysis is also better quality than manual urinalysis done by medical laboratory technicians. Not because medical laboratory technicians don’t do a great job, but because the urinalysis machines are able to take 500 photos of each specimen, compared to the 10-15 that medical laboratory technicians are able to take when manually doing the urinalysis. Another benefit to automation is that results can actually be reported without the involvement of a medical laboratory technician. This can be done if a medical laboratory technician enters a few parameters into the machine before the specimen in analyzed.
The benefits seem clear to automating urinalysis. Once the hurdle of the high cost of a machine can be cleared, a medical laboratory technician should see the lab they work for prosper as a result of automation.
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Atwell, Jim (January 28, 2008) Knocking Down Inefficiency With Automated Urinalysis. Advance for Medical Laboratory Professionals, page 33-35.
New England Opportunities for a Medical Technologist – Part Three
See part one of this blog for information about living in Maine or New Hampshire as a medical technologist, or see part two for information about living in Vermont or Massachusetts as a medical technologist.
Rhode Island living can appeal to many medical technologists because it is easy to run into people you know since the state is so small. This makes it feel almost like small town living, which some medical technologists love. Medical technologists also like living in Rhode Island because there are so many recreational outdoors activities available to partake in within a short distance. A medical technologist can visit the beach, ski, bike, sail, fish, or boat without having to drive very far. Rhode Island has many small quaint villages near the coast that medical technologists can visit easily or even plan weekend vacations to visit without having to drive a far distance.
There are also a lot of art attractions and shopping available to medical technologists. A medical technologist will find competitive pay in Rhode Island and a good amount of job opportunities.
Medical technologists may also enjoy living in Connecticut because there are many job opportunities available as well as many medical technologist programs available to those interested in becoming a medical technologist. Connecticut offers many outdoors activities to a medical technologist such as hiking, skiing, fishing or horse back riding. Medical technologists can find many unique places to shop in Connecticut. Medical technologists will also be able to see quality theater in Connecticut.
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New England Opportunities for a Medical Technologist – Part Two
See part one of this blog for information about living in Maine or New Hampshire as a medical technologist.
Vermont offers the classic maple syrup and skiing to medical technologists. The Adirondacks, the green mountains, and Lake Champlain are all close by so medical technologists can take their pick of fishing, boating, skiing, scuba diving, snowmobiling, climbing, hiking or camping. Vermont also has stunning fall colors that medical technologists can see each year.
Medical technologists will also love that Vermont has many medical technologist job opportunities. There are many hospital laboratories that vary in size that are full of job opportunities for a medical technologist. Because there are small and large labs there are different typed of medical technologist job opportunities. A medical technologist can work at a smaller lab if a job as a generalist is desired. However, if specializing is what a medical technologist desires, a large lab offers many niche opportunities.
Massachusetts is an ideal place for medical technologists who are history buffs to live because they can be close to Plymouth Rock and Harvard University. Another huge plus about living in Massachusetts that medical technologists love to take advantage of is living close to the ocean. Medical technologists can get to the ocean fairly quickly from almost anywhere in the state. Weekend trips are easy for medical technologists to plan when the live in Massachusetts, since there are many seaside towns within easy driving distance. Massachusetts also offers cultural diversity of medical technologists.
Check back soon for part three of this blog which will discuss living in Rhode Island or Connecticut as a medical technologist.
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New England Opportunities for a Medical Technologist – Part One
The New England states tend to be a well liked place to work as a medical technologist. The main reasons medical technologists say they like working in New England are because the pay is good, there are lots of job opportunities, and the ocean and mountains are close.
Maine is very nature oriented which many medical technologists appreciate. Main’s nickname is the Pine Tree State and it is a well given nickname because a medical technologist will see lots of trees and mountains in Maine. There are many things that medical technologists who are nature enthusiasts can do outdoors in Maine.
Maine also has many historical sites that medical technologists can visit, including old forts and cemeteries as well as the Maine Martime Museum. There are many areas in Mainewhere a medical technologist can live that have small town atmospheres because they don’t have much bad traffic. There are many medical technologists who actually work full time in one hospital and per diem in others because there is a high demand for medical technologists in Maine.
New Hampshire also has a good amount of outdoors activities to offer a medical technologist. Manchester for example is only one hour away from the mountains where skiing, snowboarding, and hiking can be done by medical technologists. The ocean is nearby too for plenty of other recreational activities for medical technologists.
Check back soon for part two of this blog which will discuss living in Vermont or Massachusetts as a medical technologist.
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How a Histotechnologist can Gain Public Recognition – Part Two
A histotechnologist can learn to work with the media or even to contact the media about appropriate events. If the lab a histotechnologist is working for is going to begin using a new type of technology, gets new equipment, or if the laboratory gets accreditation, a histotechnologist might consider contacting the media to share this information. If a histotechnologist does plan to work with the media, there are several ways that a histotechnologist can make the most out of this relationship. A histotechnologist can work to become familiar with the reporters who will be covering stories about laboratories. Histotechnologists can meet informally with reportors to talk about what material reporters might be interested in. A histotechnologist who becomes a trusted source of information to a reporter will be used more often in stories. For example, if the data a histotechnologist provides to a reporter is always accurate, a reporter will be motivated to use the histotechnologist’s data in the future. Histotechnologists should make sure that whether it is them personally or a different histotechnologist speaking to the media, it should be a histotechnologist who is able to get to the point quickly and catch a reporter’s attention.
One very simple thing any histotechnologist can do is explain what you do when anyone asks. It can be tempting for a histotechnologist to quickly say he/she works in a lab, but giving a little more detail can help the public to understand what impact a histotechnologist really has on the community.
A histotechnologist can try to come up with an interesting way to explain the work that will get the point across to a person who does not have a medical background.
Learn about finding a job as a histotechnologist.
Source:
Koehler, Amanda (January 14, 2008) On the Map. Advance for Medical Laboratory Professionals. Pages 15-17.
