Dental Technician

Duties and Responsibilities: Dental Laboratory Technology is both a science and an art. Since each dental patient's needs are different, the duties of a dental laboratory technician are comprehensive and varied. Although dental technicians seldom work directly with patients, except under the direction of a licensed dentist, they are valuable members of the dental care team. They:

• Replace partial or total loss of natural teeth by constructing partial or full dentures (metal and non-metal).
• Restore natural teeth by fabricating crowns and bridges.
• Correct dental irregularities by manufacturing fixed or removable appliances.
• Complete implantology procedures by fabricating prostheses to fit implants the dentist places directly into the patient's jawbone.
• Replace missing facial and body tissues due to injury, disease, or developmental abnormality by fabricating maxillo-facial prostheses.

Education: Dental laboratory technicians may receive their education and training through a two-year program at a community college, vocational school, technical college, university or dental school. Graduates of these programs receive either an associate degree or a certificate.

                                  

Psychiatric Aide - Technician

Duties and Responsibilities:

Psychiatric aides and technicians help care for mentally ill, disabled, or infirm people who are confined to hospitals, mental facilities, and residential care facilities.  They work under the supervision of mental health professionals or nurses.  They often work in hospitals, social service centers, crisis centers, schools, and substance abuse facilities.  Psychiatric technicians usually have more formal training and responsibilities than aides.  Psychiatric aides and technicians often: 

• Help patients bathe, dress, and eat.
• Escort patients to and from wards or clinics.
• Aid or restrain patients.
• Help with orientation and housekeeping.
• Interview patients and families.
• Observe patients and report their actions to professionals.
• Teach daily living skills.
• Dispense medications, and engage in educational and recreational activities. 

Average Salary:  $12,000 - $24,000

Educational Requirements:

Psychiatric aides need not always have a high school diploma or formal training, however most employers prefer that they do. 

Psychiatric technicians need a high school diploma and should have taken courses in English and science.  A short training course or previous job experience as a psychiatric aide is often also required.

                                       

Pharmacy Technician

Duties and Responsibilities:
Pharmacy Technicians work in pharmacies under the direction of a pharmacist.  Their main responsibility is filling prescriptions according to doctors' orders for patients.  Technicians measure out correct amounts of medication from larger containers to prescription size containers.  In addition, they add drugs to intravenous solutions.  All of their prescription filling work is rechecked by a pharmacist before medications are dispensed to patients or customers.  Other duties of pharmacy technicians are:

• Checking inventories and ordering supplies.
• Receiving and checking in supplies.
• Waiting  on customers.
• Keeping pharmacy work areas clean.
• Helping fill out insurance forms.
• Pharmacy technicians work in retail pharmacies, hospitals, clinics, and some large industrial complexes. 

Average Salary:  $15,000 - $25,000
Educational Requirements:
Students should take math, science, and typing courses in high school.  A high school diploma is usually required to begin pharmacy technician training.  Two year courses leading to certificates are available at most community collages.
                                                   

Ophthalmic Technician

Duties and Responsibilities:
Ophthalmic technicians or technologists help ophthalmologists collect data and measurements to allow the correct diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases and problems.  They work at hospitals, clinics, or for ophthalmologists in private practice.  Their duties often include:

• Performing simple eye exams.
• Assisting with eye surgery.
• Explaining diagnostic and treatment procedures to patients.

Average Salary:  $14,000 - $25,000

Educational Requirements:
Students will need a high school diploma and two years of college prior to beginning ophthalmic training programs.  These programs may vary in length, but can take up to two years to complete.
                                      

Operating Room Technician

Duties and Responsibilities:
	Operating room technicians are also called surgical technicians or surgical technologists.  They assist in preparing operating rooms for surgery.  They are responsible for having surgical instruments, sterile bandages and linens, needed fluids, and other equipment ready for the operation.  They may also assist doctors by handing them needed instruments during surgery and for counting sponges and needles before and after the operation.  They deliver specimens to hospital laboratories for analysis, and after operations they take patients to the recovery room.
Average Salary:  $16,000 - $22,000
Educational Requirements:
	A high school diploma or GED certificate is required.  Many vocational and junior colleges offer programs in operating room technology, and training may also be taken at large hospitals.  Programs vary between one year to two years.  Students receive training in medical terminology, physiology, and sterilization methods.  At the end of the training period students must pass an examination by the Association of Surgical Technologists to become certified.

Monitor Surveillance Technician

Duties and Responsibilities:

Monitor surveillance technicians observe  heartbeat patterns which is graphically displayed on a series of monitors in cardiac care units of hospitals.  They examine these patterns and provide the results to physicians and nursing staff.  They: 

• Gather and report heart pattern information on patients.
• Operate monitoring computers that simultaneously display multiple patient results. 
• Identify heart pattern changes and abnormalities.
• Clean and maintain equipment, battery packs, and wiring systems.

Average Salary:  $26,000 - $41,000

Educational Requirements:

To become a Monitor Surveillance Technician, one should take math, science, and computer technology courses in high school. 

Upon graduation from high school they may enroll in training programs at vocational schools, community colleges, or hospitals.  Program length varies from three months to two years. 

                                              

Emergency Medical Technician

Duties and Responsibilities:

Emergency medical technicians, or EMTs, usually work in teams of two in specially designed ambulances. They provide immediate life or limb saving medical treatment at the scenes of accidents and injuries as well as transport casualties to hospital emergency rooms for further care. The job is both physically demanding and stressful.  Emergency medical technicians often respond to: 

• Automobile accidents
• Heart attacks
• Gunshot woundings
• Unscheduled childbirth
• Drownings
• Other serious medical emergencies

Average Salary:  $25,000 - $37,500

Educational Requirements:

Students must have a high school diploma (in some areas GED certificates may be substituted) in order to become an emergency medical technician.  Driver's education, health, and science courses are strongly recommended and may be required before enrolling in some training programs. 

Basic emergency medical technician training includes about  100-120 hours spent in the classroom and 10 hours in a hospital emergency room.  Emergency medical technicians are required to pass state licensing or certification tests and participate in continuing education programs.  Many emergency medical technicians earn associate degrees in their field.

                                           

Electrocardiograph Technician

Duties and Responsibilities:

Electrocardiograph (ECG or EKG) technicians usually work under the supervision of cardiologists in hospitals, doctors' offices, clinics, or bedside.  They operate electrocardiogram equipment to monitor patients' heart problems.  They: 

• Connect electrodes to patients.
• Insert and remove catheters.
• Monitor equipment output.
• Record test results.
• Identify emergencies or abnormalities.
• Operate ultrasound equipment.

Average Salary:  $15,000 - $32,000

Educational Requirements:

Electrocardiograph technicians must have a high school diploma or GED before beginning specialized training. 

Electrocardiograph training can be obtained through vocational schools, community colleges, and in some cases through on-the-job supervised experience.  Basic training takes three to six months.  Advanced training takes one to two years.

                                                 

Dietetic Technicians

Duties and Responsibilities:

Dietetic Technicians assist dietitians in evaluating, organizing, and conducting nutrition services and programs for schools, hospitals, and industry.  They: 

• Gather and evaluate diet histories.
• Assist in planning patient meals. 
• Provide nutritional counseling.
• Conduct food service operations.
• Oversee food preparation and service.
• Maintain records.

Average Salary:  $16,000 - $30,000

Educational Requirements:

Students wanting to become dietetic technicians should graduate from high school with a well-rounded program.  High school business courses may prove helpful.

Dietetic technicians must complete a two-year Associate's Degree program that is accepted by the American Dietetic Association.  They must then pass a Commission on Dietetics Registration examination.

                                                           

Dialysis Technician

Duties and Responsibilities:

Dialysis Technicians operate machines that remove waste and excess fluids from the blood of patients whose kidneys can no longer carry out those functions.  Dialysis technicians are also referred to as renal dialysis technicians, hemodialysis technicians, or nephrology technicians. They work under the supervision of physicians, primarily in hospitals and clinics.

Dialysis technicians must fully understand the operation of the kidney dialysis machines.  They are responsible for their operation, cleaning, and sterilization.  They must also fully understand their patients' needs.  Dialysis technicians carefully monitor and record weight and vital signs before, during, and after the blood cleansing procedures.  Additionally, they instruct patients about in-home treatments.  Because dialysis technicians work with blood, they must exercise strict safety precautions against infectious diseases such as hepatitis and AIDS.

Average Salary:  $20,000 - $35,000 

Educational Requirements:

Dialysis technicians must have a high school diploma or GED certificate.  Additionally, they must complete a state-approved training program at a technical school, community college, or hospital.

                                  

Dental Laboratory Technician

Duties and Responsibilities:

Dental laboratory technicians specialize in different areas of dental and orthodontic work.  Their jobs usually include making and repairing dentures, crowns, and braces.  They work in dental schools, commercial dental laboratories, hospitals, dental clinics, and for manufacturers of dental prostheses  

Dental laboratory technicians: 

• Repair denture linings.
• Choose and mount replacement teeth.
• Construct denture frames.
• Identify needed prostheses repairs.
• Make and fix braces.
• Cast plaster dental molds.
• Clean and polish prostheses.

Average Salary:  $22,000 - $33,000

Educational Requirements:

Dental laboratory technicians must have a high school diploma or GED certificate before starting dental laboratory training. 

Dental laboratory technicians must attend a community college, vocational school, or dental school to learn their skills.  Programs are usually two years in length.

                                        

Clinical technologist

Clinical technologists perform more complex laboratory tests and procedures than technicians. They also supervise technicians, confirm their tests and manage laboratory quality control programs.

Most clinical laboratory specialists work in hospitals, but they are also employed by private practices, medical groups, research laboratories, pharmaceutical companies, and universities.

Average Salary:

$20,000 - $28,000 (Clinical laboratory technicians)

$25,000 - $40,000 (Clinical technologists)

Educational Requirements:

Students should take the most challenging high school courses in, science, math and English.

An associate’s degree in the field or completion of a specialized in-house training program is required to become a clinical laboratory technician.

               

A bachelor's degree in the field is normally required to become a clinical technologist, however some employers accept an associate's degree and extensive clinical experience as a substitute.  Many technologists pursue additional graduate education or specialized training to advance their careers in clinical chemistry, blood banking, and microbiology.

Biomedical Equipment Technician

Duties and Responsibilities:

Biomedical equipment   technicians inspect, Maintain, and repair different types of medical equipment used to diagnose and treat disease .They perform safety checks and train Practitioners to safely operate equipment. Biomedical equipment technology has been one of the fastest growing medical career fields in recent years.

Average Salary: $20,000-$38,000

Educational Requirements:

Students should take challenging science, math, and electronics courses in high school. Following high school, Biomedical Equipment Technicians complete one of the third year of course work in Biomedical Equipment Technology, Medical-Electronics, or Biomedical- Engineering. Most programs lead to certificate and/or associate degrees. Some employers will hire electronics technicians and provide on-the-job biomedical technology training.