Medical laboratory personnel held about 330,600 jobs in the U.S. in 2010. More than half of these jobs were in hospitals. Most of the remaining jobs were in offices of physicians and in medical and diagnostic laboratories. A small proportion were in educational services and in all other ambulatory health care services. Although hospitals are expected to continue to be the major employer of clinical laboratory workers, employment is expected to grow faster in medical and diagnostic laboratories, offices of physicians, and all other ambulatory health care services.

Significant Points according to U.S Department of Labor/ Bureau of Labor Statistics

• Employment growth is similar to other careers, as the volume of laboratory tests continues to increase with both population growth and the development of new types of tests.
• Medical laboratory scientists have a bachelor’s degree with a major in clinical laboratory sciences; medical laboratory technicians have an associate’s degree.
  

Job Outlook

Job opportunities are expected to be excellent, because the number of job openings is expected to continue to exceed the number of job seekers. The UWF program services the Gulf Coast from Mobile, Alabama across the panhandle and into central Florida. Our students do their internships in major cities such as Tallahassee, Gainesville and Mobile because those cities do not have their own accredited programs. In order to earn a Florida license as a Technologist, a person must graduate from an accredited program.

Earnings

Salary ranges for medical (clinical) laboratory scientists are on the rise.

• In 2006, the average salary for a Clinical Laboratory Scientist ( Medical Technologist) in the U.S, according to a national salary tracking organization, was $ 51,779.
• In 2010, the national median wage was $56,130.

Visit: Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos096.htm