Medical Laboratory Scientist
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Medical Laboratory Scientist specializes in collecting and analyzing body fluids using complex chemical and microscopic tests. Workplaces include clinical laboratories at hospitals, references labs, biotech labs and non-clinical industrial labs.
Job Outlook
There were 724 Medical Laboratory Scientist job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 20232 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Medical Scientist industry, which includes the Medical Laboratory Scientist career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Medical Laboratory Scientist jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $83,374.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $73,971.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Medical Laboratory Scientist postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $68,733.
Education and Experience
Posted Medical Laboratory Scientist jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 17.32% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 73.32% |
| Master's Degree | 5.77% |
| Doctoral Degree | 1.86% |
| Other | 3.02% |
Posted Medical Laboratory Scientist jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 74.47% |
| 3 to 5 years | 20.73% |
| 6 to 8 years | 2.86% |
| 9+ years | 1.94% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Medical Laboratory Scientist positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Quality Control (52.47%)
- Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (25.62%)
- Communication (22.7%)
- Quality Assurance (20.7%)
- Problem Solving (16.01%)
- Management (12.79%)
- Operations (12.17%)
- Customer Service (11.25%)
- Detail Oriented (9.18%)
- Leadership (9.08%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Coagulation (9.86%)
- Clinical Laboratory Science (62.24%)
- Chemistry (32.09%)
- Hematology (23.51%)
- Medical Laboratory (83.41%)
- Health Technology (38.66%)
- Laboratory Testing (30.8%)
- Biology (38.74%)
- Blood Banking (22.74%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Analytical Testing (7.97%)
- Automation (12.76%)
- Infection Control (9.92%)
- Specimen Processing (13.32%)
- Immunology (11.48%)
- Biochemical Assays (3.87%)
- Laboratory Equipment (17.01%)
- Phlebotomy (12.06%)
- Biochemistry (5.38%)
- Pathology (5.11%)
- Hospital Experience (4.57%)
- Laboratory Procedures (20.41%)
- Microbiology (24.38%)
- Urinalysis (11.92%)
- Standard Operating Procedure (12.17%)
- Workflow Management (9.87%)
- Laboratory Experience (7.44%)
- Analytical Procedures (5.35%)
- Medical Ethics (6.26%)
- Toxicology (3.5%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Bacteriology (3.7%)
- Serology (5.46%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Blood Banking (26.31%)
- Medical Laboratory (96.52%)
- Coagulation (11.41%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Medical Laboratory Scientist skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Clinical Laboratory Scientist
- Laboratory Scientist
- Medical Laboratory Technician
- Medical Technologist/Medical Laboratory Technician
- Lead Medical Laboratory Scientist
- Microbiology Laboratory Manager
- Scientist
- Laboratory Technician
- Flow Cytometry Specialist
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- Medical Technologist
- Medical Laboratory Technologist
- Clinical Laboratory Specialist
- Microbiology Medical Technologist
- Clinical Laboratory Technician
- Blood Bank Technologist
- Laboratory Manager
- Medical Technologist Supervisor
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Medical Laboratory Scientist jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- K&A Recruiting (689)
- Quest Diagnostics (449)
- Avera Health (388)
- Actalent (354)
- Vetted Health (331)
- AdventHealth (319)
- Sutter Health (296)
- Providence (287)
- Kaiser Permanente (273)
- Duke University (249)
North Carolina
- Duke University (247)
- K&A Recruiting (71)
- WakeMed (64)
- Cape Fear Valley Health System (39)
- Novant Health (22)
- Actalent (20)
- Frye Regional Medical Center (15)
- Mission Health (11)
- CaroMont Health (11)
- Dha Group (7)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.