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Science and Research | Medical Laboratory Scientist

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 505 Medical Laboratory Scientist job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 21320 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 $75,632.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $68,057.

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 $57,794.

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 LevelPercentage
Associate's Degree0%
Bachelor's Degree74.39%
Master's Degree4.87%
Doctoral Degree1.21%
Other2.95%

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 ExperiencePercentage
0 to 2 years76.91%
3 to 5 years19.7%
6 to 8 years1.98%
9+ years1.41%

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 (55.84%)
  • Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (29.1%)
  • Communication (22.49%)
  • Problem Solving (17.62%)
  • Quality Assurance (17.34%)
  • Management (13.55%)
  • Operations (11.53%)
  • Customer Service (11.39%)
  • Detail Oriented (9.61%)
  • Leadership (9.49%)

Defining Skills

A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.

  • Blood Banking (21.12%)
  • Laboratory Procedures (20.91%)
  • Hematology (20.73%)
  • Biology (40.43%)
  • Clinical Laboratory Science (59.15%)
  • Coagulation (8.09%)
  • Health Technology (41.59%)
  • Chemistry (31.74%)
  • Medical Laboratory (82.55%)

Necessary Skills

A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.

  • Laboratory Experience (10.83%)
  • Equipment Maintenance (7.16%)
  • Workflow Management (9.06%)
  • Laboratory Equipment (15.94%)
  • Specimen Processing (14.46%)
  • Blood Transfusions (5.5%)
  • Immunology (10.37%)
  • Automation (12.9%)
  • Phlebotomy (9.99%)
  • Nursing (2.27%)
  • Standard Operating Procedure (13.86%)
  • Code Of Federal Regulations (4.52%)
  • Infection Control (9.54%)
  • Laboratory Testing (29.98%)
  • Microbiology (23.91%)
  • Quality Management (2.44%)
  • Urinalysis (10.97%)

Distinguishing Skills

A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.

  • Bacteriology (3.1%)
  • Analytical Procedures (4.15%)
  • Serology (4.48%)

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.

  • Bacteriology (5.22%)
  • Clinical Laboratory Science (99.7%)

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
  • Microbiology Laboratory Manager
  • Lead Medical Laboratory Scientist
  • Machine Learning Data Scientist
  • Scientist/Laboratory Manager
  • Microbiology Laboratory Supervisor

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.

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

  • Vetted Health (1144)
  • Quest Diagnostics (882)
  • Geisinger Health System (836)
  • Avera Health (568)
  • K&A Recruiting (516)
  • AdventHealth (356)
  • Actalent (346)
  • Houston Methodist (257)
  • Carle (237)
  • Kaiser Permanente (234)

North Carolina

  • Duke University (126)
  • K&A Recruiting (35)
  • Novant Health (34)
  • WakeMed (28)
  • Cape Fear Valley Health System (20)
  • CaroMont Health (17)
  • HCA Healthcare (15)
  • Cone Health (13)
  • Actalent (9)
  • Frye Regional Medical Center (9)

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!