Since the early 1950s, progress in clinical medicine has directly influenced and expanded the medical technology and clinical laboratory science knowledge base and increased the number of tests available to hundreds of procedures (Educational, 1999). This has increased the professional responsibilities of medical technologists and led to continual development of the academic level of the profession. Because of these advances, the professional requirement for qualifications advanced from "no formal qualifications" in the 1940s and 1950s to a bachelors degrees since the 1960s, and now there are masters and doctoral programs available.
The medical laboratory technicians perform procedures that are simpler and require less technical or theoretical knowledge than those performed by Medical Technologists or Clinical Laboratory Technologists, such as routine laboratory procedures; using microscopes, computers, specialized instruments and equipment; evaluating test results; preparing specimens and operating autoanalyzers; performing manual tests; and usually working under the supervision of Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologists or laboratory managers (AMT, 2005). The educational requirements for this are an associate degree or certification program in laboratory science with an emphasis on chemistry and biology, and integration of both clinical laboratory experience and academic courses. A medical laboratory technician who earns a baccalaureate degree and either has two years of experience or attends a NAACLS accredited medical technologist program can become a Medical Technologist (American, 2005).
Clinical Laboratory Technologists usually have a bachelor's degree with a major in medical technology or in one of the life sciences (Bureau, 2004). They perform more complex chemical, biological, hematological, immunologic, microscopic, and bacteriologic tests. Technologists examine by microscope blood, tissue and other bo...