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Medical Laboratory Technician - Personal requirements

Kaihangarau Taiwhanga Rongoā

Skills & knowledge

Medical laboratory technical assistants need to have:

the ability to follow procedures
good problem-solving and record-keeping skills
a thorough understanding of laboratory safety
a basic understanding of biological science
practical skills for performing experiments and operating scientific equipment.

Elly Petas writing down sample details in a file.

Record-keeping skills are important for medical laboratory technicians

Alex Burge checks cultures for disease-causing bacteria

Personal Qualities

Medical laboratory technicians should be:

accurate, with an eye for detail
able to follow instructions
able to work quickly
safety-conscious and careful.

They should also not be squeamish when testing samples.

Elly Petas holding a tray of blood samples.

Elly Petas preparing blood samples for testing

Physical Requirements

Medical laboratory technicians need to be reasonably fit and healthy as they are on their feet for much of the day. They also need to have good hand-eye co-ordination and good eyesight (with or without corrective lenses), and must have normal colour vision.

"You need good hand-eye co-ordination. Sometimes you might be holding five different things and you need to take the lid off something with your little finger."

Alex Burge - Laboratory Assistant

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Updated September 2009

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