Occupational Profiles

Medical laboratory technicians perform some or all of the following duties:

• Collect, sort and prepare blood, tissue and other samples from patients
• Log and validate patient samples and prepare them for testing
• Set up medical laboratory equipment
• Conduct routine laboratory tests and sample analyses
• Perform quality assurance of testing techniques
• Clean and maintain medical laboratory and medical laboratory equipment.

Pathologists' assistants perform some or all of the following duties:

• Prepare for autopsies by obtaining patients' medical records and arranging for radiographic examinations
• Prepare, assist with or perform autopsies and surgical specimen examinations under pathologists' supervision
• Dissect, examine, weigh, photograph and X-ray organs and specimens, collect tissue samples for chemical analysis and record findings
• Discard specimens according to established safety procedures
• Clean and maintain instruments, equipment and supplies
• Develop and maintain processes for laboratory quality control
• May prepare bodies for release to funeral homes following completion of autopsies
• May supervise and train junior resident pathologists and morgue attendants.

• Medical laboratory technicians/assistants require completion of a college certificate program in medical laboratory science.
• Certification by the Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science is usually required by employers for medical laboratory technicians/assistants.
• Combined laboratory and X-ray technicians require completion of a combined laboratory X-ray technology program.
• Pathologists' assistants require some post-secondary courses or a university degree in life sciences and Specialized on-the-job training.
• Certification by the American Society for Clinical Pathology - Board of Certification or Pathologists' Assistant Certification Examination is usually required by employers.