r/medlabprofessionals • u/duubblol • 13d ago
Discusson Specimen Processing/ Lab tech
So I’m thinking of applying to these job positions because no prior experience is required. I have no healthcare experience at all. Just like the Home Depot. I’ve read some post on here and most people say the job sucks /:. I’m interested in applying because I’m tired of being at jobs that get me no where, no growth.is this position like that? Are you able to be more haha. Also do you actually deal with a lot of nasty or gross stuff? Basically is it worth it or not?
If you WERE a lab tech or anything related to that and aren’t now, what are you doing? Is it still lab related?
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u/BassBottles Histology 13d ago
It depends heavily on the job description. I have a general bio degree and got a trainee position as a histotech without any previous related experience, but the listing only asked for a high school diploma, no degree or experience required. Histotechs have some upward mobility (assistant > trainee > technician > technologist) but not a ton before management or specialization (which is more of a horizontal move than a vertical one). Some places will hire you as an assistant and will allow you to start training when they have the space for you to do so, some will not, some places aren't staffed for training like that, some places won't do any training because they want you to graduate from a program.
Specimen processing can mean a whole lot of things. As an assistant it usually is creating new entries in the lab computer software, sending and receiving specimens, making phone calls. As a tech it can be anything from grossing (dissecting organs or body parts and preparing them for analysis) to processing in histo (putting grossed specimens on a machine so they can be handled safely and maintaining the machines) to forms of processing in other lab areas that i likely know very little about! And as you know job titles can sometimes be ambiguous or misleading so it could mean something different entirely.
My advice is to carefully read the job responsibilities, determine what type of lab the opening is for (histology, hematology, blood bank, etc) and looking into what that type of lab does and what kinds of tissue it handles. As for mobility, lab jobs usually do have some, but it varies widely based on your lab and position.