Medical laboratory assistant to bacteriology technician
A medical laboratory assistant already meets 38% of what the bacteriology technician role asks for. The move turns on 12 required skills not yet in the profile.
63.8/ 100
1 How much of what a bacteriology technician is expected to do is already part of a medical laboratory assistant’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the bacteriology technician role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A bacteriology technician role treats 8 of its required skills as things a medical laboratory assistant already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- apply safety procedures in laboratory
- assist in the production of laboratory documentation
- calibrate laboratory equipment
- laboratory techniques
- maintain laboratory equipment
- microbiology-bacteriology
What stands in the way is 12 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 14 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A bacteriology technician role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a medical laboratory assistant background worth leading with.
- already held perform fertility laboratory procedures working with machinery and specialised equipment
- already held assist in the production of laboratory documentation information skills
- already held clinical cytology natural sciences, mathematics and statistics
- already held immunology health and welfare
- already held stem cells natural sciences, mathematics and statistics
- already held analyse cell cultures information skills
All 14 carried skills, including the 8 the bacteriology technician role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 25 missing skills fall into 10 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn analyse experimental laboratory data required
- still to learn apply scientific methods required
- still to learn collect biological data required
- still to learn perform scientific research required
- optional, not held keep task records optional
- still to learn laboratory equipment required
- still to learn biology required
- still to learn molecular biology required
- optional, not held botany optional
- optional, not held parasitology optional
- optional, not held life sciences optional
- still to learn write technical reports required
- optional, not held assist in clinical trials optional
- optional, not held write research proposals optional
- still to learn collect samples for analysis required
- optional, not held label samples optional
- optional, not held preserve samples optional
- still to learn scientific research methodology required
- still to learn manage inventory required
4 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a bacteriology technician role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 analyse experimental laboratory data practise this
- 02 laboratory equipment study this
- 03 manage inventory practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 14 skills that carry over
- already held apply safety procedures in laboratory skill
- already held assist in the production of laboratory documentation skill
- already held calibrate laboratory equipment skill
- already held laboratory techniques knowledge
- already held maintain laboratory equipment skill
- already held microbiology-bacteriology knowledge
- already held perform laboratory tests skill
- already held stem cells knowledge
- already held analyse cell cultures skill
- already held biological chemistry knowledge
- already held clinical cytology knowledge
- already held immunology knowledge
- already held perform fertility laboratory procedures skill
- already held virology knowledge
The 4 learning areas not shown above
- still to learn use laboratory equipment required
- optional, not held communicable diseases optional
- optional, not held pharmaceutical industry optional
- optional, not held maintain freelance database optional
- optional, not held prepare visual data optional
- optional, not held hazardous waste storage optional
13 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held botany optional
- optional, not held label samples optional
- optional, not held parasitology optional
- optional, not held assist in clinical trials optional
- optional, not held communicable diseases optional
- optional, not held hazardous waste storage optional
- optional, not held keep task records optional
- optional, not held life sciences optional
- optional, not held maintain freelance database optional
- optional, not held pharmaceutical industry optional
- optional, not held prepare visual data optional
- optional, not held preserve samples optional
- optional, not held write research proposals optional
58 held skills the bacteriology technician role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role analyse blood samples skill
- not needed by the target role archive healthcare users' records skill
- not needed by the target role automated analysers in the medical laboratory knowledge
- not needed by the target role blood collection on babies knowledge
- not needed by the target role blood donation knowledge
- not needed by the target role blood transfusion knowledge
- not needed by the target role blood type classification knowledge
- not needed by the target role carry out flow cytometry skill
- not needed by the target role carry out quality control in microbiology laboratories skill
- not needed by the target role check the received biological samples skill
- not needed by the target role clinical biochemistry knowledge
- not needed by the target role collect biological samples from patients skill
- not needed by the target role communicate in healthcare skill
- not needed by the target role conduct cancer screening tests skill
- not needed by the target role conduct routine blood testing skill
- not needed by the target role cryopreservation knowledge
- not needed by the target role data protection knowledge
- not needed by the target role densiometry knowledge
- not needed by the target role dermapathology knowledge
- not needed by the target role dispose medical waste skill
- not needed by the target role electroencephalography knowledge
- not needed by the target role examine cell specimens microscopically skill
- not needed by the target role examine samples in dermatology skill
- not needed by the target role explain the molecular basis of a disease to patients skill
- not needed by the target role fine-needle aspiration knowledge
- not needed by the target role histopathology knowledge
- not needed by the target role identify patients' medical records skill
- not needed by the target role interpret hematological test results skill
- not needed by the target role interpret medical results skill
- not needed by the target role interpret urology diagnostic tests skill
- not needed by the target role label blood samples skill
- not needed by the target role maintain healthcare user data confidentiality skill
- not needed by the target role maintain medical laboratory equipment skill
- not needed by the target role microscopic techniques knowledge
- not needed by the target role mix chemicals skill
- not needed by the target role monitor stock level skill
- not needed by the target role operate scientific measuring equipment skill
- not needed by the target role order supplies skill
- not needed by the target role paediatric phlebotomy procedures knowledge
- not needed by the target role perform PCR covid test skill
18 further entries not listed here
10 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn laboratory equipment required
- still to learn biology required
- still to learn molecular biology required
- still to learn scientific research methodology required
- optional, not held botany optional
- optional, not held parasitology optional
- optional, not held communicable diseases optional
- optional, not held hazardous waste storage optional
- optional, not held life sciences optional
- optional, not held pharmaceutical industry optional
Other moves recorded from medical laboratory assistant
- scientific laboratory technician 80% covered · adjacent
- biochemistry technician 37% covered · substantial
- medical laboratory manager 34% covered · substantial
- biology technician 33% covered · substantial
- phlebotomist 30% covered · substantial
- cytotechnologist 29% covered · career change
- zoology technician 28% covered · substantial
- chromatographer 24% covered · career change
Common questions about this move
Can a medical laboratory assistant become a bacteriology technician?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A medical laboratory assistant already covers 38% of what a bacteriology technician is expected to do: 14 skills carry over, 8 of which the bacteriology technician role treats as required.
What skills does a medical laboratory assistant need to become a bacteriology technician?
12 required skills are missing, plus 13 optional ones. They fall into 10 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by information skills. The single most important is analyse experimental laboratory data.
How hard is the move from medical laboratory assistant to bacteriology technician?
Its learning distance is 63.8 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.