Medical laboratory manager to medical laboratory assistant
A medical laboratory manager already meets 19% of what the medical laboratory assistant role asks for. The move turns on 27 required skills not yet in the profile.
85.8/ 100
1 How much of what a medical laboratory assistant is expected to do is already part of a medical laboratory manager’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 medical laboratory assistant role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A medical laboratory assistant role treats 2 of its required skills as things a medical laboratory manager already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- apply safety procedures in laboratory
- maintain medical laboratory equipment
What stands in the way is 27 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 20 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A medical laboratory assistant role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a medical laboratory manager background worth leading with.
- already held paediatric phlebotomy procedures health and welfare
- already held sterilise medical equipment handling and moving
- already held clinical biochemistry natural sciences, mathematics and statistics
- already held histopathology arts and humanities
- already held microscopic techniques natural sciences, mathematics and statistics
- already held maintain medical laboratory equipment working with machinery and specialised equipment
All 20 carried skills, including the 2 the medical laboratory assistant role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 52 missing skills fall into 8 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 archive healthcare users' records required
- still to learn conduct routine blood testing required
- still to learn perform cerebrospinal fluid analysis required
- still to learn perform sample testing required
- still to learn record test data required
- still to learn test chemical samples required
- optional, not held analyse blood samples optional
- optional, not held analyse cell cultures optional
- optional, not held carry out flow cytometry optional
- optional, not held conduct cancer screening tests optional
- optional, not held examine samples in dermatology optional
- optional, not held interpret hematological test results optional
- optional, not held interpret urology diagnostic tests optional
- still to learn examine cell specimens microscopically required
- still to learn calibrate laboratory equipment required
- still to learn maintain laboratory equipment required
- still to learn operate scientific measuring equipment required
- still to learn perform laboratory tests required
- still to learn use chemical analysis equipment required
- optional, not held perform PCR covid test optional
- optional, not held carry out quality control in microbiology laboratories optional
- optional, not held perform fertility laboratory procedures optional
- still to learn check the received biological samples required
- still to learn label blood samples required
- still to learn transport blood samples required
- still to learn mix chemicals required
- still to learn prepare samples for testing required
- still to learn send samples to laboratory required
- optional, not held collect biological samples from patients optional
- optional, not held dispose medical waste optional
- still to learn automated analysers in the medical laboratory required
- still to learn blood type classification required
- still to learn techniques of blood-sampling required
- optional, not held densiometry optional
- optional, not held blood collection on babies optional
- optional, not held blood donation optional
- optional, not held dermapathology optional
- optional, not held electroencephalography optional
- optional, not held fine-needle aspiration optional
- optional, not held urolithiasis in the urinary tract optional
- optional, not held blood transfusion optional
- still to learn work safely with chemicals required
- still to learn wear appropriate protective gear required
- optional, not held perform reconstructive microsurgery optional
- optional, not held perform stem cell transplantation optional
- optional, not held perform bone marrow transplant optional
- still to learn microbiology-bacteriology required
- still to learn laboratory techniques required
- optional, not held tissue cytogenetics optional
2 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a medical laboratory assistant role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 archive healthcare users' records practise this
- 02 automated analysers in the medical laboratory study this
- 03 blood type classification study this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 20 skills that carry over
- already held apply safety procedures in laboratory skill
- already held maintain medical laboratory equipment skill
- already held assist in the production of laboratory documentation skill
- already held biological chemistry knowledge
- already held clinical biochemistry knowledge
- already held clinical cytology knowledge
- already held cryopreservation knowledge
- already held data protection knowledge
- already held histopathology knowledge
- already held immunology knowledge
- already held interpret medical results skill
- already held maintain healthcare user data confidentiality skill
- already held microscopic techniques knowledge
- already held monitor stock level skill
- already held order supplies skill
- already held paediatric phlebotomy procedures knowledge
- already held stem cells knowledge
- already held sterilise medical equipment skill
- already held virology knowledge
- already held work with chemicals skill
The 2 learning areas not shown above
- still to learn communicate in healthcare required
- optional, not held explain the molecular basis of a disease to patients optional
- still to learn identify patients' medical records required
25 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held densiometry optional
- optional, not held perform PCR covid test optional
- optional, not held analyse blood samples optional
- optional, not held analyse cell cultures optional
- optional, not held blood collection on babies optional
- optional, not held blood donation optional
- optional, not held carry out flow cytometry optional
- optional, not held carry out quality control in microbiology laboratories optional
- optional, not held collect biological samples from patients optional
- optional, not held conduct cancer screening tests optional
- optional, not held dermapathology optional
- optional, not held electroencephalography optional
- optional, not held examine samples in dermatology optional
- optional, not held explain the molecular basis of a disease to patients optional
- optional, not held fine-needle aspiration optional
- optional, not held interpret hematological test results optional
- optional, not held interpret urology diagnostic tests optional
- optional, not held perform fertility laboratory procedures optional
- optional, not held perform reconstructive microsurgery optional
- optional, not held perform stem cell transplantation optional
- optional, not held tissue cytogenetics optional
- optional, not held urolithiasis in the urinary tract optional
- optional, not held blood transfusion optional
- optional, not held dispose medical waste optional
- optional, not held perform bone marrow transplant optional
18 held skills the medical laboratory assistant role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role arrange equipment repairs skill
- not needed by the target role develop project schedule skill
- not needed by the target role diagnostic methods in medical laboratory knowledge
- not needed by the target role health and safety regulations knowledge
- not needed by the target role healthcare administration knowledge
- not needed by the target role interpret medical images skill
- not needed by the target role manage budgets skill
- not needed by the target role manage health and safety standards skill
- not needed by the target role manage inventory skill
- not needed by the target role manage schedule of tasks skill
- not needed by the target role manage staff skill
- not needed by the target role medical laboratory technology knowledge
- not needed by the target role plan schedule skill
- not needed by the target role project management knowledge
- not needed by the target role provide test results to medical staff skill
- not needed by the target role supervise equipment skill
- not needed by the target role supervise laboratory operations skill
- not needed by the target role supervise staff skill
14 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 automated analysers in the medical laboratory required
- still to learn blood type classification required
- still to learn microbiology-bacteriology required
- still to learn techniques of blood-sampling required
- still to learn laboratory techniques required
- optional, not held densiometry optional
- optional, not held blood collection on babies optional
- optional, not held blood donation optional
- optional, not held dermapathology optional
- optional, not held electroencephalography optional
- optional, not held fine-needle aspiration optional
- optional, not held tissue cytogenetics optional
- optional, not held urolithiasis in the urinary tract optional
- optional, not held blood transfusion optional
Other moves recorded from medical laboratory manager
Common questions about this move
Can a medical laboratory manager become a medical laboratory assistant?
Yes, and it is a career change move. A medical laboratory manager already covers 19% of what a medical laboratory assistant is expected to do: 20 skills carry over, 2 of which the medical laboratory assistant role treats as required.
What skills does a medical laboratory manager need to become a medical laboratory assistant?
27 required skills are missing, plus 25 optional ones. They fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by information skills. The single most important is archive healthcare users' records.
How hard is the move from medical laboratory manager to medical laboratory assistant?
Its learning distance is 85.8 out of 100, which is the career change 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.