How Lucrative Is Medical Laboratory Science in 2024?

Finding out how lucrative is medical laboratory science can be one very important question prospective students would love an answer to especially when they are uncertain about which course should study. Whilst it isn’t right to make a decision on the course of study based on only how lucrative it is, nonetheless, it is an important consideration.

In fact, you can tell how so many students can give a good reply to how lucrative is medical laboratory science, by the sheer number of applications that are recorded for other courses like medicine and surgery, dentistry, pharmacy, or even nursing. 

Can you blame these students entirely? Not exactly. If they knew any better, we wouldn’t have such stiff competition in these other courses. Regardless, in this article, we would find how lucrative medical laboratory science starting from the many job opportunities to their responsibilities and even down to their salaries. 

Who are Medical Laboratory Scientists?

It is appropriate we begin with who these people are. Medical laboratory scientists are also known as clinical laboratory scientists whose work is geared at conducting analytical tests on blood samples and body fluids in medical laboratories in order to make certain decisions that can inform the doctor on how to improve the health of a patient.

Doctors collect the relevant samples of what they perceive would be needed to draw up a treatment plan for a patient and hand it over to the medical laboratory scientist who carries out complex tests using modern equipment like microscopes.

This testing is very pivotal to finding out and creating solutions to medical issues like cancer, blood diseases, diabetes, and many other health conditions. So many students who love to take care of the health of students but wouldn’t like to relate with patients directly would find this course a perfect fit for them.

See also: Best Online Healthcare Degree Programs

What are The Responsibilities of a Medical Laboratory Scientist?

If you have ever been in doubt about how lucrative is medical laboratory science, then you might have a change of mind when you realize that medical laboratory scientists do a great deal of work in the healthcare world. Some of them include:

Critically observing and conducting tests on cells, blood, and body fluids

Giving the reports of the tests carried out to doctors.

Effective use and maintenance of laboratory equipment.

Properly carrying out crossmatching tests for blood transfusion.

Creating reliable systems and programs that can maintain quality and accurate standards of the test results.

Overseeing the work of a laboratory technician.

What are The Requirements to Study a Medical Laboratory Science?

The qualifications that are deemed important answer the question: how lucrative is medical laboratory science because so much time, attention, and hard work is put into the five years of study in the university? Some of them are:

Completion of a five-year Bachelor’s degree program in Medical Laboratory Science and sometimes even a Bachelor’s degree in any related field like Chemistry or Microbiology would suffice.

Completion of an internship program or any clinical laboratory program in any hospital.

Possession of the national certificate which is usually given to medical laboratory scientists after their graduation.

What is The Salary of Medical Laboratory Scientists?

There are many indices for wealth, however, one important index that shows how lucrative medical laboratory science has is the salary structure of these medical professionals.

For a medical laboratory scientist, the average take-home pay is about N 120,000. But, depending on the financial capacity of where he/she is domiciled, the salary could get as high as N 350,000.

It is also worthy of note, that there has been a gradual decline in the number of medical laboratory scientists in the country to support the number of laboratory tests that need to be carried out on a daily basis. This is because of the population explosion that has hit the nation in recent years.

This goes to show not only how lucrative is medical laboratory science, but also, the job security that these laboratory scientists and technicians enjoy. We can infer from this happening, that opportunities that abound in this field prove beyond all reasonable doubt how lucrative is medical laboratory science in its own rights.

Another important point that is also easy to miss out on is the fact that the salaries of medical laboratory scientists both at home and abroad are at the mercy of how experienced the person is or even the person’s level of education.

Available Job Opportunities In Medical Laboratory Science

If those who study medical laboratory science are limited to just remaining as medical laboratory scientists, then it just weakens any case made for how lucrative is medical laboratory science.

It turns out, however, that as a graduate of medical laboratory science in the university, there are many other workplaces in the health sector you can decide to seek gainful employment in. Some of them are:

Private-owned and Government owned hospitals

Forensic Laboratories

Biotechnology industries

Pharmaceutical companies

Reference Laboratories

Non-clinical Industrial Laboratories

Veterinary practices and laboratories

Other Indicators to Show How Lucrative Medical Laboratory Science in Nigeria

A lot has been said about how lucrative js medical laboratory science is, from the many job opportunities that are on offerings to their salary structure and even their peculiar responsibilities, there however remain some things that haven’t been saying.

The chances are very high to get a land job after graduation as a medical laboratory scientist because if the needs keep expanding as the population growth continues, there is enough space for any graduate to fill in and work.

Medical laboratory scientists can also start their medical laboratory, but this time, it is not to conduct diagnostic tests that inform a doctor’s decision, but rather, to build on the existing body of medical knowledge. Since medical laboratory scientists tend to do a lot of research, having their own laboratories can keep their discoveries safe.

Conclusion

At this juncture, you should no longer be wondering how lucrative is medical laboratory science and at the same time also carry that stereotype that the only courses worth applying for are medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy.