Advertisement
Advertisement
|
Home :: More Career Profiles
Ancillary Services Technician |
Career OverviewThe ancillary services technician performs a range of clinical and technical duties relating to patient contact and specimen collection. They may be called upon to perform electroencephlograms (EEGs) and electrocardiograms (ECGs), or to collect samples such as blood and urine for medical testing.
Ancillary service technicians are often charged to oversee basic patient care and ensure patient safety. They are often responsible for performing basic equipment maintenance and minor repairs to ensure that machines function at optimum capacity. They are also expected to adapt testing methods and instrumentation to obtain optimum results based on history and other relevant information to ensure that diagnoses are correct in each case.
Practicing safety and infection control methods, responding to emergencies, and making clinical observations of patients during patient emergency situations are also duties of ancillary service technicians.
|
Career RequirementsAncillary service technicians must complete specialized training in ECG and laboratory procedures, generally as a minimum requirement. High school degrees and advanced training in ancillary services are requirements of most positions in this field.
Relevant training is generally available through community colleges and through indigenous hospital training programs. Certification in ancillary services is available through the American Medical Association (AMA) Committee on Allied Health and Accreditation.
|
Advertisement
|
Job OutlookThe health care industry is expected the change dramatically over the next ten year period. One of the most significant changes expected is the shift in routine work load away highly qualified medical personnel, such as physicians and nurses, into the hands of lesser trained and thus less specialized medical personnel, such as medical assistants, nursing assistants, and ancillary service technicians.
Having said that, ancillary service technicians fall somewhere between the two categories. On the one hand, ancillary service technicians do have some advanced training; they are generally specially trained to perform routine collections and diagnostic tests on patients. On the other hand, their medical knowledge is not advanced and they are not trained to offer diagnoses or determine treatment courses.
Ancillary service technicians have an average to good job outlook given their role in the health care system. They are, because of the skills they have and the capacity they serve, expected to remain valued members of the health care team.
|
Career TrackThe vast majority of ancillary service technicians work in hospitals, where the need for diagnostic procedures to be performed is immense and the demands placed upon other medical personnel qualified to perform such procedures are considerable.
Most positions are full-time and offer employment in a relatively safe and stable environment, with varied responsibilities and daily obligations.
|
CompensationFor qualified ancillary service technicians, compensation ranges between approximately $30,000 and $40,000 per year. The career opportunities are considered average.
|
|