| It should come as no surprise that these days Clinical | | | | engineering, math) professions, of which lab techs |
| Lab Technicians are considered a very high demand | | | | certainly are. It awards one hundred students |
| profession. They are the part of the medical team | | | | anywhere from $100,000 to $600,000 a year. To find |
| that analyzes whatever samples a doctor garners | | | | out more about this program, one should contact the |
| from his patients, then run whatever tests are | | | | National Science Foundation. |
| necessary for a diagnosis. The Bureau of Labor | | | | (2) American Society for Clinical Laboratory Society - |
| Statistics states the need for more is greater than | | | | One of the main professional societies for clinical lab |
| average. There are 326,000 of them in the U.S., as | | | | techs. They have a web page containing |
| of 2008, with a need for an additional 50,000 by | | | | approximately 25 different scholarships and grants to |
| 2018. Many of the new students entering this field will | | | | assist aspiring students help pay their tuition and fees |
| do so with the aid of an online degree. | | | | to post-grads obtain research funding, who |
| Still, there's the matter of affording the education. At | | | | administers them and where you can go to find out |
| minimum, one needs an Associates degree in the | | | | more information on each one. |
| profession, and these days a four year degree is | | | | (3) Work Study/Internship Programs - As it happens, |
| preferred. With the cost of tuition currently outpacing | | | | this is a very common way for clinical techs to get |
| the rate of inflation, this is not something to be | | | | their education and eventual certification. This kind of |
| taken lightly. Although an experienced technician can | | | | employment can come from such major hospitals as |
| make over $50,000 a year, even at that salary one | | | | the Mayo Clinic to a number of universities. A good |
| can be strapped with student loans for many years | | | | way to start is to consult the American Society for |
| to come. | | | | Clinical Laboratory Society. This provides great |
| Still, there are options available to the future techie | | | | hands-on experience and you could end up being paid |
| beyond the aforementioned student loans and the | | | | to learn. |
| everyday Pell Grant. Here are a couple options one | | | | (4) Corporate Scholarships - Major corporations have |
| should consider when pursuing this field: | | | | also rolled up their sleeves and entered the financial |
| (1) S-STEM Scholarships - This program was created | | | | aid fray. These include corporations such as Tylenol, |
| by the Federal government and is administered by | | | | who gives out $250,000 to promising medical |
| the National Science Foundation. Its purpose is | | | | professionals to the Siemens Corporation, who has |
| specifically to help people get their Associate's, | | | | handed out over $7 million to STEM-related education |
| Bachelors and even their Masters of Science degree | | | | and many more. |
| in what are called STEM (science, technology, | | | | |