{"id":10759,"date":"2023-02-09T07:38:44","date_gmt":"2023-02-09T13:38:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rctc.edu\/echo\/?p=10759"},"modified":"2025-05-15T11:56:00","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T17:56:00","slug":"is-a-future-in-lab-science-for-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/is-a-future-in-lab-science-for-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Is a future in lab science for you?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Next in a series offering RCTC students ideas about possible career paths<\/h2>\n

By Mathew Clemens
\nEcho Staff Writer<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Do you like technology and science? Are you hoping to make an impact on the health of your community? A degree in lab science could lead you to a fulfilling career in the medical field.<\/p>\n

RCTC offers the important first step in getting there, with an associate\u2019s degree in laboratory science. An associate\u2019s degree allows students to gain experience in a laboratory setting as an assistant \u2013 giving you a leg up when it comes time for job-hunting. Additionally, this program is designed to prepare students to transfer into the accredited bachelor program at University of North Dakota in medical laboratory science.<\/p>\n

As a lab assistant, you\u2019ll participate in the preparation of lab materials and chemical solutions, clean equipment and perform data entries. Once you show competence in these skills, you can move up to laboratory technician, which pays more and offers more science-related duties. Be prepared to deal with a lot of biology and chemistry within those programs, at RCTC and UND.<\/p>\n

\"Lab

Photo courtesy of Pexels<\/p><\/div>\n

Competitive or easy to get into? <\/b>Easy.<\/p>\n

Chance of a job when I graduate? <\/b>You can technically already work in the laboratory as a lab assistant, but your chances of getting hired are much higher with an associate\u2019s degree in lab science. If you want to become a lab technician or higher, you would need a bachelor\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n

Salary range? <\/b>In Minnesota, salaries for lab assistants and technicians range from $30,000 to $49,000. Increasing with higher degrees of education.<\/p>\n

Contact for interested students: <\/b>Program advisor Deb Vang at deb.vang@rctc.edu<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Next in a series offering RCTC students ideas about possible career paths By Mathew Clemens Echo Staff Writer Do you like technology and science? Are you hoping to make an impact on the health of your community? A degree in lab science could lead you to a fulfilling career in the medical field. RCTC offers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1015,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[85,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-majors","category-campus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1015"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10759\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}