Medical Appliance Technicians Career

Career as medical appliance technicians is a unique career option for those who want to enter the medical field. The medical appliance technicians are also called medical laboratory technicians. The main job of these technicians is to construct, maintain, replace and repair things like the braces, arch supports, artificial limbs, joints, and other surgical and medical appliances. They follow the prescriptions of the surgical doctors and construct the appliances accordingly. They work with all the appliances that help the individuals to correct any of their defects. To enter this field, the candidates may find it difficult to acquire courses or certifications because of limited courses available. However, on-job training that is provided to the candidates is beneficial to quick start their career.

Tasks:-
Career as medical appliance technicians is a thriving career. The tasks that are carried out by the medical appliance technicians are as follows:

• The main job of the medical appliance technicians is to construct, fit, maintain, and repair the medical supportive devices such as braces, artificial limbs, arch supports, joints, and other surgical appliances
• They need to follow the instructions provided by healthcare professionals, and doctors and construct the special devices to help individuals to overcome their physical disabilities
• Medical appliance technicians who construct the equipments like replacement limbs of arm, leg, hand, foot, braces, corrective shoes and other related devices are called as orthotic and prosthetic technicians
• Others may construct devices that help individuals suffering from hearing and eyesight deficiencies

Qualification:-
The candidates who wish to make a career as medical appliance technicians need to possess qualification as follows:

• High school graduates are preferred most of the times
• Courses or training related medical appliances and equipments is also beneficial
• American Board for Certification in Orthotic and Prosthetics (ABC) provides certification courses for orthotic and prosthetic technicians
• On-job training is provided by most of the hospitals or medical centers to young candidates
• Knowledge of human anatomy and physiology, orthotic and prosthetic equipments, applied biomedical principles and related subjects will be an asset to fetch jobs easily

Other necessary skills:-
Career as medical appliance technicians needs good mechanical aptitude. However there are many other skills that these technicians must portray. They are as follows:

• Excellent problem-solving skills
• Exceptional interpersonal and written skills
• Outstanding analytical, logical, creative and artistic skills
• Superb organizational skills, good observation and detail-oriented in work
• Good coordination skills and highly accurate and precise in work

Work Place:-
Career as medical appliance technicians needs candidates who are experts in science and mechanics. The medical appliance technicians have to normally work with different equipments in well-ventilated and clean laboratories. The place of work is clean and hygienic. They rarely come in contact with the public. Most of these technicians work for forty hours a week. Some of them may work as part-timers.

Job Opportunities:-
There are tremendous job opportunities in this career as medical appliance technicians. The jobs that are available for the medical appliance technicians are in following areas:

• Medical equipment and supply manufacturing laboratories
• Hospitals
• Medical centers
• Surgical laboratories

Remuneration:-
The candidates who wish to make a career as medical appliance technicians can expect good salary packages. However, the salary differs as per the education and experience. The salary for the trainee technicians is comparatively less. The salary goes on increasing with years of skillful experience and promotions to senior positions. The benefits that are provided to these technicians include paid holidays, vacation, heath facilities and pension plans.

Job Progress:-
There are tremendous chances of promotion in the career as medical appliance technicians. However, the promotion is based on the experience, performance and number of additional certifications acquired. The medical appliance technicians who make orthotic and prosthetic can become orthotists and prosthetists. Some of them may become supervisors or trainers. The highly experienced technicians can become lead technicians.

Employment forecast:-
Career as medical appliance technicians is a booming career in the surgical world. With the increase in population and increase in the two major causes of limb loss, which are diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, the need to fix the medical problems arises. Thus, the medical appliance technicians will be in great demand and so the employment for these technicians is expected to expand greatly in the future. In addition, the advances in the surgical world will enhance and increase the demand for skilled medical appliance technicians.