What Does it Take to Be a Medical Appliance Technician?

Medical Appliance Technician Definition Construct, fit, maintain, or repair medical supportive devices, such as braces, orthotics and prosthetic devices, joints, arch supports, and other surgical and medical appliances.

Daily Life Of a Medical Appliance Technician

• Service or repair machinery used in the fabrication of appliances.
• Fit appliances onto patients and make any necessary adjustments.
• Lay out and mark dimensions of parts, using templates and precision measuring instruments.
• Polish artificial limbs, braces, or supports, using grinding and buffing wheels.
• Make orthotic or prosthetic devices, using materials such as thermoplastic and thermosetting materials, metal alloys and leather, and hand or power tools.
• Cover or pad metal or plastic structures or devices, using coverings such as rubber, leather, felt, plastic, or fiberglass.

Medical Appliance Technician Needed Skills

Medical Appliance Technicians state the following job skills are important in their day-to-day work.

Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Quality Control Analysis: Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.

Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Troubleshooting: Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.

Types of Medical Appliance Technicians

• Prosthetics Lab Technician
• Hearing Aid Repair Technician
• Medical Assembler
• Surgical Instrument Maker
• Arch Support Maker

Job Opportunities for Medical Appliance Technicians

There were about 15,000 jobs for Medical Appliance Technicians in 2016 (in the United States).

New jobs are being produced at a rate of 13.6% which is lower than average. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts 2,000 new jobs for Medical Appliance Technicians by 2026. There will be an estimated 2,000 positions for Medical Appliance Technician per year.

The states with the most job growth for Medical Appliance Technicians are Tennessee, California, and Utah.

Watch out if you plan on working in Oklahoma, North Dakota, or Nebraska. These states have the worst job growth for this type of profession.

Medical Appliance Technician Salary

The typical yearly salary for Medical Appliance Technicians is somewhere between $24,090 and $63,130. The median salary for this occupation is $39,190.

Below is a list of the median annual salaries for jobs of this type in different U.S. states.

Annual Mean Salary by State

State	Annual Mean Salary
Colorado	$52,060
Illinois	$51,390
Alaska	$50,320
California	$48,370
Massachusetts	$48,230
Washington	$47,730
Alabama	$47,070
Michigan	$46,740
New Hampshire	$46,200
Rhode Island	$46,050
Virginia	$45,140
Maryland	$44,760
Minnesota	$44,590
Maine	$44,140
West Virginia	$43,770
Connecticut	$42,740
Florida	$42,720
Pennsylvania	$41,620
New York	$41,580
New Jersey	$41,510
Nevada	$40,960
Arizona	$40,770
Delaware	$40,690
Texas	$40,040
Iowa	$39,990
North Carolina	$39,880
New Mexico	$39,250
Georgia	$39,190
Mississippi	$38,400
Kentucky	$37,620
Tennessee	$37,460
Ohio	$37,340
South Carolina	$36,980
Missouri	$36,820
Oklahoma	$36,060
Wisconsin	$35,700
Arkansas	$35,330
Kansas	$35,190
Oregon	$35,130
Indiana	$35,050
Utah	$34,840
Louisiana	$30,020

What Tools & Technology do Medical Appliance Technicians Use?

Below is a list of the types of tools and technologies that Medical Appliance Technicians may use on a daily basis:

• SoftSource CADview
• Microsoft Excel
• Autodesk AutoCAD
• Seattle Systems Shapemaker
• Ohio Willow Wood OMEGA Tracer System
• Vorum Research Corporation CANFIT-PLUS

Becoming a Medical Appliance Technician

What education or degrees do I need to become a Medical Appliance Technician?

How many years of work experience do I need?

Where do Medical Appliance Technicians Work?

You May Also Be Interested In…

Are you already one of the many Medical Appliance Technicians in the United States? If you’re thinking about changing careers, these fields are worth exploring:

• Medical Equipment Repairers
• Respiratory Therapists
• Dental Laboratory Technicians

References

Bureau of Labor Statistics

College Factual

O*NET Online

Image Credit: Via Wikimedia Commons