Health Technologist (Other Roles) Career Assessment

2What is a Health Technologist (Other Roles)?

The government names three real occupations inside this bucket. Neurodiagnostic technologists place electrodes on the head and record brain activity for doctors reading seizures and sleep problems. Ophthalmic medical technologists work in eye clinics running vision and eye-pressure tests, taking eye images, and assisting eye surgeons. Patient representatives help patients work through appointments, billing questions, and complaints. The bucket also catches other hospital technician jobs that do not fit elsewhere.

The Reality: Because this bucket holds several unrelated jobs, the middle pay of $23.79 an hour is a blend and may not describe any one of them. Look at the bottom of the range: the 10th and 25th percentiles are $18.29 and $18.84, only fifty-five cents apart. That flat bottom is where the entry-level patient-facing jobs sit. The $32.17 to $38.64 top is where the credentialed technologists sit, especially the ones who monitor nerves during surgery. Same bucket, completely different lives. Pick the real job.

Your Responsibilities:

• Pick which real job inside this bucket you actually want
• Find out whether that job needs a national credential, because some do and some do not
• Check whether North Dakota has a training program for it, because several do not
• Get real pay numbers for that job, not this group blend
• Learn patient care basics, which every job in here needs
• Practice explaining a test to a nervous patient in plain words
• Keep exact records, because doctors read them and make decisions from them
• Plan how you will get credentialed if your job requires it

There are real, hireable jobs in here. You just have to name the one you want.

3A Day in the Life

6:45 AM — This day belongs to an ophthalmic medical technologist in a busy eye clinic.

7:00 AM — First patient. Check vision, then measure eye pressure.

8:30 AM — Take retinal images and scans for the doctor to read.

10:00 AM — Walk an older patient through eye drops, slowly, twice, until he has it.

12:00 PM — Lunch.

12:45 PM — Down the hall a neurodiagnostic technologist is doing something else: measuring a head and placing electrodes for a brain wave recording.

2:30 PM — Back-to-back pre-surgery workups. Careful measurements, exact charting.

4:30 PM — Clean and check the equipment, then chart the last patients.

Every real job in this bucket has a different day. They share one thing: a nervous patient in front of you.

4Training in North Dakota

There is no program for this bucket. Most of these jobs are learned on the job, then credentialed. This is the good news in an otherwise messy category. Ophthalmic technician work and patient representative work are usually learned on the job in a clinic, and the credential comes later. That means you can get hired without paying for a long program first. Neurodiagnostic work is different — the accredited programs are all out of state, and the nearest one is at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

Training Pathways:

• Get hired and train in the clinic (6 months to 2 years): Eye clinics and hospitals hire assistants and train them, then support the national credential once you can do the work. This is the most realistic North Dakota route and you are paid the whole time.
• Two-year health degree first (2 years): A North Dakota health science, medical assistant, or health information associate degree gets you into a clinic faster and pays better at the start. It also transfers if you later want a bigger health career.
• Accredited out-of-state program for neurodiagnostic work (about 2 years): There is no accredited neurodiagnostic program in North Dakota, South Dakota, or Montana. Mayo Clinic in Minnesota runs a 24-month program. Check whether an employer will help pay before you move.

Where to Train in North Dakota:

• Bismarck State College (Bismarck) — health science and allied health programs, plus the general education that transfers into any health degree — bismarckstate.edu
• ND State College of Science (Wahpeton and Fargo) — health and health information programs — ndscs.edu
• Lake Region State College (Devils Lake) — allied health and transfer programs — lrsc.edu
• Minot State University and University of North Dakota — four-year health sciences degrees for people who want to go further later — minotstateu.edu, und.edu
• Neurodiagnostic technology: no accredited program in North Dakota, South Dakota, or Montana. The nearest is Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, a 24-month certificate or associate degree — aset.org/neurodiagnostic-schools
• Ophthalmic technician work: North Dakota has no dedicated program, and clinics here generally train their own. Call the eye clinics in Bismarck, Fargo, Grand Forks, and Minot and ask whether they hire and train assistants
• Patient representative work: no program needed. Clinics and hospitals train you. A health information or business two-year degree helps you move up

Before You Start: High school diploma or GED. A steady, calm way with nervous people, and the patience to explain the same thing three times without sighing. Careful hands and careful records. Most of these jobs need a background check and immunizations before you start.

Tip: Start with financial aid and scholarships. Fill out the FAFSA, ask the school’s financial aid office what you qualify for, and ask an employer whether they help pay for school. That is where the money starts. After that, a career counselor or Job Service North Dakota may be able to help with what is left over, like tuition, books, a laptop, or exam fees. What can be paid for depends on the program and on your own situation, so ask before you enroll rather than after. Worth asking about specifically: two-year degrees that train you for a job, like civil engineering technology, land surveying, mechatronics, electronics, or instrumentation. North Dakota two-year colleges also cost far less than a university. Ask about paid summer internships too — engineering firms, plants, and survey crews hire students while they are still in school.

5Certification & Licensing

North Dakota does not license any of these jobs. The national credentials are what employers want. None of the real jobs in this bucket needs a North Dakota license. What they have instead are national credentials from two bodies, and earning one is the single biggest jump in pay you can make inside this group. Pick the line that matches your job.

Credentials by Real Job:

• Neurodiagnostic work — ABRET. The credentials include R. EEG T. for brain wave recording, R. EP T. for evoked potentials, CLTM for long-term monitoring, and CNIM for monitoring nerves during surgery. CNIM holders are usually the highest paid people in this whole bucket — abret.org
• Eye clinic work — IJCAHPO. The ladder runs Certified Ophthalmic Assistant, then Certified Ophthalmic Technician, then Certified Ophthalmic Medical Technologist, with add-on credentials for surgical assisting, ophthalmic ultrasound, and scribing — jcahpo.org
• Patient representative work — no credential is required. Experience and a two-year degree are what move you up
• Basic life support — almost every clinic and hospital job in this group expects current CPR certification, and it is cheap and quick
• Ask about eligibility before you plan. Both bodies set their own routes in, and some credentials require documented hours of work experience before you can sit the exam. Read the current handbook on their site rather than trusting a summary
• Ask your employer to pay. Clinics and hospitals often cover exam fees for staff they already trained, because a credentialed tech is worth more to them

The Exams: Both bodies use written exams, and several of the higher credentials add a practical or oral portion where you must show you can actually do the work. Study handbooks are published on each body's own site.

Cost: Neither body publishes one simple price that covers every credential, so ask them directly rather than budgeting on a guess. Expect several hundred dollars per exam, plus study materials. Many North Dakota employers will pay this for you.

Keeping It Current: Both organizations require continuing education to keep a credential current. Build a few hours a year into your plan from the start.

6Salary & Job Outlook

North Dakota Health Technologist and Technician (All Other group) Pay (May 2025):

• Starting out (bottom 10–25%): $18.29–$18.84/hour ($38,050–$39,190/year)
• Middle (median — half earn more, half earn less): $23.79/hour ($49,480/year)
• Experienced (top 25–10%): $32.17–$38.64/hour ($66,910–$80,380/year)

What that means: This is a blended number across several unrelated jobs, so read the shape of it rather than the middle. The bottom — $18.29 and $18.84, only pennies apart — is where uncredentialed, entry-level clinic work sits, and it is where you will start. The $32.17 to $38.64 top is where credentialed technologists sit, especially the ones monitoring nerves during surgery. The national middle for this same bucket is about $24.18 an hour, so North Dakota at $23.79 is right about at the national level, which is unusual and good. The lesson is simple: the credential is the raise. Get hired, then get credentialed.

Jobs in North Dakota: About 640 people work in this whole "All Other" group in ND today. By 2034, that should be about 700 (about 10% growth). Expect about 50 job openings every year in ND from growth and people retiring or changing jobs. Across the U.S., the change is about 5% growth — faster than average.

Outlook: Genuinely good, for a catch-all. About 640 workers in North Dakota growing to about 700, with roughly 50 openings a year and growth twice the national rate. That is real hiring. But you still cannot apply to a bucket, so use the pages in this same area that carry real titles: the neurodiagnostic technologist page covers the brain-wave jobs inside this exact bucket; clinical laboratory technologist has about 1,180 people in the state and 80 openings a year; medical records specialist has about 30 openings a year; and cardiovascular technologist covers the heart-testing side. Those are the pages you can act on.

Who Hires in ND: Hospitals and health systems in Bismarck, Fargo, Grand Forks, and Minot; eye clinics and surgery centers across the state; neurology clinics and sleep labs; rural critical access hospitals, which often train their own people because they cannot recruit credentialed ones; and clinic patient services departments.

Work Setting: Clinics, hospital departments, and surgery centers. Mostly regular weekday hours, though sleep labs run nights and surgery monitoring runs on the surgeon's schedule, including early mornings and call.

Physical Demands: Moderate. Standing and walking most of the day, leaning over patients, pushing equipment carts, and fine hand work placing electrodes or positioning patients at machines. You need steady hands, good eyes, and the patience to work slowly with frightened or confused patients.

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, North Dakota, May 2025 (SOC 29-2099); North Dakota and U.S. long-term employment projections 2024–2034, via O*NET OnLine. Numbers are rounded.

7Where This Leads

Path 1: Ophthalmic Assistant — The common first job. Learn in the clinic, get paid while you do.

Path 2: Certified Ophthalmic Technician or Technologist — The credential ladder in eye care, and a real raise at each step.

Path 3: Neurodiagnostic Technologist — Brain wave recording. Read that page in this area — it has real numbers.

Path 4: Surgical Neuromonitoring Technologist — Monitor nerves during surgery. The top pay in this whole bucket.

Path 5: Patient Representative or Patient Advocate — Help patients through the system. No credential needed to start.

Path 6: Lead Technologist or Clinic Supervisor — Run the techs and the schedule after several years.

8The Real Talk

What's Great:

• About 50 North Dakota openings a year in the group
• Growing twice as fast here as nationally
• North Dakota pay is right about at the national level
• Several of these jobs are learned on the job and paid from day one
• The credential is a clear, earnable raise
• Rural hospitals will train you because they have to

What's Hard:

• The job title does not exist — you have to pick a real one
• Starting pay is near $18 an hour before you are credentialed
• No neurodiagnostic or ophthalmic program exists in North Dakota
• The pay number is a blend of unrelated jobs
• Some of the best-paid work means early mornings and being on call
• You work with frightened patients, every day, and it takes patience

Be Honest: Are you willing to start near $18 an hour and earn your raise through a credential? Can you be calm and patient with a scared person who is asking you the same question for the third time?

9Part 1: What Attracts You?

10Part 2: Are You Ready?

11Part 3: Your Next Move

Your Health Technologist (Other Roles) Assessment Results