A junior embryologist's responsibilities include:
- Laboratory tasks: Starting and shutting down the lab each day, and performing routine procedures like laboratory quality and assesment
- Semen analysis: Performing manual semen analysis counts, sperm morphology readings, and semen washing for Sperm Bank, and IUI
- Sperm processing: Preparing sperm for inseminations, and cryopreservation
- Cryopreservation: Maintaining cryopreservation inventory and liquid nitrogen tanks, and receiving and shipping cryopreserved gametes and embryos
- Quality control: Performing quality control and proficiency checks on instrumentation, and ensuring accuracy of clinical data
- Chemical analyses: Conducting chemical analyses of body fluids like blood and semen to determine the presence of normal and abnormal components
- Data entry:
Entering test results into a computer, and inputting medical records
- Patient care: Working with physicians to assist patients with reproductive health issues
Junior embryologists should be able to work independently and as part of a team. They should also comply with ethical issues and regulations surrounding gamete handling.