Medical Technologist Certification and Licensing
As a medical technologist, you’ll likely have some credentials attached to your name. Depending on where you live, you may be state licensed or certified through an independent organization. Only a few states currently license medical laboratory professionals. You’ll find legislative updates on the site of the American Society for Clinical Pathology.
Become a Clinical Laboratory Technician
- Career Plan: How to Become a Clinical Laboratory Technologist
Laboratory Technologist Resources…
Certification, unlike licensing, is carried out by a nongovernmental agency. It can be a career asset. The ASCP reported in 2010 that certified personnel made on average 10% more than noncertified ones. Moreover, many employers require certification. There are multiple respected credentialing agencies. You’ll want to make sure that the one you select has a good reputation in your geographic area.
The ASCP is well respected on a national level. The organization offers a number of credentials at both the technician and technologist levels. The Medical Laboratory Technician credential is for lab workers who have graduated from associate’s level programs or have equivalent education. The Medical Laboratory Scientist credential, meanwhile, is the generalist certification for baccalaureate level lab professionals. A clinical lab science graduate can also apply for certification in blood banking or hematology later if she meets work experience requirements.
The American Medical Technologists is another well-established credentialing agency. The Medical Laboratory Technician (AMT) credential is for lab workers with certificates or associate’s degrees (or at least 60 units of appropriate coursework if no degree was granted). The Medical Technologist (AMT) is for baccalaureate degree holders. In order to sit for the MT(AMT) exam, candidates should have a baccalaureate in medical technology or 35 units of relevant coursework in conjunction with a baccalaureate in another field. Those whose bachelor’s degree was in another field also need either a post-baccalaureate certificate or a year of work experience in a medical laboratory setting.
