CERTIFICATION ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Medical Laboratory Technician

1.        Applicant shall be of good moral character.

2.        Applicant shall meet one of the following eligibility routes:

ROUTE 1 (EDUCATION): Applicant shall possess an associate degree in medical laboratory technology (or equivalent) from a program or institution accredited by a recognized regional or national accreditation agency. ^{1, 2, 3}

ROUTE 2 (ALTERNATE EDUCATION):  Applicant shall have completed at least two years (60 semester hours) of courses in an institution accredited by a recognized regional or national accreditation agency¹, including at least 25 semester hours of coursework across various subjects related to the clinical laboratory sciences, such as courses in chemical or biological science, mathematics and/or computer science (no more than 6 semester hours of mathematics and/or computer science may be used toward the 25 semester hour requirement) AND shall have completed a minimum of six months of approved clinical laboratory experience.

ROUTE 3 (MILITARY): Applicant shall have completed a 50-week US military medical laboratory training program provided that the training credits were earned in, or have been accepted for transfer by, an accredited college or university leading to the award of an appropriate degree. ^2,3

ROUTE 4 (OTHER RECOGNIZED EXAM): Applicant shall have taken and passed a generalist MLT examination given by another certification organization or state licensure agency, provided that the examination has been approved by the AMT Board of Directors and that the applicant can meet eligibility Routes 1, 2 or 3. Applicant must be currently employed or have recent experience (working three of the last five years) as a medical laboratory technician. No exam is required.

3.        Applicant applying under Routes 1, 2 and 3 shall take and pass the appropriate AMT certification examination.

Requirement Footnotes:

1.        Recognized regional or national accreditation agency: agency must be approved by the US Department of Education, the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, or otherwise approved by the AMT Board of Directors.

2.        Programs acceptable toward meeting certification requirements must include laboratory experience as part of the curricula. Applicants graduating from programs that do not include an experiential component, or those graduating from their degree or completing their program longer than five years ago, must obtain and document evidence of 6 months of approved laboratory experience prior to being eligible for certification.

3.        Applicants must have graduated from their degree program within the past five years. Applicants graduating longer than five years from date of application must provide evidence of six months of full-time (or equivalent) years approved laboratory experience within the last five years.

Approved Clinical Laboratory Experience: All laboratory experience credited toward eligibility must have been gained while employed in a laboratory that performs the chemical, physical, or biological examination of human body fluids and tissues and that uses clinical laboratory techniques and methodologies. The experience must have been obtained within the last five years, in at least four of the following six clinical laboratory disciplines: Blood Banking, Microbiology, Chemistry, Immunology, Hematology and Clinical Microscopy. Where required, laboratory experience will be verified.

MLT Self Assessment (Download)