Michigan State University CLS/MT Program

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What is the benefit of professional certification?

In the medical laboratory sciences, professional certification facilitates employment and advancement. Here's how:

In many health-related occupations, professional credentials (also known as certifications) are required for employment, usually by state government licensing. In the medical laboratory sciences, licensing is not required in most states (including Michigan), so professional credentials are optional. However, those individuals who gain the professional credential have demonstrated that they are competent to function within their field and so, employers prefer to hire credentialed individuals. In fact, with the laboratory professions, most hospitals and related facilities choose to hire only certified individuals. Further, being certified can facilitate advancement opportunities. Students who want to work in hospital laboratories after graduation should seriously consider becoming certified.

How to become certified as a generalist in laboratory science:

Baccalaureate graduates typically pursue certification as a generalist. Generalist certification encompasses all the major areas of the laboratory (i.e. hematology, microbiology, chemistry, etc) and qualifies individuals for entry jobs in most laboratories. (To learn more about advanced and categorical certifications, click here).

In the medical laboratory sciences, achieving certification includes 3 steps: basic education (e.g. bachelor's degree), professional practicum (either as part of the bachelor's degree or afterwards), and successful completion of a national certification examination. In order to be eligible for the examination at the Medical Technologist/Clinical Laboratory Scientist level, you must possess a bachelor's degree and complete a professional practicum accredited by the National Acrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS). MSU's Clinical Laboratory Science major is NAACLS accredited and graduates are eligible for national certification. Graduates of the Medical Technology major can complete NAACLS-accredited programs at hospitals in Michigan or out-of-state and are then eligible for certification.

Certifying Agencies for Generalist Laboratory Professionals

There are a variety of agencies that offer gneralist certification for baccalaureate laboratory professionals.

National Credentialing Agency for Laboratory Personnel (NCA)
Board of Registry of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists (ASCP)
American Medical Technologists (AMT)
International Society of Clinical Laboratory Technologists (ISCLS)

Most MSU graduates choose to be certified by NCA or ASCP.

MSU CLS graduates or MT graduates who complete a NAACLS-accredited program are eligible for the either Clinical Laboratory Scientist (CLS) certification from NCA or the Medical Technologist (MT) certification from ASCP. These are equivalent credentials and graduates of both majors are eligible for both credentials. Once individuals earn certification they may use the the letters CLS or MT(ASCP) after their name, as the MT Program faculty do.