MLS or MT-ASCP Certified: What the Difference is
Do you know the difference between MLS or MT-ASCP-certified professionals?
Or Do you want to recognize which certificate offers your medical lab career more credibility?
Here we are going to clarify everything about the MLS or MT-ASCP certified professionals.
MLS or MT-ASCP Certified
The MLS ASCP (Medical Laboratory Scientist) sometimes also referred to as the CLS (Clinical Laboratory Scientist) is the same certificate as the MT (Medical Technologist) for a lab career.
For deep clarification, the NCA (National Credentialing Agency for Laboratory Personnel awarded a standardized certificate called the CLS, and the ASCP (American Society for Clinical Pathology) Board of Registry presented credentials for medical lab technologists (MT).
In 2009, both agencies merged and appeared as the ASCP Board of Certification presenting both certificates (CLS and MT) under a single title: MLS (Medical Lab Scientist).
MLS or MT-ASCP certified sounds the same, they perform many of the same general experiments in the lab, but the MT is an old name while the MLS is the current term.
The reason behind this transition is to expose the expertise of MLS or MT-ASCP certified with a prominent name that is not revealed with the term MT (medical technologist).
What does the MLS or MT-ASCP Certified Do?
- The MLS ASCP is a complete name that demonstrates that the certified professional is a master of their field and can perform every type of easy-to-complex test to help physicians provide the best treatment to patients possible who visit their hospitals.
- Training or supervising the technicians
- Help to understand the physicians about the patientโs disease and determine what further is needed for a better cure
Degree Requirement to Become MLS or MT-ASCP Certified
With other qualification requirements, you must have a bachelorโs degree in your relevant field to become an MLS or MT -ASCP certified professional.
For its modern gold standard certification: MLS ASCP, the ASCP Board of Certification suggests routes (meeting one route criteria is vital), but if you have a baccalaureate degree in a related subject and graduated from a NAACLS (National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Scientists) -approved program in the last 5 years, you can apply for certification exam.
Do the MLS or MT-ASCP Certified Need Recertification?
If you are MLS or MT-ASCP certified, you have to update your license after three years of getting it (it is a continuing cycle that repeats after three years).
The ASCP Board of Certification works to update its certified professionalsโ skills including the MLS or MT-ASCP certified by presenting many continuing education programs.
These CE programs present your points after completing that meet your ASCP MLS renewal certification requirements.
To revive your MLS (ASCP) certificate, you have to earn 36 points during your active three years before expiring your certificate.
FAQs for the MLS or MT-ASCP Certified
What is the difference between MLS or MT-ASCP certified?
There is no difference between these certified professionals. These are two names of the same certificate. MT title can be used if you get this certificate before 2006 and MLS title is for if you got it after 2006. But both are the same credential that is offered by the ASCP BOC to medical lab scientists.
Why did the ASCP BOC make this transition from MT ASCP to MLS ASCP?
The ASCP MT (medical technologist) is a short-term that does not explain the certified professional skills and expertise clearly. Therefore, the Board of Certification changed the certificate name from MT ASCP to MLS ASCP. The MLS ASCP is a mixture of two certificates CLS and MT.
Abdelhalim Elshawadfy is an ASCP certified Medical Laboratory Scientist (MLS ASCP), Specialist in Microbiology (SM ASCP), and Molecular Biology Technologist (MB ASCP) with a distinguished career marked by expertise, continuous learning, and a commitment to elevating the standards of clinical laboratory science. As an ASCP Certification Expert and American Board Certification Expert, Abdelhalim Elshawadfy continues to make invaluable contributions to the field, leaving a lasting impact on the medical community.
