To: State Desk, Health Reporter

Contact: Dan Kotheimer of the American Society for Clinical Pathology, 312-541-4886 or dank@ascp.org

CHICAGO, Oct. 31 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The California Department of Health Services (CDHS) has approved the American Society for Clinical Pathology Board of Registry (ASCP BOR) Medical Technologist examination for California clinical laboratory scientist (CLS) licensure purposes.

Effective October 1, 2006, the decision opens the door for ASCP-certified medical technologists to work in California without having to take the state's CLS licensure exam. Qualified persons can submit an application for state licensure, documenting their education, training and successful passing of the ASCP Medical Technologist certification examination. Applicants who also meet ASCP certification requirements can chose to be ASCP certified, making it for those based in California to qualify to work in other states.

"California represents the majority of practicing medical technologists in the Western United States," said ASCP BOR Executive Director E. Blair Holladay, PhD, SCT(ASCP)CM. "We're very pleased with this decision and look forward to serving these laboratory professionals."

ASCP BOR is the first and only national accrediting body whose examination is approved for licensure of CLSs in California. Other certifying examinations are under review for CLS and other specialties. CDHS plans to stop offering state-administered licensing examinations in two to three years, switching entirely to approved certification examinations.

"Approval of the ASCP BOR CLS examination for licensure purposes has been granted for four years in California, but also there is a four-year look back", said Karen L. Nickel, Ph.D., Chief of CDHS Laboratory Field Services. "That means that any person taking the ASCP BOR examination for medical technologists from October 1, 2002 until October 1, 2010, can use that instead of the state-administered CLS licensing examination. We are all excited that finally we have been able to start approving certification exams, and will start accepting ASCP candidates after our November 2006 licensing examinations are over."

According to the ASCP's 2005 Wage and Vacancy Survey of Medical Laboratories, medical technologist staff in the Far West region, which includes California, earned an average annual salary of $52,000. Medical technologists working as supervisors made $60,320, and as managers, $72,446.

"Opportunities abound for ASCP-certified medical technologists to enjoy prosperous and rewarding careers in California and throughout the world," Holladay said.

This year ASCP BOR began offering international certification (ASCPi) for laboratory professionals worldwide. In January, ASCP BOR began offering the Medical Technologist (MT), Medical Laboratory Technician (MLT) and Technologist in Molecular Pathology (MP) examinations in South Korea. The MT, MLT, MP and Phlebotomy (PBT) ASCPi exams are now offered in the Philippines, as well. In addition, the U.S. version of all BOR ASCP exams will be offered to the United States military in Japan and Germany.

Medical technologists work in all areas of the clinical laboratory, performing a wide range of medical laboratory tests, from simple premarital blood tests to more complex tests to uncover diseases such as HIV/AIDS, diabetes, and cancer. Working hospital laboratories, independent commercial laboratories, clinics, public health facilities, and blood banks, medical technologists are the behind-the-scenes backbone of medicine.

To qualify to take the ASCP BOR MT examination, applicants must have earned a bachelor's degree and completed an accredited medical technologist program. California applicants may alternatively complete a CLS training program approved by CDHS. For more details on qualifications and career opportunities, go to the Careers Center and Certification sections at http://www.ascp.org.

http://www.usnewswire.com/

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/© 2006 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/

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