Medical Laboratory Technician generally follows an associate degree and an accredited program. Medical Laboratory Scientist - formerly medical technologist - generally follows a bachelor's degree. Both run the instruments and report…
Medical Laboratory Technician generally follows an associate degree and an accredited program. Medical Laboratory Scientist - formerly medical technologist - generally follows a bachelor's degree. Both run the instruments and report results; the differences appear in scope of independent judgement, troubleshooting expectations, supervisory eligibility and pay ceiling.
These are not the same thing and conflating them causes real problems. Certification comes from a professional body after an examination. Licensure is state law, and only some states require it for laboratory personnel. If you are moving, check the destination state's requirements before you accept anything - a certification that is sufficient in one state may not be in another.
Eligibility routes for the certification exams are specific about program accreditation and clinical hours. Verify your route before enrolling, not after graduating. Every year people complete a program and then discover they do not qualify to sit the exam they wanted, which is expensive and avoidable.
Bridge routes exist and often credit both prior coursework and documented laboratory experience. If you are already working as an MLT this is usually the cheaper path, and employer tuition assistance is common in hospital laboratories. Ask what your employer offers before assuming you are paying for it.
Primary regulations and standards referenced above. Where a standard is published commercially it is named in full rather than linked to a copy.