How Can Medical Laboratory Technologists Accrue Continuing Education?
Medical lab technology is one of many health professions that may require its members to update their knowledge and skills annually with continuing education credits. The continuing education requirement for medical lab technologists differs by state, as do the requirements to gain and maintain licensure as a medical lab technologist. Becoming certified with one of the professional associations in medical lab technology, however, can help any professional maintain up-to-date knowledge and skills.
Other People Are Reading
-
Approved Opportunities
-
The Professional Acknowledgment for Continuing Education (P.A.C.E.) label is one of the methods used to identify educational opportunities in the field of medical lab technology. Different professional organizations that issue certification typically provide their own lists of approved continuing education opportunities. For state license renewal, always check with your state licensing board before enrolling in continuing education to ensure that the credits will count and to find out how to adequately document your participation.
Conferences and Seminars
-
Attending conferences like the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS) annual meeting can qualify medical lab technologists to receive continuing education credits. The ASCLS also provides recordings of annual meeting sessions online, which medical lab technologists can view and take a quiz to earn credits, and other seminars and workshops may also offer web casts of their meetings for remote participation. The ASCLS also publishes an updated list of regional and state conferences and seated seminars on its website.
-
Online and Computer Courses
-
Online courses and computer modules on CD are also an option for accruing continuing education as a medical lab technologists. Course providers, like MediaLab, offer course subscriptions for employers to purchase for an entire lab. These online course subscriptions provide medical lab technologists access to courses in special topics in OSHA requirements, lab safety, Medicare compliance, blood work, HIPAA privacy and others.
Mail-In Examinations
-
Medical lab technologists interested in home study who do not have access to a computer or Internet access can still complete continuing education credits at home with the ASCLS journal "Clinical Laboratory Science." Medical lab technologists who subscribe to the journal can receive continuing education credits for mailing in follow-up quizzes on the material covered in the articles. The exams are also available online for journal articles published in 2009 and later.
Time Frame
-
Medical lab technologists who are certified by a professional organization or whose state licensing board requires continuing education for recertification usually need to complete a certain number of continuing education credits each year. For professional organizations, attending an annual meeting or conference often allows the participant to complete all the required continuing education credits at once by attending multiple sessions or events.
-
References
- Photo Credit Medical instruments image by Keith Frith from Fotolia.com
