National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS) is a US based educational accreditation organization that accredits clinical laboratory educational programs. NAACLS is accredited by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).
NAACLS is the primary accrediting body for clinical laboratory programs in the US, though the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools(ABHES) also accredits a handful of programs. Graduates of the ABHES are not eligible for the American Society for Clinical Pathology(ASCP) certification, but are eligible for the American Medical Technologists(AMT) certification.
NAACLS has criticized the rise of non-accredited, on-the-job training (OJT) programs as undermining the laboratory profession.
History It was founded in 1973, after the United States Department of Education pressured the American Society for Clinical Pathology(ASCP) to disband their Board of Schools (BOS) following monopolization concerns. At the time of its founding, there were seven categories of laboratory personnel: Clinical Laboratory Assistant (CLA), Medical Laboratory Technician (MLT), Medical Technologist (MT), Cytotechnologist (CT), and Histotechnologist (HT).
In 2023, there was an effort to standardize program nomenclature which did not pass.
Programs Name Abbr. No. of programs in 2023 Notes Cytogentic Technologist CT 2 Diagnostic Molecular Scientist DMS 8 Histotechnician HT 38 Histotechnologist HTL 10 Medical Laboratory Assistant MLA 0 Medical Laboratory Microbiologist MLM Medical Laboratory Scientist MLS 247 Formerly Medical Technology (MT), then Clinical Laboratory Science (CLS) Medical Laboratory Technician MLT 237 Pathologists' Assistant PATH A 16 Phlebotomy PHLEB 50 Public Health Microbiologist PHM Doctorate In Clinical Laboratory DCLS 3 Biomedical Scientist BMS NA In progress
Decreases in laboratory reimbursement have led to a decline in the number of NAACLS accredited MLS programs from ~700 in 1975 to ~240 programs in 2002, where it has held since.
NAACLS program graduates are eligible to sit for American Society for Clinical Pathology(ASCP) certifications.
Stance on non-accredited training programs NAACLS has criticized the rise of non-accredited, on-the-job training (OJT) programs as undermining the laboratory profession.
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