Fla. Admin. Code R. 64B3-5.003

Current through Reg. 50, No. 253; December 31, 2024

Section 64B3-5.003 - Technologist

(1) Technologist Qualifications. Degrees or semester hours of academic credit required in this section shall be obtained at an accredited college or university recognized by the United States Department of Education or, if foreign education, equated pursuant to subsection 64B3-6.002(6), F.A.C. Degrees not in a chemical or biological science must be reviewed by the board pursuant to subsection 64B3-6.002(8), F.A.C. Applicants for technologist licensure in the categories of microbiology, serology/immunology, chemistry, hematology, immunohematology, histocompatibility, blood banking, cytology, cytogenetics, histology, molecular pathology, andrology and embryology shall complete a one hour educational course acceptable to the Board on human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immune deficiency syndrome or provide an affidavit that the course will be completed within six (6) months of licensure.

(2) All applicants for a Technologist license must satisfy the requirements for High Complexity Testing under CLIA Amendments, 42 C.F.R. §493.1489 effective April 24, 1995, which is incorporated by reference and adopted herein and available at http://www.gpo.gov.fdsys/pkg/CFR-2011-title42-vol5/pdf/CFR-2011-title42-vol5-sec493-1489.pdf or at http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-08712.

(3) In addition, at least one of the following requirements must be met for specific areas of licensure. In some cases there are multiple options for meeting the requirement.

(a) Microbiology, Serology/Immunology, Clinical Chemistry, Hematology, Immunohematology. A Generalist Technologist license includes the specialties of microbiology, serology/immunology, clinical chemistry, hematology, and immunohematology.

Education	Option	Training/Experience	Certification
Bachelors Degree (or higher) in Clinical Laboratory, Chemical, or Biological Science	1	NAACLS approved Clinical laboratory training program	MLS (ASCP), MT (ASCPⁱ), MT (AMT), MT (AAB) NRCC examinations in single discipline for licensure in that specialty area National certifying body categorial examinations in single discipline for licensure in that specialty area
Bachelors Degree (or higher) in Clinical Laboratory, Chemical, Biological Science, or Bachelors Degree with 24 semester hours of academic science including 6 semester hours of biological sciences and 6 semester hours of chemical sciences	2	Clinical laboratory training program, or 3 years pertinent clinical laboratory experience with a minimum of 6 months in each specialty for which licensure is sought

90 semester hours college credit with 24 semester hours of academic science including 6 semester hours of biological sciences and 6 semester hours of chemical sciences	3	Clinical laboratory training program	MLS (ASCP), MT (ASCPⁱ), MT (AMT), MT (AAB), or specialist examinations in single discipline for licensure in that specialty area

Associate Degree in Clinical/Medical Laboratory Technology	4	Clinical laboratory training program	MLS (ASCP), MT (ASCPⁱ), MT (AMT), MT (AAB) examinations, including specialist examinations, in single disciplines for licensure in that specialty area

Associate Degree including 6 semester hours of academic biological sciences and 6 semester hours of academic chemical sciences	5a	Successfully completed a Department of Defense clinical laboratory training program	MT (AAB) examinations, including specialist examinations, in single disciplines for licensure in that specialty area
	5b	5 years of pertinent clinical laboratory experience with one year of experience in each specialty area for which licensure is sought	MT (AAB) examinations, including specialist examinations, in single disciplines for licensure in that specialty area

(b) Blood Banking

(Donor Processing)

Education	Option	Training/Experience	Certification
Bachelors Degree (or higher) in Clinical Laboratory, Chemical, or Biological Science	1	NAACLS approved Clinical laboratory training program	MLS (ASCP), MT (ASCPⁱ), BB (ASCP), SBB (ASCP), MT (AAB), MT (AMT)
Bachelors Degree (or higher) in Medical Technology with 24 semester hours of academic science including 6 semester hours of biological sciences and 6 semester hours of chemical sciences	2	As required by certifying body
Bachelors Degree (or higher) in Clinical Laboratory, Chemical, Biological Science, or Bachelors Degree with 24 semester hours of academic science including 6 semester hours of biological sciences and 6 semester hours of chemical sciences	3a	3 years pertinent clinical laboratory experience
	3b	Clinical laboratory training program

(c) Cytology.

Education	Option	Training/Experience	Certification
as required by certifying body	1	As required by certifying body	CT (ASCP)

(d) Cytogenetics.

Education	Option	Training/Experience	Certification
Bachelors Degree (or higher) with 30 hours of academic science	1	Board approved training program in cytogenetics at the technologist level or 1 year of pertinent clinical laboratory experience in cytogenetics	CG (ASCP)

(e) Molecular Pathology.

Education	Option	Training/Experience	Certification
Bachelors Degree (or higher) with 16 semester hours of academic science	1	As required by certifying body	MB (ASCP) or MT (AAB) Molecular Diagnostics examination CHT (ABHI) MDT (AMT)
as required by certifying body	2	One year pertinent clinical laboratory experience in molecular pathology	MB (ASCP) or MT (AAB) Molecular Diagnostics examination or CHT (ABHI) MDT (AMT)

(f) Andrology, Embryology.

Education	Option	Training/Experience	Certification
Bachelors Degree (or higher) with 24 semester hours of academic science including 6 semester hours of academic biological sciences and 6 semester hours of academic chemical sciences	1	As required by certifying body	MT (AAB) Andrology/Embryology examination

Associate Degree including 6 semester hours of academic biological sciences and 6 semester hours of academic chemical sciences	2	As required by certifying body	MT (AAB) Andrology/Embryology examination

(g) Histology.

Education	Option	Training/Experience	Certification
Associate Degree (or higher)	1	NAACLS-approved Histotechnology Program	HT (ASCP)

as required by certifying body	2a	As required by certifying body	HTL (ASCP)
60 semester hours 12 hours chemical/biological science	2b	Board approved training program	HT (ASCP)
As required by certifying body	2c	3 years of pertinent experience as Florida licensed histology technician or equivalent	HT (ASCP) QIHC

as required by certifying body	3a	5 years of pertinent experience, and 48 contact hours of continuing education in immunohistochemistry/advanced histologic techniques	HT (ASCP)
as required by certifying body	3b	5 years of pertinent experience, and 48 contact hours of continuing education in immunohistochemistry/advanced histologic techniques, and Florida licensure as a technician in the specialty of histology	Not required

(h) Histocompatibility.

Education	Option	Training/Experience	Certification
as required by certifying body	1	As required by certifying body	CHT (ABHI)

Fla. Admin. Code Ann. R. 64B3-5.003

Rulemaking Authority 483.805(4), 483.811(2), 483.823 FS. Law Implemented 381.0034(3), 483.809, 483.811(2), 483.823 FS.

New 12-6-94, Amended 7-12-95, 9-10-95, 12-4-95, Formerly 59O-5.003, Amended 5-26-98, 1-11-99, 7-5-01, 3-24-02, 10-29-02, 8-16-04, 5-15-05, 12-19-05, 5-25-06, 7-9-07, 2-7-08, 6-17-09, 1-30-12, 2-7-13, 10-3-13, Amended by Florida Register Volume 41, Number 057, March 24, 2015 effective 4/5/2015, Amended by Florida Register Volume 41, Number 106, June 2, 2015 effective 6/16/2015, Amended by Florida Register Volume 43, Number 191, October 3, 2017 effective 10/17/2017, Amended by Florida Register Volume 44, Number 065, April 3, 2018 effective 4/18/2018, Amended by Florida Register Volume 44, Number 124, June 26, 2018 effective 7/9/2018, Amended by Florida Register Volume 45, Number 054, March 19, 2019 effective 4/3/2019, Amended by Florida Register Volume 46, Number 093, May 12, 2020 effective 5/25/2020, Amended by Florida Register Volume 47, Number 021, February 2, 2021 effective 2/16/2021, Amended by Florida Register Volume 47, Number 091, May 11, 2021 effective 5/26/2021, Amended by Florida Register Volume 47, Number 227, November 23, 2021 effective 12/6/2021.