As NAACLS continues to be the premier accreditation agency for clinical laboratory sciences and related health care disciplines, a new professional program accreditation pathway has been developed and approved by the NAACLS Board of Directors: the Medical Laboratory Blood Bank Scientist (MLBBS) accreditation pathway. This article introduces the emerging MLBBS accreditation option. To read more about the Biomedical Scientist (BMS) pathway, please see:  https://naacls.org/naacls-announces-new-accreditation-pathway/. To learn more about the Medical Laboratory Microbiologist (MLM) and Public Health Microbiologist (PHM) pathways, please see: https://naacls.org/naacls-announces-new-accreditation-pathways/.

Background: Future and Emerging Professions Task Force

In the Fall of 2021, the NAACLS Board of Directors formed the Future and Emerging Professions Task Force (FEP) to explore options for accrediting clinical laboratory-related programs. The first new disciplines developed were based on requests from schools that wanted to offer categorical-type accreditation pathways but did not have a Medical Laboratory Scientist (MLS) program in which to work under the auspices. For example, both the MLM and MLBBS are both standalone accredited disciplines that now offer students a path to taking the ASCP Board of Certification categorical (technologist) examination without the lengthy work requirement or existing MLS program.

For each new pathway, the FEP developed the unique Standards (VII – Program Administration and VIII – Prerequisite and Curriculum Requirements) consistent with the discipline. For MLM and MLBBS, relevant standards were plucked from the MLS Standards. For other emerging disciplines, content experts were consulted to help develop Standards aligned with the needs and scope of the profession. Please note that both the MLM and MLBBS are entry-level and not specialists.

MEDICAL LABORATORY BLOOD BANK SCIENTIST (MLBBS) Pathway

The newest NAACLS-accredited discipline is the MLBBS. Similar to the MLM pathway, the FEP developed an accreditation pathway for MLBBS in response to requests from private blood bank services. These new MLBBS programs may be housed at a hospital, reference laboratory, or private laboratory and function as free-standing programs. They are not associated with an existing NAACLS-accredited MLS program and are accredited independently under their own standards.

Graduates of NAACLS-accredited MLBBS programs are eligible to take the ASCP Board of Certification categorical (technologist) examination in blood banking. They may find employment in medical laboratories or blood bank services (e.g., American Red Cross). Please note that the MLBBS pathway is not intended for Specialists in Blood Banking programs.

Collaboration with the ASCP Board of Certification

NAACLS has worked with the ASCP Board of Certification to establish a new route for graduates of the MLM and MLBBS programs, allowing students from these standalone programs to sit for the respective categorical examinations via a new NAACLS route. Additional details from the ASCP Board of Certification will be available in the coming year, so please visit their website: www.ascp.org/boc.

The accreditation process for these new programs is the same as for all programs currently accredited by NAACLS. To learn more about MLBBS, MLM, PHM, and BMS accreditation pathways, contact Michele Giannosa at MGiannosa@naacls.org.