General Regulations

1. The AAB Board of Registry has vested authority for final decisions pertaining to all aspects of Board functions.


2. The AAB Board of Registry shall establish all regulations, standards, and requirements for certification and the maintenance of certification as a Medical Technologist [MT(AAB)], Embryology Laboratory Scientist [ELS(AAB)], Andrology Laboratory Scientist [ALS(AAB)], Molecular Diagnostics Technologists [MDxT(AAB)], Medical Laboratory Technician [MLT(AAB)], Physician Office Laboratory Technician [POLT(AAB)]*, Phlebotomy Technician [PBT(AAB)]*, and any other certification offered by the AAB Board of Registry.


3. Certification is valid until December 31 of the year in which it is granted. Revalidation is annual. All fees are determined by the AAB Board of Registry and AAB Associate Member Section. Fees are due and payable before certification is revalidated.


4. Falsifying, misrepresenting, or misstating information submitted as part of, or in addition to, an application shall be grounds for denying, revoking or suspending certification and entrance to an examination.


5. Falsifying, misrepresenting, or misstating information regarding an individual’s certification, including the disciplines in which an individual is certified or the status of an individual’s certification shall be grounds for denying, revoking or suspending certification and entrance to an examination.


6. AAB Board of Registry certification and entrance to an examination may be denied, revoked or suspended at the discretion of the AAB Board of Registry upon a finding by the Board that the certificant does not possess the character or fitness suitable for AAB Board of Registry certification. Grounds for denial, revocation or suspension include, but are not limited to, conviction of a felony or of a health care offense; sanctioning by a federal or state governmental body; an act of moral turpitude; falsifying, misrepresenting, or misstating information submitted on or with an application for certification; falsifying, misrepresenting, or misstating information regarding an individual’s certification; or illegal residency in the United States.


7. Requests for certification must be submitted to the AAB Board of Registry on official forms with payment. Application fees are specified on the official application form and are not refundable. All applications must be notarized.


8. Degrees earned in the United States must be from a college, university or other institution accredited by an accreditation organization recognized by the U.S. Office of Education.


9. All degrees received from educational institutions outside the United States must be evaluated by an agency approved by the AAB Board of Registry. Fees for such an evaluation shall be borne by the applicant. View a list of approved academic equivalency agencies.


10. All educational transcripts must be original documents and must be forwarded by the issuing institution directly to the AAB Board of Registry Office.


11. An accredited institution is defined as an institution accredited by an accreditation organization recognized by the U.S. Office of Education.


12. An “acceptable clinical laboratory” (for MTs, MLTs, ELSs, ALSs, MDxTs) is a laboratory certified or licensed under U.S. federal, state or municipal law that performs nonwaived testing (as defined under CLIA) for the biological, microbiological, serological, chemical, immunohematological, hematological, biophysical, cytological, genetic, pathological, or other examination of material derived from the human body for the purpose of providing information for the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of any disease or impairment of, or the assessment of the health of, human beings, or other laboratories acceptable to the AAB Board of Registry.


13. If the lapse of certification is less than three (3) years, the certification can be returned to active status by remitting all fees [current year plus lapsed year(s)] or by retaking and passing the appropriate examination(s). To reinstate a lapse of certification for a period of three (3) or more years, an individual previously certified by the AAB Board of Registry must retake and pass the appropriate examinations and pay the applicable reinstatement fee.


14. The AAB Board of Registry (ABOR) provides primary source verification of ABOR certification for all ABOR certificants. Requests for verification of ABOR certification may be completed online, with immediate results, by placing an order through the AAB website at www.aab.org/aab/Verify_Certification.asp. Formal paper verification is also available by request. Results will only include certifications that were active within the last three years. This service is available to ABOR certificants in good standing for $16 per request for online verification or $29 per request for written verification. Additional fees will apply if a certificant is delinquent in paying ABOR certification fees.



15. To be eligible for ELS(AAB) certification, experience must include thirty (30) personally performed, completed assisted reproductive procedures in humans. The 30 procedures do not have to be performed on the same thirty cycles/patients.

    These procedures include:

    • 30 oocyte isolations from follicular aspirations
    • 30 sperm preparations
    • 30 intracytoplasmic sperm injections cycles
    • 30 documentations of fertilization
    • 30 preparations of embryos for embryo transfer*
    • 30 cryopreservation procedures of eggs/embryos

     

    *Activities included in the “Preparations of embryos for embryo transfer” will be laboratory specific and are limited to the laboratory portion of the transfer process (e.g., embryo grading, selection and sequestration of embryos to be transferred; loading of transfer catheter; transportation of catheter to transfer location; and checking the catheter for retained embryos following transfer). Regardless of the laboratory’s specific processes, the applicant must be involved in the preparation of embryos for transfer as stated in the laboratories Standard Operating Procedures.

* Effective April 1, 2015, ABOR no longer offers new certification as a POLT(AAB) or PBT(AAB). Individuals that are currently POLT(AAB) or PBT(AAB) certified can continue their certifications.