Rosemont, IL—American Medical Technologists (AMT), a long鈥恠tanding certification agency for laboratory professionals, has announced the introduction of a new professional certification credential: Molecular Diagnostics Technologist (MDT). Also referred to as genetic testing or personalized medicine, molecular diagnostics is a rapidly evolving field and increasingly important for research, diagnosis, and treatment decisions in medicine.
As molecular diagnostics becomes more routine in laboratory testing, the MDT certification was created to address a need for a professional credential for those who conduct this testing. A growing number of labs are requiring certification when hiring in the area of molecular diagnostics.
Few organizations have the deep expertise and resources necessary to develop a certification in molecular diagnostics. However, AMT’s history and experience with laboratory certification along with access to subject matters experts working in academia and clinical practice led AMT to make the commitment several years ago to serve the medical and scientific community with the development of the specialized Molecular Diagnostics Technologist credential.
“While business analysts value the molecular diagnostics market at about $8 billion today, AMT’s role is to prepare the workforce to help make this transformative technology mainstream so that patients can access the benefits,” said Christopher A. Damon, JD, Executive Director of AMT.
“We expect that the initial uptake of the MDT certification will be from current MT(AMT) members who are seeking additional credentials for career advancement or simply want a certification to demonstrate their special knowledge,” said Damon.
“We have strong interest among people working outside the clinical laboratory as well, such as physicians and PhDs who are working in life sciences, flow cytometry, or related fields at diagnostics or pharma companies or in academic settings. Some but not all are already conducting testing with sophisticated molecular diagnostics techniques. This MDT certification would serve as a respected third鈥� party endorsement of their skills and knowledge in this ground鈥恇reaking area of science,” he said.