Application Guidelines

New Application Portal Live 

Please note that all information must be received at the time of the deadline, this includes all required documents, submission, and online payment.  

General Qualifications

The applicant shall be of good moral character and high ethical and professional standing. Specific requirements for the application, candidacy, and exams follow.

Independent of ABCC Educational and Professional requirements described below, current and prospective ABCC diplomates should be aware of new language in the CLIA Final Rule released on December 28th, 2023. To serve as medical director of high complexity testing in a CLIA-certified laboratory, additional qualifications beyond ABCC diplomate status may be required.

High Complexity Laboratory Director Qualifications: 🔗 View 42 CFR § 493.1443 – Laboratory Director Qualifications (ecfr.gov)

1. To qualify as a high complexity laboratory director in the United States, the CLIA final rule requires candidates with medical degrees (MD/DO/DPM/MBBS) to have a medical license in the state in which they practice. State requirements for medical licensure vary but require at a minimum 1 year of post-graduate residency training in the United States. It is the candidate’s responsibility to consult their state’s medical licensing regulations to ensure compliance.
2. Individuals serving as medical directors of high complexity testing in a CLIA-certified laboratory continuously since December 28th, 2024 are considered qualified to continue serving in this capacity. Individuals serving as CLIA medical director for the first time after December 28th, 2024 must complete at least 20 CE credit hours covering laboratory director responsibilities.

• Applicant Information
• Education Requirements
• Professional Experience Requirements (including fellowship and board exceptions)
• References
• Reapplication

Applicant Information

DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED 

Please be prepared to provide the following materials in the application portal: 

• CV (PDF Format only) 

An ABCC account will be required to submit an online application. Please note that your login credentials will be the same as your ADLM credentials, as ADLM supports the administration of ABCC. If you do not already have an account, visit the ‘ABCC Diplomate Login’ section in the navigation bar to create a free account. 

Educational Requirements

DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED 

Please be prepared to provide the following materials in the application portal: 

• Official Transcripts (Undergrad & Graduate) 
• Credential Evaluation Report (if applicable) 

Please note that the credential committee will review all submitted documents to verify their authenticity and ensure that your qualifications meet the certification requirements. 

The applicant must hold an earned doctoral degree (PhD) in a chemical, biological or clinical laboratory science or an MD, DO, or DPM degree from an appropriately accredited university or college acceptable to the Board. Individuals with PharmD and DCLS degrees are not eligible.

The applicant must have satisfactorily completed a minimum of 30 semester hours (or equivalent) of undergraduate and/or graduate level courses taken at institutions acceptable to the Board that meet the combined criteria established by each of the ABCC certification disciplines as shown in Table 1 and Table 2. To demonstrate successful completion of the required semester hours, applicants must submit official transcripts from their undergraduate and graduate institutions, that are sent directly from the institutions to ABCC. Applicants cannot submit their own transcripts.

Applicants with education obtained at institutions outside the United States or Canada must also, at their own expense, have their credentials evaluated by the International Education Research Foundations, Inc., or similar credentialing agency.

Table 1: Subject Areas/Related Course Classification

 

Table 2: Distribution of Required Semester Hours per ABCC Certification Discipline

 

Credential Evaluation Services

ABCC applicants with education obtained at an institution outside the United States must, at their expense, have their credentials evaluated by an acceptable agency. Please note that “credentials evaluation” is not the same as credentials verification or translation.

Upload Credential Evaluation Report(s) into Application Portal

Official documentation must be uploaded into the application portal. An acceptable credential evaluation at a minimum must:

• Confirm degree, degree status, and US equivalency.
• Include the foreign institution, dates of attendance, and date of completion.
• Include the course-by-course breakdown, US credit/unit equivalence, and US grade equivalence.

Examples of Credential Evaluation Services

The following agencies are commonly used services for credentials evaluation. The list is not fully inclusion of all available options.

International Education Research Foundation PO Box 3665 Culver City, CA 90231-3665 Phone: (310) 258-9451 Website: www.ierf.org	Educational Credential Evaluators PO Box 514070 Milwaukee, WI 53203-3470 Phone: (414) 289-3400 Website: www.ece.org
Academic and Professional International Evaluations PO Box 5787 Los Alamitos, CA 90721-5787 Phone: (562) 594-6498 Website: www.apie.org	Josef Silny & Associates Inc. International Education Consultants 7101 SW 102 Avenue Miami, FL 33173 Phone: (305) 273-1616 Website: www.jsilny.com

Professional Experience Requirements

DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED 

Please be prepared to provide the following materials in the application portal: 

Applicants must submit a descriptive paragraph that clearly outlines the following items:

• Overview of Your Work Experience
  Begin with a brief summary of your total years of relevant post-doctoral experience in clinical chemistry (or applicable field). Include your current position(s) and provide a general description of your primary responsibilities.
• Laboratory Accreditation/Certification
  Provide the name, location, and CLIA certification ID number (or equivalent) for each clinical laboratory where professional experience was obtained. Your professional experience must be obtained in clinical  laboratories meeting ABCC-approved standards at the time of your work experience.
• Summary of Experience
  At least 24 months of your total experience must be distributed across the following four categories; clinical consultancy (50-70%); technical oversight and laboratory work-flow and operations (15-20%), research, method development, and validation (10-20%), quality assurance and regulatory oversight (5-10%). Clearly summarize how your cumulative work experience meets these distributions.
• Confirmation of Compliance with ABCC Guidelines
  Conclude with a statement affirming that your cumulative experience meets or exceeds the 24-month distribution requirement and is in accordance with ABCC application standards.

The above listed guidelines and an example of a descriptive paragraph can be found here.

Required Experience and Laboratory Setting

Prior to admission to examination, the applicant must demonstrate five years’ full-time (or equivalent part-time) diverse professional experience in the relevant discipline area (clinical chemistry, toxicological chemistry or molecular diagnostics). The experience must be obtained subsequent to conferral of the doctoral degree and in laboratories or institutions maintaining standards in these disciplines that are acceptable to the Board. This experience may be gained as part of and/or outside of a formal training program. Professional experience must occur in a clinical laboratory:

• conducting non-waived testing with an active CLIA certificate,
• conducting non-waived testing in a CMS approved CLIA-exempt laboratory, or
• conducting the equivalent of non-waived testing in a medical laboratory accredited by an ILAC recognized organization to the ISO 15189 standard.

Applicants qualifying for the examination through professional experience must include a statement indicating their laboratory’s accreditation/certification status (e.g. “Lab XX is accredited/certified by organization YY”). To determine whether an accrediting/certifying body adheres to the ISO15189 standard for medical laboratories, we invite applicants to review the list of International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) signatories (https://ilac.org/signatory-search/). For acceptance by ABCC, accrediting/certifying bodies other than CAP/CLIA must be listed as ILAC MRA signatories adhering to the ISO15189 standard for medical testing laboratories. Of the five years’ professional experience in the relevant discipline area, at least 24 months must be distributed in the following manner: clinical consultancy (50-70%); technical oversight and laboratory work-flow and operations (15-20%), research, method development, and validation (10-20%), quality assurance and regulatory oversight (5-10%).

Clinical Consultancy Definition and Examples

Clinical consultancy is work that extends beyond clinical laboratory testing and involves integrated and collaborative relationships with clinical teams to care for patients.  Clinical consultancy is the active and externally facing participation in the healthcare process.

Clinical consultancy entails active and direct interaction and communication with patient-facing clinical care providers. Clinical consultancy may include any or all of the following, but is not limited to:

• Direct communication with providers regarding a given patient’s testing results that involves the active provision of guidance and expertise to the clinical team
• Explanation of analytical principles to providers who contact the laboratory with questions or concerns about test results
• Covering a service pager for the clinical laboratory and responding to urgent lab-related issues
• Sharing test performance characteristics and implications for patient management with clinical providers in clinical case conferences and other meetings
• Participation in laboratory test utilization decisions with clinicians, and providing consultation on alternate testing options
• Preparation, review, or sign-out of interpretative reports that are part of the patient’s medical record
• Teaching patient-facing residents or fellows practicing medicine outside of the laboratory setting

The applicant should include a descriptive paragraph with their application that clearly outlines (a) the type of work experience that fulfills each category required for the distribution of experience, and (b) the specific amount of time spent in each category outlined above, to ensure they meet the minimum professional experience requirements to sit for boards. A laboratory director who is qualified to serve as director of non-waived testing in a CLIA-certified laboratory, a CMS approved CLIA-exempt laboratory, or a medical laboratory accredited by an ILAC recognized organization to the ISO 15189 standard must also attest as to the candidate’s experience.

Applicants who hold ABCC certification in one specialty may be admitted to ABCC examination in another specialty by providing documentation demonstrating appropriate experience in that specialty. That documentation should include at least 24 months full-time (or equivalent part-time) diverse professional experience in the intended specialty.

Exceptions to the Professional Experience Requirements

Exceptions to the above professional experience requirements may be made under the following conditions:

Fellowship Exception:

In lieu of the requirement for five years of professional experience, fellows with one year participation in an accredited training program that includes appropriate professional experience may apply to an ABCC exam. This is considered early admission to an ABCC exam. The fellow applicant must satisfy both of the following conditions:

1. Participation in an accredited program. The applicant will have completed a minimum of one year in a post-doctoral training program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Clinical Chemistry (ComACC), the American Board of Medical Genetics (ABMG), the American Board of Medical Microbiology (ABMM), or other entity acceptable to the Board, and relevant to the intended ABCC exam discipline.  To be considered for this exception to professional experience requirements, the post-doctoral training program in which the applicant participates must be fully accredited on the deadline date indicated on the ABCC exam application.
2. One year professional experience. The applicant must be able to demonstrate at least 12 months full-time (or equivalent part-time) diverse professional experience in the relevant discipline area (clinical chemistry, toxicological chemistry or molecular diagnostics). This professional experience can be the same as the one year of postdoctoral training required assuming the experience is obtained subsequent to conferral of the doctoral degree and in a laboratory or institution maintaining standards in clinical laboratory science acceptable to the Board. This experience may also be gained outside of the postdoctoral training program if the training program does not meet this criteria. A laboratory director who is qualified to serve as a director of a CLIA-certified laboratory must attest as to the candidate’s experience.

PLEASE NOTE: Fellows that pass ABCC exams as part of early admission process will not become an ABCC diplomate until formal documentation of fellowship completion is received. Applicants admitted under the “Fellow Exception” must have successfully completed the accredited postdoctoral training program AND must demonstrate 24 months full-time (or equivalent part-time) diverse professional experience. This professional experience can be the same as the time spent in postdoctoral training assuming the experience meets the professional criteria. This experience may also be gained outside of a postdoctoral training program if the training program does not meet this criteria. Acceptable documentation of fellowship completion includes a letter from the program director stating successful completion of the training program, a certificate of completion from the training program with program director signature, or a combination of both letter and certificate. Fellows that pass ABCC exam but do not successfully complete postdoctoral training will not be designated as an ABCC diplomate until the full five year’s of professional experience beyond the postdoctoral training program is met. The fellow applicant must also meet all of the educational requirements outlined above.

Alternate Board Certification Exception:

In lieu of the requirement for five years of professional experience, applicants may use certification by a relevant alternative board or acceptance as a candidate for alternative board exam and two years of professional experience. This is considered early admission to the ABCC exam. The applicant must satisfy both of the following conditions:

1. Alternate board certification. The applicant is able to document board certification or acceptance as a candidate for exam to an exam board acceptable by the ABCC and relevant to the intended discipline. Acceptable boards include but are not limited to:
   • American Board of Bioanalysis – Molecular Diagnostics (ABB)
   • American Board of Clinical Chemistry (ABCC)
   • American Board of Medical Genetics (ABMG)
   • American Board of Medical Microbiology (ABMM)
   • American Board of Medical Laboratory Immunology (ABMLI)
   • American Board of Pathology (ABP)
   • American Board of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ABHI)
   • American Board of Forensic Toxicology (ABFT)
   • American Board of Applied Toxicology (ABAT)
   • American Board of Medical Toxicology (ABMT)
   • American Board of Preventive Medicine or ABP Medical Toxicology Subspecialty Exam
2. Two years professional experience. The applicant is able to document at least 24 months full-time (or equivalent part-time) diverse professional experience. The experience must be obtained subsequent to conferral of the doctoral degree and in laboratories or institutions maintaining standards in clinical molecular diagnostics or clinical toxicology that are acceptable to ABCC. This experience may be gained as part of and/or outside of a formal training program. A laboratory director who is qualified to serve as a director of a CLIA-certified laboratory must attest as to the candidate’s experience.

PLEASE NOTE: Applicants that pass ABCC exams under the “Alternate Board Certification Exception” will not become an ABCC diplomate until formal documentation of alternate board diplomate status is received. This exception requires that applicants have successfully obtained diplomate status from the alternate board prior to becoming an ABCC diplomate. The applicant must also meet all of the educational requirements outlined above.

References

DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED 

Please be prepared to provide the following materials in the application portal: 

• Contact information for three references  

Provide contact info of 3 references. Applicants must request their three letters of recommendation through the applicant portal. To do this, enter the contact information of your reference providers and click the ‘Initiate Email Request‘ button.  

Your reference providers will receive an email with instructions on how to submit their letters electronically. Note that letters sent directly by applicants will not be accepted. Applicants qualifying through the fellowship exception in lieu of professional experience must have a letter of recommendation from their program director serve as one of the three letters. 

Reapplication Requirements

Reapplication after denial of initial application 

Following denial of an initial application due to failure to meet the educational or professional experience requirements, candidates are invited to reapply at their earliest convenience once all requirements are met. (Eg. Completion and documentation of additional course credits). Applicants are NOT limited to one resubmission and do NOT need to allow one exam cycle to pass before reapplying.

Reapplication after unsuccessful exam completion after two attempts 

Reapplication for certification may occur only once per specialty. A new online application for certification and corresponding application processing fee must be submitted. The applicant’s reapplication must allow at least one exam sitting to elapse between eligibility periods. The applicant must again arrange for three letters of reference to be submitted by the originators directly to the ABCC office. These must be current at the time the application is submitted and should attest to familiarity with the applicant’s professional expertise, the length of acquaintance, and the good character of the applicant insofar as pertinent to the Board. In the absence of information to the contrary, all prior documentation of education and experience will be deemed by the ABCC to meet the requirements in effect at the time of original application and will be accepted for reapplication. When the above conditions are met, the applicant will be allowed to take the exam in accordance with prevailing rules and regulations governing the taking of the exam.