Certification, registry, and licensure: understanding the difference.

Certification, registry, and licensure: understanding the difference. When I began thinking about what pertinent information I would liketo pass on to our AMT members, I recalled that early into my journeywith AMT, I struggled to understand how AMT differed from other medicaltechnology organizations. Let us start with a little bit of"Terminology 101." According to Webster's Dictionary: Registry: (n) 1. place where a register is kept--an office ofregistration. 2. state of being registered. Certification: (n) 1. act of certifying; 2. attesting the truth ofsome statement or event; 3. a relative indication of proficiency. Licensure: (n) granting a license, also state of being licensed. With an understanding of these definitions, over the years withAMT, I have come to realize where and how AMT fits in with the generalsense of the above definitions. Now on to the explanations of AMT and the definitions: After an individual demonstrates that he/she meets eligibilitycriteria and possesses a satisfactory degree of knowledge, skills andproficiency through examination, AMT issues a professional certificationcredential to that individual. At the time of its founding in 1939,certification bodies tended to be called "Boards of Registry"(such as the ASCP Board of Registry) and that is how AMT also referredto itself in those days. But when we refer to AMT-credentialedindividuals who have passed our examinations--today, in 2010--it is bestto use the word "certified" rather than"registered." Licensure--in the healthcare field--refers to the action of a stategovernment to confer upon a person the legal authority to performparticular medical, dental or other clinical practice actions, tasks andprocedures. Each state sets its own licensure requirements for theparticular health care occupation being licensed and carries outprocessing of applications, validating eligibility, and enforcing therequirements of the particular license. Most state licensing boards arerequired to be open to input from the population of practitioners inthat state subject to the licensure authority, but their principalobligation is to the public. The main difference between certification and licensure is thateven though both involve examinations and renewal fees, certification iscarried out by private not-for-profit organizations and is typicallyvoluntary, whereas licensure is carried out by government with the forceof law behind it and is mandatory. With this clarification provided, allow me to continue bydescribing some of the benefits available through AMT beyond receiving arecognized professional allied health credential. AMT provides a variety of venues for continuing education: theannual convention, state society meetings, published and onlinearticles, to name a few. AMT always encourages members to get involved with state societyactivities, such as becoming an officer, hosting state meetings, andsupporting elected state officers, but also continuing on to thenational level and serving on national committees or running fornational AMT offices. Career assistance is available through AMT's website,www.amt1.com; click on Career Connection, then post your resume, andreview and respond to job alerts online. I urge all members to become more involved with AMT at both thestate and national levels. By doing this, you will not just be membersof AMT but also contributors. Randy Swopes, MT Central District Councillor