Clinical Laboratory Director License 

Thank you for your interest in the California Clinical Laboratory Director license. Laboratory Field Services (LFS) requires applicants to submit documentation of academic coursework, clinical training, and work experience to qualify for licensure.

Work experience in California as an unlicensed laboratory staff person will not be accepted as qualification toward any clinical laboratory license. Please note that biotech/pharmaceutical, forensic, academic, veterinary, research, and student laboratory experience cannot count as work experience or training for any clinical license. ​

Scope of practice

There are ten license types for the various laboratory director areas of specialization. For information about a specific license select one of the license types below:

• Clinical Chemist License

• Clinical Cytogeneticist License

• Clinical Genetic Molecular Biologist License

• Clinical Histocompatibility Laboratory Director License

• Clinical Laboratory Bioanalyst License

• Clinical Microbiologist License

• Clinical Toxicologist License

• Oral Laboratory (Oral and Maxillofacial) Pathologist License
  

• Clinical Reproductive Biologist​
  

• Clinical Laboratory Geneticist​
  

Academic requirements

Academic requirements vary according to license type. Please check the requirements for the license type for which you are applying.

Transcripts

Laboratory Field Services Personnel Licensing Section requires you to provide your official transcript from an accredited institution in order to review and determine your education and course qualifications. To be considered official, transcripts must be signed by the school registrar, indicate date of graduation and degree awarded, and postal mailed to LFS in a sealed envelope directly from the source. We do not accept scanned or photocopies of transcripts uploaded or emailed by the applicant for authentication purposes. If your transcript is under a different last name, you must upload legal proof of name change to associate the name discrepancy.

Mail the official transcripts to:

Laboratory Field Services – PLS Program

850 Marina Bay Parkway

Bldg P, 1st Floor

Richmond, CA 94804

Non-US transcripts

All non-U.S. transcripts must be evaluated by an LFS approved evaluation service to determine if your education is equivalent to an accredited college or university education in the U.S. LFS will accept educational transcript evaluations by “Current Members” of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES), and “Endorsed Members” of the Association of International Credential Evaluators, Inc. (AICE) if completed on or after August 15, 2016. Evaluations completed before August 15, 2016 will only be accepted if completed by AACRAO. The evaluation service will send an evaluation of your educational institution and academic courses directly to LFS. Official transcript from the university is required in addition to the evaluation.​

To obtain an application, instructions, and information, visit them on the web:

• National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES)

• Association of International Credential Evaluators, Inc.​ (AICE)

If you are an applicant whose education, training, or experience is from a non-U.S. school, college, university, or clinical laboratory, please make sure that your name is printed in English on all your transcripts and supporting documents and that it matches your name on the application.

Request the evaluation company to postal mail the evaluation directly to:

Laboratory Field Services – PLS Program

850 Marina Bay Parkway

Bldg P, 1st Floor

Richmond, CA 94804​

Training and Experience

• Requirements vary according to license type. Please check the requirements for the license type for which you are applying.

• Training or work experience must be in a clinical laboratory.

• Verification must be signed by the training coordinator (for training) or laboratory director (for experience).
  

Examinations

You will need to provide verification of satisfactory performance from a national certification examination provider approved by LFS for the license in which you are applying. Approved examinations vary according to license type. Please check the requirements for the license type for which you are applying. Please request that the certification examination provider in which you obtained board certification provide you with a written verification of your certification. Once you receive the written verification of your certification, you can upload it onto your application.

Oral examination:

Applicants that qualify will be required to take a Department-administered in-person oral examination based on the laws and regulations pertaining to a laboratory director's responsibilities.

• Applicable laws and regulations:

• California Business and Professions Code, Division 2. Healing Arts, Chapter 3. Clinical Laboratory Technology, Sections 1260 and 1264

• California Code of Regulations, Title 17, Sections 1030, 1030.5-1030.8 
  

Renewal

Once you receive your license you will need to renew it every two years. To renew, you must pay a fee and submit documentation of continuing education. For information about the renewal process please visit the LFS renewal webpage.

Resources

Helpful links

LFS Approved Certification Examinations

Statutes and regulations

California Business and Professions Code, Sections 1202.5, 1207, 1209, and 1264

California Code of Regulations, Title 17, Section 1031.4​

*Other regulations may apply to specific license types. Please check the regulations applicable to the license for which you are applying     

The requirements listed may not be comprehensive.​​

How to Apply

Visit the LFS online application website to create an account and submit an application.

Note: Transcripts must be original documents bearing the school, college, or university registrar’s seal, and must be sent directly to LFS from the office of the college or university registrar. Request to have your transcripts mailed to:

Laboratory Field Services - Laboratory Director Program

850 Marina Bay Parkway, Bldg. P 1st Floor

Richmond, CA 94804

Official verification of training or work experience must be on letterhead and signed by the training coordinator or laboratory director, and must show the beginning and ending dates of the training or experience. This information should cover all areas in which the rotation was completed with a description of the clinical laboratory tests or examinations performed.​

*Incomplete application packages may be abandoned. All applicants whose applications have been abandoned who wish to re-apply must pay a new non-refundable application fee.

Documents you may need for your application

• Official transcript showing your degree.

• NACES or AICE general and course-by-course evaluation.

• Verification of post-baccalaureate training.

• Verification of applicable on-the-job experience in a clinical laboratory (signed by the laboratory director).

• Verification of national certification examination.
  

For additional information you may contact LFSdirectors@cdph.ca.gov.