Stacking or adding credentials allows allied health workers to build a career that is unique to them and supports their personal goals and interests.
Health care employers know that staffing up to meet America’s rising health care demand was a challenge before the pandemic, and that competition for talent has only become steeper. In these tight labor conditions, health care employers must find creative ways to attract and retain professionals. For allied health workers, credential stacking could be a compelling benefit.
What Is Credential Stacking?
Stackable credentials are progressive or additional certifications or certificates earned by allied health professionals. These credentials represent growth in a professional’s qualifications and contributions to the workplace. Stacking credentials allow an employee to broaden their career opportunities by qualifying them for increased responsibility and advancement. Stackable credentials allow allied health professionals to move “up” and “across” the lattice of professional opportunities in health care.
Stackable Laboratory Credentials
The lab provides many opportunities for career advancement through stackable credentials. A certified medical laboratory assistant (CMLA) who aspires for greater responsibility can earn a medical laboratory technician (MLT) certification and go on to achieve their molecular diagnostics technologist (MDT) or medical laboratory scientist (MLS) credentials. AMT offers all of these credentials to help lab professionals achieve their goals throughout their careers.
Stackable Medical Credentials
In the patient-care space, an allied health professional may start out as a patient care technician (PCT) or medical assistant (RMA) and decide that they want to pursue a career in nursing as a licensed practical nurse (LPN) or registered nurse (RN). Many of the skills and competencies required to pass AMT’s PCT exam are transferable to nursing and help a candidate stand out in their nursing school application.
Stacked Credentials That Expand Employee Capabilities
Some allied health professionals are content with their title but want to master additional skills. Stacked credentials can also broaden the skills of allied health professionals like medical assistants and patient care technicians. Other credentials these professionals can earn, which AMT offers, include:
How Credential Stacking Benefits Employees and Their Employers
Professional Advancement Through Stacked Credentials
Many allied health professionals flourish in roles that expand with time and experience. Starting with an entry-level certification, they grow on the job and may opt to gain additional credentials or move into other healthcare roles with additional education and experience. Stacking or adding credentials allows allied health workers to build a career that is unique to them and supports their personal goals and interests.
Employers Become More Competitive Among Customers and Job Seekers
The more credentials employees have, the greater value they provide to patients, which results in a greater reputation for their employers. Successive credentials also indicate an employee’s ability to handle more tasks, and in some cases more complex responsibilities, freeing up doctors and advanced-practice professionals for higher-level tasks.
Credential stacking is a great strategy for reducing turnover rates, improving employee performance and productivity, and boosting overall employee engagement and satisfaction. When employers invest in their allied health professionals and support their career goals, those workers are more likely to invest back into their employers with high-quality work and longer tenures.
AMT Works With Employers
Learn more about how AMT works with employers to certify employees in our Employer’s Guide to Certification.