A 'medical technician,' within the meaning of this chapter, is a person who is engaged in the practice of standardized or experimental technical procedures, the results of which are interpreted by the physician in the diagnosis of disease; provided, that this shall not apply to assistants employed by physicians to make laboratory tests whose results are to be used by such physicians in their private practice of medicine and who assume responsibility for the work so performed.

Any training school for medical technicians which is listed and approved by the Council on Medical Education and Hospitals of the American Medical Association shall be deemed an approved training school within the meaning hereof. If not so listed and approved, the question of whether such training school has the standing and qualifications to meet the requirements of an approved training school within the meaning of this chapter shall be determined by the State Board of Censors of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama. The Board of Censors shall not approve for the purpose of this chapter any training school unless the same is an institution laboratory (hospital, school, public health laboratory, biological laboratory, clinical laboratory) whose laboratory procedures are under the guidance of a qualified director and which maintains adequate equipment and space as well as a variety of specimens which must number not less than 1,500 per month; provided, that said Board of Censors may approve institution laboratories which provide less than 1,500 specimens per month by requiring of applicants who have received their training thereat a proportionately longer period of training. In the case of hospital or clinical laboratories, the director of the laboratory must be a physician-pathologist; in the case of Board of Health laboratories, the director of the laboratory must hold a Ph.D., or a doctor of medicine degree; provided further, that said Board of Censors may approve institution laboratories which provide less than 1,500 specimens per month, by requiring of applicants who have received their training thereat a proportionately longer period of training.

A medical technician who has received his or her certificate, currently in force as in this chapter provided, shall be styled and known as a 'registered medical technician' (R.M.T.). No other person shall assume the title 'registered medical technician' or any other letter or figures to indicate he or she is a registered medical technician. It shall be unlawful for any person to practice in this state as a registered medical technician without a certificate currently in force as provided for in this chapter.

Any person desiring to obtain a certificate of registration as a registered medical technician (R.M.T.) under the provisions of this chapter shall first make application in writing to the board and pay to the secretary-treasurer an application fee of $10.00. Such applicant shall thereafter appear before the Board of Examination at the time set therefor. Upon such examination the board shall determine that the applicant is over 19 years of age, of good moral character and has received the minimum preliminary educational requirements. The minimum educational prerequisites shall be high school graduation or its equivalent and one year of college scholastic and laboratory work with credits in chemistry, bacteriology and biology. Said board shall also determine that the applicant has satisfactorily completed a full 12 months' instruction in an approved training school for medical technicians, or has received prior to the year 1938 an apprenticeship instruction of at least one year under a qualified physician-pathologist who is listed by the Council on Medical Education and Hospitals of the American Medical Association. If the applicant meets the foregoing requirements, the board shall then proceed to examine the applicant in the various departments of laboratory methods: urinalysis, hematology, clinical bacteriology, clinical parasitology, histopathologic, technic, biochemistry and serology. If the applicant shall pass said examination to the satisfaction of the board, the board shall cause the name of the applicant to be entered upon the register kept for the purpose and shall cause to be issued to the applicant a certificate of registration authorizing him or her to practice the profession of medical technology in this state as a registered medical technician.

Registered medical technicians from other states may be registered without examination upon making application therefor, and upon furnishing evidence satisfactory to the board that they possess the qualifications prescribed by this chapter, or the equivalent thereof, and upon payment of a registration fee of $10.00.

The certificate of registration herein provided for shall be in such form as may be prescribed by the board and shall be signed by the president and secretary-treasurer, and the seal of the board shall be affixed.

The board shall have the power to annul and revoke any certificate of registration for incompetency, intemperance, immorality or unprofessional conduct on the part of the holder of such certificate, after a full and fair investigation and hearing of the charges preferred. Such charges shall be submitted in writing and under oath, and 30 days prior to the hearing thereof a copy of the charges shall be furnished the accused together with a written notice of the time and place where said charges will be heard and determined. The president and secretary-treasurer of the board are hereby empowered to administer oaths to the witnesses at any such hearing, and all witnesses shall be sworn and shall be subject to prosecution for perjury as provided by law; and the accused shall be entitled to representation by council. No revocation shall be made except upon a majority vote of the full board, and upon the revocation of any certificate same shall be null and void, and the secretary-treasurer shall strike the name of the holder thereof from the roll of registered medical technologists.

The certificate of each registered medical technician shall be annually renewed during the months of October, November and December. Upon making application for renewal, the applicant shall pay to the board a renewal fee of $1.00. The failure of any registered medical technician to thus procure a renewal certificate before January 1 of each year shall automatically forfeit his or her right to practice in the State of Alabama as a registered medical technician. Any person who has forfeited his or her rights as in this section provided may obtain reinstatement by making explanation or excuse satisfactory to the board for failure to comply with the provisions hereof, and upon payment of a fee of $2.00 for the current year.

Any person practicing as a medical technician except under the immediate direction of a qualified doctor of medicine, or who violates any of the provisions of this chapter, or who shall willfully make any false representation to the board in applying for a certificate shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not less than $10.00 and not more than $500.00.

The Board of Medical Technicians Examiners for the State of Alabama shall consist of five members who shall be appointed by the Governor, three of whom shall be medical technicians of not less than five years' experience, one of whom shall be a physician and one a physician-pathologist.

The Alabama Association of Medical Technicians, through its executive committee, shall submit to the Governor a list containing the names of two regular physicians who are properly qualified as to training, licensure and ethical standing, two physician-pathologists who are listed by the Council on Medical Education and Hospitals of the American Medical Association and six medical technicians who, in addition to two years' college instruction, shall have completed a full internship in a school of training listed and approved by the Council on Medical Education and Hospitals of the American Medical Association, or approved by the Alabama State Board of Censors, or who, prior to the time of appointment, had served an apprenticeship instruction of at least one year under a qualified physician-pathologist, and who shall have been engaged in medical technology for not less than five years after completion of training; and the Governor shall appoint the members of the board from the names on said list.

Each member of said board shall serve for a term of three years and until his or her successor is appointed and qualified. Upon the expiration of the term of a member of the board, the Governor shall appoint his or her successor by the same procedure and in the same manner as the original appointment was made; except, that the names of the medical technicians submitted to the Governor for appointment to the board shall be those only of registered medical technicians, as provided for in this chapter. Any vacancy occurring on the board by reason of death, resignation or otherwise, shall in like manner be filled by appointment of the Governor for such unexpired term.

The members of the said board shall, as soon as organized and annually thereafter in the month of October, select from their number a president and a secretary-treasurer. The board shall adopt a seal which shall contain appropriate words, and the imprint of such seal shall be placed on all certificates and also on such documents as the board shall direct. Said board shall be charged with the duty and responsibility of carrying into effect the purposes and objects of this chapter and to that end, in addition to the specific duties herein set out, shall have full power and authority to make rules to govern its proceedings, and to adopt such measures and take such action generally in all matters pertaining to the operation of this chapter, not inconsistent with the provisions hereof, as to the board shall appear advisable.

The secretary-treasurer shall keep a record of all meetings of the board and an official register of all applicants for registration under the provisions of this chapter, and shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by the board. Said register shall show the name, age, nativity and place of residence of each applicant, and also whether the applicant was examined, registered or rejected under the provisions hereof; and said register shall be prima facie evidence of all matters therein contained and shall be open at all reasonable times to public inspection.

All moneys received for fees or otherwise under the provisions of this chapter shall be received by the secretary-treasurer and shall be handled and disbursed by such officers in such manner and for such purposes as may be prescribed by the board. The secretary-treasurer shall give bond payable to the board in such sum as the board may direct, conditioned to discharge the duties of said office according to law, which bond shall be approved by the president and the premium therefor paid by the board out of its funds. The secretary-treasurer shall make an annual report to the board, including a financial statement, and containing an itemized statement of all receipts and disbursements and such other information as the board may require.

The board shall meet at least once in each year for the purpose of holding examinations as in this chapter provided and at such other times as the board may deem expedient. Special meetings of the board shall be called by the secretary-treasurer upon request of the president, or upon the written request of any two members of the board. Three members of the board shall constitute a quorum. Notice of each meeting shall be given each member of the board at least three days before the date of such meeting, and notice of each meeting called for the purpose of holding examinations shall be given to the public press and by mail to each applicant for examination and to every approved training school in Alabama at least 30 days prior to the date of such meeting.

The secretary-treasurer shall receive a salary commensurate with the duties performed, to be fixed by the board; and each member of the board shall be reimbursed for all expenses necessarily incurred in attending meetings of the board. All fees collected by said board shall be placed to the credit of a fund which is hereby appropriated solely for the use of the said board in the execution of an enforcement of the provisions of this chapter, and the payment of salaries, expenses and other costs herein provided for; provided, that no part of said cost and expense shall be paid out of the treasury. Any funds remaining on hand after the payment of costs and expenses as in this chapter provided may be used by the board for the purpose of elevating the standards of schools of training for medical technicians and of promoting the educational and professional standards of medical technicians and of medical technology in this state.