Yes, you’re required to successfully complete the required externship in order to complete your medical lab assistant training and qualify to sit for some industry certification exams. For the CMLA exam, you must complete your externship hours before sitting for the exam in order to become fully certified after passing the test. As part of the externship training, Learners will also perform a minimum of 30 venipunctures and 10 capillary sticks on live patients as required for the NHA certification.