Volume 35 Number 5 | October 2021 Hassan Aziz, PhD, FACSs, MLS(ASCP)CM, ASCLS President This year’s Joint Annual Meeting, Lab JAM 2021, with a hybrid combination of in-person and remote plenary and break-out educational sessions, was a huge success. Thanks to the many presenters and participants who converged in Louisville, Kentucky, and those who joined…
Volume 35 Number 5 | October 2021 Kim Von Ahsen, MHA, MLS(ASCP)CM, SLS(ASCP)CM, ASCLS President-Elect Last summer, we gathered from our digital spaces for the 2020 ASCLS-AGT Joint Annual Meeting to find a moment of normalcy and a sense of community. To lean on our professional family at a time when the demand for COVID-19…
Volume 35 Number 5 | October 2021 Claude Rector, MA, MLS(ASCP)CM, ASCLS Region VII Director In 1979 the Pittsburgh Pirates won the World Series over the Baltimore Orioles. During their championship season, the Pirates had a team motto: “We Are Family.” The motto was borrowed from a song of the same title recorded by the…
Volume 35 Number 5 | October 2021 Racheal Nassimbwa, ASCLS Developing Professionals Forum Chair, and Amanda Clapie, ASCLS Developing Professionals Forum Secretary The Developing Professionals Forum (DPF) professionally educates students of medical laboratory science as expressed by the organization’s philosophies, policies, and procedures. The forum maintains a structure for student members to communicate their concerns…
Volume 35 Number 5 | October 2021 Effectively Communicate Lab Science for Understanding and Appreciation Joanna R. Ellis, MS, MLS(ASCP)CM, CHWI Laboratory professionals’ voices are infrequently heard in public health conversations. Science skepticism and mistrust can influence health behaviors such as vaccination rates, diagnostic lab testing uptake, and appropriate treatment adherence. In 2019, the Pew…
Volume 35 Number 5 | October 2021 Exploring New Career Opportunities in Public Health Heather Kobza, MLS(ASCP)CMMBCM As a student I was always fascinated by infectious diseases. I would find myself reading books like Hot Zone or watching documentaries about interesting new diseases. Becoming a medical laboratory scientist has only cemented my desire to learn…
Volume 35 Number 5 | October 2021 Brandy D. Gunsolus, DCLS, MLS(ASCP)CM A 19-year-old female was transferred to a tertiary academic medical center from an outside facility for persistent hypoglycemia requiring IV D10 infusion. Patient reports the hypoglycemic episodes began at the end of February 2021, for which she has had an outpatient workup performed…
Volume 35 Number 5 | October 2021 Letycia Nuñez-Argote, MPH, MLS(ASCP)CM In March of 2020, the concerns over deaths due to COVID-19 were on the rise. Then came the travel restrictions, closing schools and venues, wearing masks, and suspending gatherings and celebrations. All of these changes happened in quick succession. And unfortunately, these changes also…
Volume 35 Number 5 | October 2021 Carol Rentas, MLS(ASCP)CM, ASCLS Leadership Development Committee Chair What is professional growth, especially as it applies to a medical laboratory professional? It begins with the individual professional. Professionalism is a progression, from building a professional identity to participating in meaningful advocacy in the profession, and ultimately leading other…
Volume 35 Number 5 | October 2021 This recognition celebrates an ASCLS member who has made significant contributions to ASCLS at all levels. This is the eighth year for this award. The recipient will have made significant contributions to ASCLS, as well as the laboratory field, and who, by example, has inspired others. There were…