Volume 36 Number 2 | April 2022 Cara Bushmaker, MLS(ASCP)CM, ASCLS-Montana Newsletter/Social Media Editor Invisibility. Did we do it to ourselves? Was labeling laboratorians as introverts a valid excuse? Who cares? Maybe we did, maybe we didn’t, maybe you do, maybe you don’t, but what are we doing about it now? Visibility is in the…
Volume 36 Number 2 | April 2022 Rodney E. Rohde, PhD, SM(ASCP)CMSVCMMBCM, FACSc, ASCLS and TACLS Mentor Did you know that medical laboratory professionals provide roughly 13 billion laboratory tests each year? Laboratory testing is the single highest-volume medical activity affecting Americans, and it drives about two-thirds of all medical decisions made by doctors and…
Volume 36 Number 2 | April 2022 Daniel Haun, MLS(ASCP)CMH, Chemistry/Urinalysis Scientific Assembly When asked the question in this article’s headline, I first thought, “No way … too routine.” Rethinking, however, I considered the complexity of the task, staff shortages, and the widening use of “middle-ware,” and I was soon designing a new simulator. It…
Volume 36 Number 2 | April 2022 Suzanne Butch, MLS(ASCP)CMSBB, DLMCM, ASCLS Leadership Academy Class Coordinator This year the 2021-22 ASCLS Leadership Academy Class began its activities at the ASCLS, AGT & SAFMLS Joint Annual Meeting (JAM) in June of 2021 and had the opportunity to meet face-to-face again at the Laboratory Legislative Symposium in…
Volume 36 Number 2 | April 2022 Heather Herrington, DVM, MLS(ASCP)CM, Ascending Professionals Forum Vice Chair The Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh holds an annual event called SciTech Days. It’s an opportunity for students in junior high and high school to interact with STEM-focused companies and professionals. This year, they did things a bit differently,…
Volume 36 Number 2 | April 2022 Ali Nussbaum, MA, MLS(ASCP)CM, ASCLS Leadership Development Committee Why should a professional want to expand their leadership portfolio? That’s an easy answer: Because it helps you evolve as a person. Leadership is something that needs to be built upon, practiced, and improved. In order to grow, mistakes and…
Volume 36 Number 2 | April 2022 Patient Safety Corner Georgia Vega, MBA, MLS(ASCP)CM, ASCLS Patient Safety Committee “Out of sight, out of mind.” Until recently, that phrase could easily describe laboratorians. As medical laboratory professionals work mainly in the background, a common source of career dissatisfaction is feeling overlooked by our patients and healthcare…
Volunteer opportunities, student scholarships and paper competition, call for poster abstracts, upcoming events, and more. Volunteer for ASCLS Committees Apply by March 1 Applications are now open for national committee appointments with terms beginning in August 2022. “The greatest asset of any organization is its members capacity to share their time, knowledge, and talent.” It’s…
Volume 36 Number 1 | February 2022 Hassan Aziz, PhD, FACSs, MLS(ASCP)CM, ASCLS President Like many industries, healthcare is facing a growing responsibility to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. DEI has been an increasing focus for organizations across the world, but none stand to make a greater impact than the healthcare industry. DEI…
Volume 36 Number 1 | February 2022 Stephanie Noblit, Esq, MLS(ASCP)CM This article first appeared as a post for the ASCLS Ascending Professionals Forum blog, The Labora-Story. What does it take to be an advocate for the clinical laboratory, or a “labvocate,” as we like to say in ASCLS? Honestly, not much. You do not…