The year of 2022 is the 100th year anniversary of the ASCP (American Society of Clinical Pathology). The ASCP began back in 1922. In the past 100 years there have been been changes and exciting innovations in the field. This year we should honor our laboratory medicine and pathology professionals by increasing the awareness of what these very important healthcare professionals do everyday. While nurses and doctors are well known and recognized for the amazing work they do in a hospital, our allied health professionals and specifically laboratory professionals sometimes go unnoticed under the radar. Let’s honor all the ASCP certified laboratory medicine professionals this year and educate our family, friends and colleagues on the importance of laboratory medicine. What does a Medical Laboratory Scientist do? Here is a great excerpt from Wikipedia describes their job:
“A medical laboratory scientist (MLS) or clinical laboratory scientist (CLS) or medical technologist (MT) performs diagnostic testing of blood and body fluids in clinical laboratories. The scope of a medical laboratory scientist’s work begins with the receipt of patient or client specimens and terminates with the delivery of test results to physicians and other healthcare providers. The utility of clinical diagnostic testing relies squarely on the validity of test methodology. To this end, much of the work done by medical laboratory scientists involves ensuring specimen quality, interpreting test results, data-logging, testing control products, performing calibration, maintenance, validation, and troubleshooting of instrumentation as well as performing statistical analyses to verify the accuracy and repeatability of testing. Medical laboratory scientists may also assist healthcare providers with test selection and specimen collection and are responsible for prompt verbal delivery of critical lab results. An estimated 70% of medical decisions are based on laboratory test results and MLS contributions affect 95% of a health system’s costs.”
Website to learn more about 100th Anniversary of ASCP: