President’s Report – NAACLS Moving Forward

By Bill Hunt, MBA, MLS(ASCP)^CM

NAACLS Needs You!!

In the Mission of NAACLS it states that we are, “dedicated to peer review as the foundation of accreditation and approval.” We are an agency that, “strives to prepare volunteer reviewers and to assist them in providing exemplary program analysis, based upon principles of honesty, fairness, objectivity and integrity.”

As many of you are fully aware there continues to be a large bolus of retirements hitting laboratory education and NAACLS. That “brain drain” impacts not only the available pools of active practitioners and program faculty but NAACLS pool of volunteers also. Retiring people can still stay connected and involved by serving as NAACLS volunteers. For the “new” program directors a great way to immerse in the standards and to learn about other programs is to volunteer to be elected as a member of the NAACLS BOD, Doctoral Review Committee, Review Committee for Accredited Programs or Programs Approval Review Committee. Volunteer to be a Self-Study Report Reviewers or a Site Visitor. For information reach out to the NAACLS office or follow the link https://www.naacls.org/getattachment/2508a754-dc2c-4bdc-afba-e349444ff0f6/Volunteer-Manual-Edited-2016.aspx for the NAACLS Volunteer Manual for Self-Study Report Reviewers and Site visitors.

Multiple studies have shown that volunteering has real, measurable health benefits for the people who volunteer. A 2013 study by UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) and the Optum Institute shows:

• Health: volunteers say that they feel better – physically, mentally and emotionally;
• Stress: volunteering helps people manage and lower their stress levels;
• Purpose: volunteers feel a deeper connection to communities and to others;
• Engagement: volunteers are more informed health care consumers, and more engaged and involved in managing their health.

We all volunteer for a myriad of reasons. Personally I volunteer at NAACLS to ensure that our profession continues to produce the next generation of competent laboratory professionals. So please consider joining the NAACLS volunteer team.