By Yasmen Simonian, PhD, MLS(ASCP)CM Thank you for the opportunity to serve NAACLS in this capacity. It is truly an honor to call myself an educator and be a part of this superb profession. Please permit me to share some observations and thoughts with you. As I was preparing to write this column, I thought […]
Category: President’s Report
By Fred Rodriguez, Jr., MD, NAACLS Board of Directors Value: a fair return or equivalent in goods, services, or money for something exchanged; the monetary worth of something; relative worth, utility, or importance (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/value) The cost of something may have nothing to do with its “value”. It may have cost Picasso only $30 to $40 for […]
By Fred Rodriguez, Jr., MD, President, NAACLS Board of Directors Competence: the ability to do something well (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/competence) In my last posting, I commented on “quality” (i.e., a high level of value or excellence). “Competence” may seem synonymous with “quality,” but “the ability to do something well” may (or may not) result in a “high level […]
by Fred Rodriguez, Jr., MD, President, NAACLS Board of Directors Quality: a high level of value or excellence (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quality) For many persons, “quality” is like art. They know what they like when they see it, but when asked to specify the criteria used to determine “like”, answers are often vague and illogical. The vagueness and […]
By Fred H. Rodriguez, Jr., M.D. President, NAACLS Board of Directors “The only constant in life is change.” This is an aphorism that I coined many years ago, and its truth is verified for me almost every day. Hopefully when change occurs, the change results in improving a situation (i.e., in some way makes things […]
By Fred Rodriguez, MD President, NAACLS Board of Directors “inertia: indisposition to motion, exertion, or change” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, m-w.com) Many individuals seek comfort in the “status quo.” They seek to be “inert.” They work to develop an understanding of the existing situation and “rules” in order to achieve a “comfort zone” in the here and […]
By Fred Rodriguez, MD President, Board of Directors On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina attacked the city of New Orleans, and due to structural failures of the levee system because of inept construction, 80 percent of the city flooded. My laboratory at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital, the LSU School of Medicine, Department of […]
By Jerry A. Phipps, BS, BHS President, NAACLS Board of Directors As many NAACLS volunteers and blog subscribers know, I will be representing NAACLS in Doha, Qatar on June 13 when the MLS program at the University of Qatar celebrates its 30th year of NAACLS accreditation and will be awarded a seven (7) year continuing […]
If you follow the NAACLS News blog, you are aware that new Standards for Accreditation and Approval were adopted by the NAACLS Board of Directors last September. So, mission accomplished, end of project, right? Not by a long shot. This is only a way-point in a continuous process of review, revise, and improve. Sound familiar? […]
Fact: The accreditation process is difficult and tedious. All involved in the process, both educational program officials and NAACLS volunteers/staff know this well. To moderate the negative aspects, NAACLS has nurtured an underlying paradigm: To simplify and improve the process for all involved, utilizing computer technology. To accomplish this, NAACLS has been exploring the concept […]