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The NAACLS News

“Your home base for all NAACLS announcements, news and special features”

October 29, 2019 NAACLS BOARD of DIRECTORS UPDATE – September 2019

At the September 27, 2019 meeting of the NAACLS Board of Directors, in addition to accreditation and approval awards recommended by the Review Committee on Accredited Programs (RCAP) and the Program Approval Review Committee) PARC, the following items were addressed:

  • The long-delayed Accreditation Management System (AMS) project is paused awaiting Board review of the project and its direction. A task force was appointed to review continuation of the project as well as alternative technological improvements. The task force will make recommendations to the Board.
  • Minor edits to the Interim Report Guidelines were approved for clarity. The edits pertained to the summary of changes that occur with the program since the most recent award. These edits are effective immediately.
  • Revisions to the DMS preamble (competencies) were adopted. These revisions help differentiate the competencies in diagnostic molecular science expected for DMS professionals as opposed to those encountered by the medical laboratory scientist. Diagnostic molecular science has had influences on the core laboratory but those technologies do not encompass all the competencies expected of a DMS.
  • Approved for release for public comment were edits to Standard II.B. (Assessment/Outcomes), Standard IV.A.1.d (Publications), and Standard V.D (Operational Policies) with corresponding edits to the Standards Compliance Guide and other documents (as appropriate). Calls for 30 day periods for public comments to these proposed changes will be released by NAACLS shortly.

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October 17, 2019 NAACLS is Seeking Nominations for Board and Committee Roles

NAACLS is seeking candidates for our Programs Review Committees. The following positions will be open for nomination in 2019:

BOARD OF DIRECTORS 

Two Year Educator (must be employed by a two year college but not primarily involved with clinical laboratory sciences)

ASCP Representative – 2

NSH Representative – 1

REVIEW COMMITTEE FOR ACCREDITED PROGRAMS (RCAP)

Medical Laboratory Scientist (MLS) Educator – 2

Medical Laboratory Technician (MLT) Educator – 1

Diagnostic Molecular Scientist (DMS) Educator – 1

Cytogenetic Technologist (CG) Educator – 1

Pathology Assistant Practitioner – 1

Histotechnician/Histotechnologist (HT/HTL) Educator– 1

PROGRAM APPROVAL REVIEW COMMITTEE (PARC)

Phlebotomy Educator – 2

Clinical Assistant Educator – 1

Doctoral Review Committee (DRC)

Doctoral Level Clinical Laboratory Educator – 1

MLS Graduate Faculty – 1

Information on eligibility and responsibilities for the positions, along with Candidate Fact Sheets for those seeking nominations, are available here – membership application.

Nominations, which should include completed Candidate Fact Sheets and CV’s, need to be sent to the NAACLS office by January 15th, 2020. Nominations may emailed to Mark Spence, Volunteer Services Manager, or sent via mail to 5600 N. River Road, Suite 720, Rosemont, Illinois, 60018. Submitted nominations will be forwarded for a vote to the NAACLS Board of Directors in April 2020.

October 14, 2019 Introducing Peter Hu, PhD, MS, MLS(ASCP)CM, CGCM, MBCM NAACLS’ New Board of Directors’ President

NAACLS is very pleased to introduce its new Board of Directors’ President, Peter Hu, PhD, MS, MLS(ASCP)CM, CGCM, MBCM. Dr. Hu has been involved with NAACLS since 2004 and has served NAACLS in many capacities. We are pleased to feature a Q&A with our new Board of Directors’ President:

Please provide a brief synopsis of your professional background:

I am currently Dean Ad Interim in the School of Health Professions (SHP) at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX.  I am also a Professor and the founding Director of the Molecular Genetic Technology and the Graduate Diagnostic Genetics Programs at MD Anderson.

I received my Bachelor’s degree from Purdue University in 1990 with a major in Psychology. I later received my Master’s degree from Lamar University majoring in Microbiology and subsequently a Doctor of Philosophy from Trident University International in Healthcare Administration and Molecular Genetics.  I hold three specialty clinical certifications in Molecular Biology, Cytogenetics and Clinical Laboratory Science through the American Society for Clinical Pathology. I joined MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) in1995 and have worked in both clinical and academic environments.

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October 10, 2019 November NAACLS Workshop Sold Out

NAACLS has reached its capacity for the November 8th workshop, therefore at this time we will not be accepting new registrants.

For those who have already signed up for the NAACLS workshop, you should have already received a confirmation of your registration from NAACLS Staff. We are still processing payments, which should be finished  by the end of next week.

If you wish to confirm NAACLS has received your registration, please contact Michele Stevenson at the office, 773.714.8880.

As we’ve done in the past, we will be offering a pre-CLEC workshop in February. Keep an eye on the NAACLS News for details on that workshop in the coming months

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September 25, 2019 Volunteer Week – The Importance of the Self-Study Summary Page

NAACLS is excited to release the second episode of our podcast. As you can see, we’ve refreshed the format a bit!

The podcast features Brenna Ildza, PARC Chair and Mark Spence, Volunteer Services Manager.

This podcast was recorded on September 20th, 2019. The documents or standards shown in this video may have changed. Please check the NAACLS website for the most up to date documents.

For an audio only version of the podcast –

 

September 23, 2019 Volunteer Week – The NAACLS Site Visit: Tricks-of-the-Trade

[Editor’s note – September is a busy month here for the NAACLS staff. We are days away from our annual face to face Board of Directors, we are starting a busy time for site visits, all the while receiving self-studies and beginning another new cycle. Not only is it a busy time for NAACLS staff, but it is an especially busy time for NAACLS volunteer reviewers. With this in mind, we are offering a week of content focused on our volunteer reviewers. If you wish to become a NAACLS volunteer, you can find more information here.]

As the Chair of the Site Visit Process review committee from 2015-2018, I had the pleasure of working with an excellent team of professionals and have reviewed hundreds of site visit related evaluations.  For the past 20 years, I myself have been on more than 40 site visits covering 4 disciplines(CLS, DMS, CG, and PA). These experiences have been mostly very positive, but there were also some lessons that I had to learn along the way.  In the next few paragraphs, I will try to share some of the tricks-of-the-trade with you.  

Over those three years, we looked at the data presented from our post site visit surveys and used the feedback from those surveys to hone in on areas to improve. Allow me to digress briefly and advocate for the evaluations you receive from NAACLS as a reviewer and a program director. Our processes are under constant assessment, relying heavily on the feedback we get from our volunteers and program directors. It is crucial that all evaluations be completed thoughtfully and thoroughly for our processes to improve. 

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September 17, 2019 Program Links on “Find a Program Page”

Due to a new requirement by NAACLS’s recognition agency, the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), our “Find a Program” page will direct the public to a Accredited/Approved program’s outcomes. We gather these links in our annual survey (coming soon) and check them throughout the year to verify they are working and contain the information required by NAACLS Standards.

The implementation time for this requirement was brief. If you have any question about your program’s current listing, please contact staff.

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