Critical Values - January 2009 - (Page 9) Volume 2 • Issue 1 • January 2009 ASCP—Helping Laboratorians Help Patients By Barbara J. McKenna, MD, FASCP We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee. —Marian Wright Edelman President and Founder of Children’s Defense Fund of the public health. There is a similar duality in the perspectives of pathologists and laboratory professionals regarding their professional lives. In more than 20 years as a practicing pathologist, I have worked beside scores of dedicated pathologists and other laboratory professionals. Again and again I have seen their willingness to go the extra mile, take the extra step, stay late, arrive early, or continue to be available from home when a patient’s well-being is at stake. There are little thanks for those who work with such dedication and compassion. Clinicians are sometimes aware of the extra efforts, but patients certainly are not. Thus, the motivation of these tireless professionals appears pure. It seems their primary motivator is, in fact, to help patients. To test this hypothesis, I asked a number of current and former colleagues, including pathologists, medical technologists, cytotechnologists, and histotechnologists, the following questions: • Why did you choose your profession? For pathologists this question had two parts: Why did you decide on medical school, and then, why did you choose pathology? • What part of your profession drives you, gives you the greatest satisfaction, and makes you want to get up and go to work? Given my observations on laboratory professionals’ exquisite attention to patient care, I thought the answers would center on a desire to help people. Instead, 80% of the pathologists I talked with cited an interest in science and a desire for intellectual stimulation as their reasons for going into medicine and pathology. The remaining 20% cited a desire to help people. Interestingly, most of the latter group consists of international medical graduates. The Unexpected Dichotomy W hat is the American Society for Clinical Pathology all about? The answer to this question depends on whom you ask. Many members perceive the Society as an education organization offering a variety of workshops, educational courses, and assessment activities. Others focus on the publications—two professional journals, this magazine, and a variety of superb textbooks. Others identify with the ASCP Board of Registry because they are proud of their certification. Still others appreciate the Society’s extensive advocacy efforts and its foreign and domestic humanitarian activities. In contrast, members who are active as volunteers— those serving on and perhaps even chairing ASCP committees, commissions, task forces, or boards—give yet another answer. It is one that comes from having the broader perspective of those actively involved in leadership. These individuals state that ASCP is a not-for-profit organization that exists to serve the public good. These views can be seen as two different perspectives. One perspective is of ASCP as a membership organization that exists primarily to serve members through education and certification. The other perspective is that the Society’s primary purpose is defined by what is in the best interests Two Different Perspectives 9
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