Volume 87 - Fall 2004	Download

CEO's Corner NAACLS Continues its Leadership Role by Olive M. Kimball, PhD, EdD Chief Executive Officer

Consistent with a mission that states: NAACLS provides leadership in fostering innovative educational approaches and actively supports cooperative efforts with other agencies,” the October 1, 2004 Futures Conference was held. Conference activities provided opportunities to look at possible future requirements for laboratory services within the health care community including physicians, nurses and pharmacists.

What an amazing day! Several national and international speakers reminded us of what is likely to have an impact on the laboratory workforce. In addition, dedicated educators, association representatives and laboratory managers were willing to voice their opinions and volunteer to work together. Winners of the juried abstract competition for future oriented programs were congratulated and 23 representatives from professional organizations were introduced. The meeting notebook contained position papers drafted by organizations to address the impact of such trends as genomic health care and informatics on their organizations and the laboratory workforce. Participants also received copies of an invited monograph by Larry H. Bernstein, MD: The Role of Informatics in the Laboratory.

NAACLS Board President, David D. Gale, welcomed the attendees and discussed the need for laboratory stakeholders to develop a collaborative vision. He emphasized that such a vision emerges from the trends and needs of society and from interactions and conversations such as were planned for the conference.

Thomas Elwood, Executive Director of the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions, spoke on the impact of federal actions on the future of health care and identified significant demographic, epidemiological and technological trends.

Andrew A. Sorensen, President of the University of South Carolina, spoke of the role of universities in enhancing access to health care. He emphasized the need for educators to give up the status quo and move forward creatively.

Alan E. Guttmacher, Deputy Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute within the National Institutes of Health, spoke about the impact of genomics on the future of health care. He described the steps needed to transform genome based knowledge into health benefits, maximizing the benefits while minimizing harm.

Isaac D. Montoya, Professor in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Houston, spoke on the need to redefine the laboratory workforce. He described possible educational models for the future focusing on the clinical doctorate and emphasized the need to foster research within the laboratory community. He also emphasized the need to utilize the knowledge of laboratory medicine as a primary, not ancillary or allied, service in the provision of health care given that laboratory services provide 60-70 percent of the objective information used in clinical decision making. (Slides from four of the speakers’ presentations are on the NAACLS website at www.naacls.org.)

By all accounts, the afternoon audience response activity was a success. It was here that each participant was able to respond confidentially to varying questions. Since more than half of the participants were teaching faculty in educational programs, it is not surprising that answers were often skewed toward education. However, educators, higher educational administrators, professional organization representatives and laboratory managers all seemed to be in agreement on many issues.

Whether issues related to development of future curriculum or enhancing laboratory positions, or raising the levels of understanding and practice, it was clear that participants agreed broad collaboration is needed and that such collaboration should include employers, educators, and professional associations working together with accreditation. Two separate participants submitted questions that indicated NAACLS should take a leadership role in providing a forum for laboratory professionals to work together.

A large number of participants (66 percent) felt it critical or important that the CLS professions actively pursue significant change in education. Another 26 percent thought it would be useful. When it was suggested that graduate education for CLS might be considered, 68% felt that the inability of the professional organizations to unite would be the one most difficult obstacle to confront with graduate education.

When asked about possible outcomes of graduate education for the CLS, the highest percentage thought that it would prepare graduates to participate in clinical management of the patient followed closely by preparing graduates for needed research. It was thought that with graduate education, different kinds of clinical experiences would be needed to produce the most effective graduates.

A number of questions asked how NAACLS could assist programs in developing more effective professionals. Responses to them indicated an interest in NAACLS being more flexible with implementation of Standards and more helpful by providing guidelines. It was thought by 67 percent of the participants that both quality assurance and quality improvement were the most important functions of the NAACLS accreditation process. Most other participants were divided between the two.

As noted earlier, several questions were generated from the audience and they reflected current concerns. For example, several questions related to graduate level education for CLS/MT. There was strong support (93 percent) for development of doctoral programs if the BS programs remained, but only 21 percent felt that the baccalaureate level for CLS/MT should be replaced with a master’s level. Three quarters of the participants believed that NAACLS should develop standards for a clinical doctoral program. When asked if students should be required to be on clinical rounds as part of their education, 84 percent agreed.

The afternoon response activity was not intended to mirror a scientific survey, but to be a vehicle for thought and conversation. It was a way to help determine next steps and directions as the last NAACLS Futures Conference had done. One immediate outcome for NAACLS was the sense that there is considerable interest in reconfiguring curriculum for the future. This is a marked shift of audience attitude from the earlier Futures Conference in 2000 where participants were not as receptive toward new educational approaches and levels.

It was the goal of the conference to facilitate participant interaction and the generation of ideas and NAACLS has been the recipient of numerous expressions of positive and constructive feedback since the conference that confirm that the goal was reached. In one follow-up letter a participant wrote that the conference was a pinnacle experience for a seasoned educator! Others suggested it was an excellent blend of looking to the future and addressing real issues among diverse groups.

Consistent with its mission of “commitment to public service by setting standards of high quality” NAACLS will continue to be responsive to the needs of the health care community, to facilitate thought and conversation about the appropriate education for future laboratorians and to modify accreditation Standards accordingly.

Editorial Note:
Given the extent of conversations at the Futures Conference and elsewhere about a doctorate for laboratory practice, the following may be of interest:
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing recently voted to transition to the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) to be the accepted graduate degree for all Advanced Practice Nursing. It is a practice degree rather than a research degree. The MSN will be phased out by 2015

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