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Having observed the two persons in my lab who have successfully completed the
required projects, and a third currently under way, if our lab did not offer
the scope of services required, or did not have in place the comprehensive
quality control procedures we utilize, I don't see how they could pass with the
current format. It would be interesting to know how the Immunology Exam
committee of the ASCP Board of Registry set upon a "qualification" in flow
cytometry, as opposed to developing another specialist category (i.e., SI, SBB,
SC, SM, etc.) that could evaluate both the theoretical and practical skills of
the individual, as independently as possible from the capabilities of the lab
in which they may be employed.
William W. Ward, Ph.D. Phone: (210) 670-6838
Immunology & Molecular Diagnostics Branch FAX: (210) 670-7484
Department of Pathology Email: ward@whmc-lafb.af.mil
Wilford Hall Medical Center
Lackland AFB, TX 78236-5300
>To: Cytometry Mailing List <cytometry@flowcyt.cyto.purdue.edu>
>cc: bdavis@beaumont.edu
>Subject: Re: Clinical certification for flow
>
>The Qualification in Cytometry offered by ASCP is not a certification in the
>sense most people think of the other certifications offered by ASCP. It
>involve quite a bit more than just one year of experience, however. The one
>year requirement is for those who have an associate's degree and ASCP MLT
>certification. For those with a baccalaureate degree but no ASCP
>certification, the requirement is 18 months. Once approved for the process,
>the candidate then has 6 months to complete a series of work sample projects
>covering all aspects of clinical cytometry, including HIV and leukemia and
>lymphoma immunophenotyping and DNA ploidy analysis. It is not possible for a
>candidate to acheive this qualification without a considerable amount of time
>and effort and does indicate significant expertise. The candidates must
>prepare, run, and analyze the specimens (which they must obtain themselves)
>and submit detailed documentation and interepreatation. This is not a trivial
>process nor a simple multiple choice exam. Individuals who achieve this
>qualification have demonstrated that they are fully competent in all areas of
>clinical cytometry. The judging process is quite rigorous and well
>controlled.The Immunology Exam committee of the ASCP Board of Registry has
>put considerable effort into this project. It is up to us in the flow
>community to support this recognition of the hard work involved.
>
>Karen Tamul, MS, MT(ASCP)SI
>Tech Support Coordinator
>FAST Systems, Inc
>Gaithersburg, MD
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