Archive for September, 2007
Occupational outlook for Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians
From the US Dept of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook:
- Faster than average employment growth is expected as the volume of laboratory tests continues to increase with both population growth and the development of new types of tests.
- Clinical laboratory technologists usually have a bachelor’s degree with a major in medical technology or in one of the life sciences; clinical laboratory technicians generally need either an associate degree or a certificate.
- Job opportunities are expected to be excellent.
For more information: click here to view the Occupational Outlook Handbook
Add comment September 28, 2007
Animal cell culture resources
Recently a patron asked for information on animal cell culture. In the NLTN Library we have Mammalian Cell Culture Hazards, a 1997 video from Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Basic Laboratory Techniques in Cell Culture, a 1981 CDC manual.
Here are some additional online resources:
Add comment September 25, 2007
Flashcards!
Flashcard Exchange, “the world’s largest flashcard library,” has over 8 million flashcards, including 704 sets on microbiology, and 97 on hematology.
The cards can be created and viewed online for free but there is a small charge ($19.95 lifetime membership) to print or export cards.
Add comment September 18, 2007
Find and share presentations at SlideShare
SlideShare is a vast resource for finding and sharing presentations – PowerPoint slides, pdf files or OpenOffice odp files.
Below is an example, a presentation on specimen collection.
Here is one on bloodborne pathogens:
Visit http://www.slideshare.net , plug in your favorite search terms and enjoy!
Add comment September 17, 2007
Clinical Laboratory Science Internet Resources
Clinical Laboratory Science Internet Resources is “a meta collection of annotated links covering the clinical laboratory science and laboratory medicine disciplines.” The site is actively maintained by Louis B. Caruana, Ph.D., MT(ASCP); when visited today (Sept. 14) the page had been updated just a few days earlier, on Sept. 10.
Topics range from blood banking to virology, with many links to online tutorials.
Add comment September 14, 2007
A peek inside the NLTN Library
This is a view of the NLTN Library stacks, housed at the Richmond Campus of the California Department of Public Health (Richmond, CA).
Add comment September 11, 2007
Lab humor
Ode to PCR
By Jeanette Lyerly and Liz Parks
One day when I showed up for work
My PCR had gone berserk.
My samples wouldn’t amplify,
No matter how many things I tried.
I finally had to ask it why.
Why won’t my samples amplify?
Then came the following reply—
I do not care how hard you try…
I will not amp it on a plane,
I will not amp it on a train.
I will not amp it in the lab,
I will not amp it in a cab.
I will not amp it with new water,
I will not amp it, so don’t bother.
I will not amp it in a plate,
Even if your results are late.
I will not amp it with new buffer,
I will not amp it before supper.
You cannot run me in the lane,
I am making you insane.
I will not amp it with new dNTPs,
I will not amp it if you sneeze.
I will not amp it with this Taq,
I do not like it, take it back.
I will not amp it in this well,
They’ll put you in a padded cell.
I do not like this new machine,
I’ll only amp it in your dreams.
I will not amplify your DNA,
No matter what you do or say.
And so it went, that’s how it goes,
The magic left us, I suppose.
(Where it went no one here knows).
But if you find out where it went,
Don’t tell me now ‘cause I’m spent.
I was here, but now I’m gone,
I threw that machine out on the lawn.
I decided to go and have some fun,
By selling seashells in the sun.
Now I have finished my silly poem,
I give up, I’m going home.
source: http://www.protocol-online.org/science-forums/posts/21564.html
More lab humor at:
Protocol Online BioForum discussion
(Feel free to add your favorite lab jokes in the comments!)
Add comment September 7, 2007
NLTN TB Course on Point and on Time: Advanced Diagnostic Mycobacteriology
from APHL’s Lab Matters Summer 2007
national laboratory training network
TB Course on Point and on Time:
Advanced Diagnostic Mycobacteriology
By Linette Granen, MT(ASCP), CLDir(NCA), NLTN marketing manager and Karen Breckenridge, MBA, MT(ASCP), NLTN knowledge manager The first of three NLTN Public Health Series Courses offered this summer, “Advanced Diagnostic Mycobacteriology,” was held in Atlanta at the CDC Training Laboratory in June. Seventeen laboratorians attended the course from 15 state and two local public health laboratories. Faculty members from Emory University and CDC’s Mycobacteriology Branch, Division of TB Elimination and Division of Laboratory Systems contributed to both the lecture and laboratory sections. In addition, CDC staff and visiting scientists participated in many of the lectures and were available as resources for the participants.
Planning for Success: An APHL survey of members explored which areas of public health laboratory practice are most affected by workforce shortage and in which training is needed: an advanced-level, diagnostic mycobacteriology course emerged as one of the foremost training needs. The complex training program took 18 months to develop, during which time a training needs assessment was sent to TB personnel at the public health laboratories. Data gathered through this assessment were used to structure the course and select topics; a focus group of TB laboratory personnel further refined the course direction. The workshop planning committee was comprised of staff from NLTN, CDC, APHL and a public health laboratory.
Course Structure: The course objectives included • Evaluation of advanced procedures for isolation, identification and drug susceptibility testing of Mycobacterium spp;• Utilization and interpretation of molecular diagnostic techniques; Evaluation of algorithms for the identification of Mycobacterium spp; and • Discussion of potential problems and challenges in the introduction of new technologies into the mycobacteriology laboratory. The three-and-a-half day course addressed these objectives through didactic lectures and laboratory sessions on topics such as combining new and conventional mycobacteriology methods using a systems approach, domestic and international TB epidemiology, method validation, laboratory safety assessment, drug susceptibility testing, identification of mycobacteriology (including molecular methods), contamination and false-positive cultures, genotyping interpretation, nucleic acid amplification tests, workflow algorithms and quality assurance.
Timely Training: Coincidentally the program took place at a time when tuberculosis was a hot topic in the news. Newspaper articles about the current TB event were shared, and course participants related additional real-world case studies from their laboratories: lively discussion ensued. Each participant explained his/her laboratory workflow algorithm to receive comments from the experts and other course participants. The CDC staff also shared case studies through the lecture and laboratory sessions for the entire class to work through together. A tour of the CDC TB laboratory and interactions with its personnel were highlights of the course.
Success! By all indications, the course was a resounding success. The participants enjoyed the opportunity to network with their peers from all over the country, as well as to have access to the CDC TB experts. The evaluations were overwhelmingly positive. One participant commented: “This was a XVC—Extremely Valuable Course. By sharing and communicating all the course information, we can improve our TB programs. Thank you.”
By Linette Granen, MT(ASCP), CLDir(NCA), NLTN marketing manager and Karen Breckenridge, MBA, MT(ASCP), NLTN knowledge manager The first of three NLTN Public Health Series Courses offered this summer, “Advanced Diagnostic Mycobacteriology,” was held in Atlanta at the CDC Training Laboratory in June. Seventeen laboratorians attended the course from 15 state and two local public health laboratories. Faculty members from Emory University and CDC’s Mycobacteriology Branch, Division of TB Elimination and Division of Laboratory Systems contributed to both the lecture and laboratory sections. In addition, CDC staff and visiting scientists participated in many of the lectures and were available as resources for the participants.
Planning for Success: An APHL survey of members explored which areas of public health laboratory practice are most affected by workforce shortage and in which training is needed: an advanced-level, diagnostic mycobacteriology course emerged as one of the foremost training needs. The complex training program took 18 months to develop, during which time a training needs assessment was sent to TB personnel at the public health laboratories. Data gathered through this assessment were used to structure the course and select topics; a focus group of TB laboratory personnel further refined the course direction. The workshop planning committee was comprised of staff from NLTN, CDC, APHL and a public health laboratory.
Course Structure: The course objectives included • Evaluation of advanced procedures for isolation, identification and drug susceptibility testing of Mycobacterium spp;• Utilization and interpretation of molecular diagnostic techniques; Evaluation of algorithms for the identification of Mycobacterium spp; and • Discussion of potential problems and challenges in the introduction of new technologies into the mycobacteriology laboratory. The three-and-a-half day course addressed these objectives through didactic lectures and laboratory sessions on topics such as combining new and conventional mycobacteriology methods using a systems approach, domestic and international TB epidemiology, method validation, laboratory safety assessment, drug susceptibility testing, identification of mycobacteriology (including molecular methods), contamination and false-positive cultures, genotyping interpretation, nucleic acid amplification tests, workflow algorithms and quality assurance.
Timely Training: Coincidentally the program took place at a time when tuberculosis was a hot topic in the news. Newspaper articles about the current TB event were shared, and course participants related additional real-world case studies from their laboratories: lively discussion ensued. Each participant explained his/her laboratory workflow algorithm to receive comments from the experts and other course participants. The CDC staff also shared case studies through the lecture and laboratory sessions for the entire class to work through together. A tour of the CDC TB laboratory and interactions with its personnel were highlights of the course.
Success! By all indications, the course was a resounding success. The participants enjoyed the opportunity to network with their peers from all over the country, as well as to have access to the CDC TB experts. The evaluations were overwhelmingly positive. One participant commented: “This was a XVC—Extremely Valuable Course. By sharing and communicating all the course information, we can improve our TB programs. Thank you.”
Course Structure: The course objectives included • Evaluation of advanced procedures for isolation, identification and drug susceptibility testing of Mycobacterium spp;• Utilization and interpretation of molecular diagnostic techniques; Evaluation of algorithms for the identification of Mycobacterium spp; and • Discussion of potential problems and challenges in the introduction of new technologies into the mycobacteriology laboratory. The three-and-a-half day course addressed these objectives through didactic lectures and laboratory sessions on topics such as combining new and conventional mycobacteriology methods using a systems approach, domestic and international TB epidemiology, method validation, laboratory safety assessment, drug susceptibility testing, identification of mycobacteriology (including molecular methods), contamination and false-positive cultures, genotyping interpretation, nucleic acid amplification tests, workflow algorithms and quality assurance.
Timely Training: Coincidentally the program took place at a time when tuberculosis was a hot topic in the news. Newspaper articles about the current TB event were shared, and course participants related additional real-world case studies from their laboratories: lively discussion ensued. Each participant explained his/her laboratory workflow algorithm to receive comments from the experts and other course participants. The CDC staff also shared case studies through the lecture and laboratory sessions for the entire class to work through together. A tour of the CDC TB laboratory and interactions with its personnel were highlights of the course.
Success! By all indications, the course was a resounding success. The participants enjoyed the opportunity to network with their peers from all over the country, as well as to have access to the CDC TB experts. The evaluations were overwhelmingly positive. One participant commented: “This was a XVC—Extremely Valuable Course. By sharing and communicating all the course information, we can improve our TB programs. Thank you.”
Success! By all indications, the course was a resounding success. The participants enjoyed the opportunity to network with their peers from all over the country, as well as to have access to the CDC TB experts. The evaluations were overwhelmingly positive. One participant commented: “This was a XVC—Extremely Valuable Course. By sharing and communicating all the course information, we can improve our TB programs. Thank you.”
4 comments September 4, 2007
The National Laboratory Training Network is a training system sponsored by the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
