The following data was collected through November 21, 2006 from a survey sent to all 750 ASCT members with their dues renewal notices. Charts 1 and 2 show the numbers of responses received from each region.

Career Outlook and Employer Expectations for New Graduates: Are Our Training Programs Meeting Expectations?

A survey was conducted by Indra Balachandran, Ph.D., SCT(ASCP) and Sue Stowell, M.S., SCT earlier in 2006 and the data was reported at the Program Faculty Seminar during the 54th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Society of Cytopathology on November 3, 2006.

Region 3 in the Spotlight
(Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Indiana)

The 2007 ASCT Annual Conference in conjunction with the Southern Association of Cytotechnologists, Inc. (SAC) and the Texas Society of Cytology will be held April 27-29 in San Antonio, Texas at the Sheraton Gunter Hotel. This will be a great continuing education opportunity to take advantage of and a tremendous time of fun.

ASCT 2007 Annual Meeting
April 27-29, 2007
Sheraton Gunter Hotel
San Antonio, Texas

Join ASCT in San Antonio, the heart of Texas, April 27-29 for the 2007 Annual Meeting.  Long a crossroads of history and a meeting place of cultures, San Antonio is a rich blend of deeply rooted traditions and 21st century cosmopolitan flair, a place where America’s past and present merge. 

National Cytotechnology Day Design Contest 2007

To commemorate
Dr. George Papanicolaou’s contributions to the field of medicine, May 13 – his birthday - has been designated National Cytotechnology Day (NCD).

On January 30, 2005, the Clinical Laboratory Practice Act (Title VII Article 165) article was passed in New York State (NYS), after 20 years in the making. It establishes laboratory technology as a professional practice requiring licensure through the New York State Education Department (NYSED). The law, which went into effect on September 1, 2006, defines the practice of clinical laboratory technology and provides for the licensing of clinical laboratory technologists and cytotechnologists as well as the certification of clinical laboratory technicians

To National Cervical Cancer Public Education Campaign Partners (ASCT):

Cytotechnologist
Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Mercy Medical Center, located in Eastern Iowa, is a 353-bed private hospital and state-of-the-art Level II Trauma Center with a caring attitude toward employees, patients and their families. We are currently seeking a Cytotechnologist to support our Laboratory Department. We have a volume of 6,500 SurePath gyn cytology specimens, 500 non-gyn specimens and 300 FNAs. Cytotechnologists work under the direction of the Pathologists in our Laboratory and accompany a Pathologist on FNAs done in the Radiology Department, as well as the FNAs done in our Laboratory.  You will be responsible for processing, screening and reporting of gyn and non-gyn cytology specimens.

Nominations are now being accepted for the prestigious Marion and Nelson Holmquist Cytotechnologist Achievement Award. The objective of this award is to recognize a cytotechnologist for his/her contributions to the field of diagnostic cytology. Emphasis will be on the nominee’s more recent contributions.  Any cytotechnologist who is a member in good standing of the ASCT is eligible to be nominated.  NOMINATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY ASCT BEFORE MARCH 1, 2007.

News & Updates in Region 1
(California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, Hawaii, Western Canada)

ASCT would like to thank all the members that stopped by our booth at the ASC Annual Meeting in Toronto, Canada.  In addition, many new faces came by the booth to inquire about membership, publications, the Cytoprep Online course and the 2007 meeting.  

A large Danish study has found that for older women (age 40 and older), a test for human papillomavirus (HPV) is a much more effective way to screen for potential cancer than the traditional pap smear. The reason, report researchers in the November 1, 2006 issue of Cancer Research, is that HPV infection is rarer and more persistent in older women, putting a woman at substantial risk for the disease before changes in cervical cells, detected by Pap smears, are obvious.

Joint Commission Field Review Notice

Potential 2008 National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG) Requirements and Implementation Expectations

Accreditation Manuals         
Ambulatory Care | Behavioral Health Care | Critical Access Hospitals | Disease-Specific Care | Home Care | Hospitals | Laboratories | Long Term Care | Office-Based Surgery

Timeframe: Posted for comment through January 26, 2007

Website Link to Field Review:
http://www.jointcommission.org/Standards
/FieldReviews/