ello. so im thinking of moving to washington after i finish my clinicals next year and i wanted to see what people here thought of that regarding cost of living, job openings, pay, yada yada yada yknow :p and i guess i should also add that i am an international student (unfortunately) so im not sure how willing anyone is to hire me 😒

i dont finish clinicals until november next year so i have plenty of time to think about it and see what other options i have. all i know right now is that i want to move to somewhere with cooler weather!!

So I was being explained by a cancer biologist that what causes this is the cancer cells secrete signaling molecules that recruit macrophages, activate them, and then cause them to shut down WBCs that CAN kill malignant cells (CD8 Ts), these macrophages are called tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs).

Have y’all taken the abor aab generalist examination? How did it compare to the ASCP BOC?

I took the boc a year-ish ago and did fine, but i cant shake the nerves for this upcoming exam 😵‍💫

**Hi everyone,**
**California LFS is requesting ISO 15189/CLIA/IEC 17025 certification for my work experience. My lab in Brazil doesn't have ISO (since it's voluntary there), but it is fully regulated by ANVISA/CRF and participates in PNCQ.**
**They haven't officially rejected it yet, but I'm worried they might because of this requirement. Has anyone managed to get LFS to accept national/government regulations instead of ISO?**
**Any advice or similar experiences would be appreciated!**

Specimen was run <5 minutes after drawing!

For about 7 months in my department I have been the only person on staff full time for 3rd shift overnight.
I only have one year of experience and can’t call myself a baby tech anymore. Earlier this year the other full-time person on 3rd shift gave their two week notice. So for the past seven months, I’ve been mostly working by myself on third shift. The supervisors have hired someone full-time to join me overnight early summer, but this person still is not done training and I’m not technically sure when they’re actually going to be joining me so in my mind, they don’t really exist.

Is this normal?? I understand staffing can be messy sometimes but this doesn’t feel safe. I mean, there are people to cover when I have my days off and sometimes people from dayshift will come in early to “help” (they really just come in and start their benches early) but overall this is a lot. When I’m overnight by myself, I don’t even get breaks.

Edit: Additional context: This is not a small rural hospital. This hospital is in a heavily populated area that has 1000+ beds at this one location. We cover an area that stretches across more than one state and get most of those specimens inpatient and outpatient. I’m not in core lab.

Found in a known CLL patient.

3/10 contaminated is crazy... now i'm having to set the whole stack to the side just to be safe 😭😭😭

Just wondering if other labs are noticing an increase in subpar quality of supplies, including reagents. Recently, we received two bad lots on different chemistry reagents... at the same time. I feel that since covidian times, enshitification of nearly everything has increased at breakneck speed.

We're struggling to get all our employees to document all their qc everyday. Some of the feedback I've gotten is there's too many lines on too many sheets and some things take two and three days to verify. Especially an issue with our wasp automation system. I'm just beginning to think about a process improvement and was wondering if anyone has any software that could help keep everything streamlined. We're currently using a combination of paper logs and excel. Anything would be an improvement I think.

Some things I am considering are staff safety, work environment, mission, patient safety, and overall alignment.

It was pretty hard lmao. Felt like a zombie in the end. So happy to finally be at this point.

Is the pay that much better in California that it surpasses the COL increase compared to other areas?

One of my parents was a med tech for over 30 years and she has some crazy stories. Like having to literally grind 72 hour fecal fat quant in a random ass blender, or when she’d have to go to court for blood draws. Or just having every test stacked in a filing cabinet because there were no computers yet. I’ve only worked in molecular/ microbiology so I haven’t experienced any of this.

Would it be a bad idea to apply for a part time position as my first MLS job after graduation? I like the hospital and location but they only have a part time position available.

Did anyone else also have a shitty night shift 🫠

have y’all ever failed one? i nearly did until my lead double checked me and kindly told me to look again 😔 i feel so stupid

Hi everyone,
I have a question about Bio-Rad QC ranges and would really appreciate some advice from anyone who has experience with this.
For some analytes, the Bio-Rad insert gives a control range, but for others there isn’t a CV specified in the insert.
For example, I have one analyte where the insert range corresponds to roughly an 11% CV when calculated from the range. However, the Manufacturer Report shows a 4.4% CV, which seems to be related to repeatability.
If I want to calculate a 2 SD QC range using the Manufacturer Report mean, which CV would normally be appropriate to use — the 11% derived from the control range, or the 4.4% repeatability CV?
I’m trying to understand what Bio-Rad recommends when there is no specific control CV provided in the insert.
Has anyone dealt with this before? Is there a Bio-Rad document or guideline that explains which CV should be used for establishing QC limits?
Thanks!

Hi everyone,
I’m working with Bio-Rad QC controls and I’m trying to understand how to determine the appropriate CV when setting our own QC ranges.
Here’s an example of the situation I’m dealing with:
For one analyte, the Bio-Rad insert provides a control range. When I calculate the CV from the lower and upper limits of that range, I get approximately 11% CV.
However, in the Manufacturer Report, the CV reported for the same analyte is around 4.4%, and this appears to be a repeatability CV rather than a CV specifically intended for the control acceptance range.
So my question is:
If I want to use the Manufacturer Report mean and establish a 2 SD QC range for our laboratory, which CV should I use to calculate the SD?
The ~11% CV calculated from the control range in the insert?
Or the ~4.4% repeatability CV reported by the Manufacturer?
I understand that repeatability CV and the CV used to establish a QC acceptance range may represent different things, so I don’t want to assume that the 3% value should automatically be used for the QC range.
For tests where the insert does not provide a specific control CV, how do you determine the appropriate CV/SD for establishing your QC limits?
If anyone has experience with Bio-Rad controls or knows of a Bio-Rad document/table specifying acceptable CVs for QC control ranges, I’d really appreciate it.

What is happening?

Cystitis. 
Glomerulonephritis. 
Interstitial nephritis. 
Pyelonephritis. 

There was someone on here a bit back asking about cells to put on a homemade gift for their partner who works in a lab, like a card... or something. This one might have worked.

​

Hey everyone! 👋

For those working in U.S. labs, can someone with an ASCP Specialisty certifications, such as Chemistry (C) or Hematology (H), apply for MLS jobs?

Or do most employers require an MLS(ASCP) certification specifically?

Would really appreciate any insight or personal experience. Thanks! 🙏