Some people have contacted me, wanting to know how they can
obtain a subscription to "Laboratory Medicine".

This is a monthly journal for pathologists, med techs, cytotechs, 
histotechs and phlebotomists, published by the American Society 
of Clinical Pathologists (ASCP).

There are several ways to obtain this journal:

1. If you have passed the ASCP certification exam for med tech,
cytotech, histotech or phlebotomy, you can renew your
registration every year. In addition to a yearly sticker that
you can put on your membership certificate and discounts to
meetings/books/etc., you also receive "Laboratory Medicine".

If you have let your membership lapse, you can obtain
a membership renewal form by contacting ASCP at:

http://www.ascp.org/member/ams

Then click on "join". There should be a file you can download.
This is the Associate Member Section, which is where 
lab techs sign up.

In addition to the "Lab Medicine", you receive an additional 
insert in the journal, specifically for ASCP members.  It lets
you know about meetings, teleconferences, Washington
information (CLIA, HCFA, bills, etc), additional certifications,
reports from the various committees in ASCP, etc.

2. If you have NEVER taken the ASCP Board of Registry (BOR)
certification exam, and would like to, you can find out more
information by looking at the Assoc. Member Section above, 
or by looking under BOR

http://www.ascp.org/bor

Then click on "Certification", and go looking through the material
in the box in the upper right.

Sorry to all our foreign participants of Histonet, this is a certification
for lab techs working under a US pathologist.

3. For non-ASCP members, you can still subscribe to the journal,
but you do NOT become a certified tech, a member of ASCP, or
receive the insert for members.  But you do receive the monthly
journal "Laboratory Medicine."

The subscription rate for non-members is:

- US individual nonmembers = $55
- Foreign individual nonmembers - $70 (sent airmail)
- US institutions = $60
- Foreign institutions = $75

I can't find an application form on the web page, nor in
the journal. It looks like nonmembers need to contact
ASCP directly at 800-633-4931.


For everyone - please be aware that this is a journal for
ALL people in laboratories - doctors and techs, anatomic
and clinical, hospital and research.

So there is NOT specific histology articles every month.
But I like this journal, as it gives me information about
OTHER labs - what they are doing, what is new in their
area. It also gives me information about national news, 
state news, summaries from articles from other journals,
reviews of laboratory textbooks or CDs, laboratory 
administration material, information about shortages and
wages (to be published soon), and material I need for
my Schools.

As Tim Morken (one of our Histonetters) said in his
editorial published in the January issue (thanks Tim),
that in other countries, lab techs are cross-trained in
other medical technology disciplines. Therefore,
they can communicate with each other much easier
than we can in the US, because here med techs and
histotechs are trained totally separately. I like to
use "Lab Medicine" as a way of keeping myself
knowledgeable about other areas of the lab. 

One new feature on the front cover of this journal that I
did like, is they list the lab disciplines (blood bank,
chemistry, . . . histology, . . . molecular diagnostics,
etc.), and then list pages that have articles specific
to that discipline. So if you don't have time to read
the entire journal that month, you can find the
areas that pertain to your interests. Such as
in the January issue, they list 4 pages for editorials
on histology, as well as an article on comparing
the cytologic and histologic diagnosis of
adenocarcinoma in situ. Plus, if you are a 
supervisor/manager, or even a bench tech who
wants to know more about this, they list
6 pages containing information for supervisors/
managers. Including information on tech shortages,
government regulations, an article on reducing
errors in the health care industry using the
aviation industry model, and computer-aided
instruction.

So this journal is a little something for everyone 
working in the labs. For specific histology articles,
I would still recommend the National Society for
Histotechnology journal "Journal of Histotechnology."
For more information on this journal, look to the
NSH website at

http://www.nsh.org

Then click on "publications". Anyone can join
NSH. You do NOT have to be ASCP certified
or any other criteria other than an interest in
histology.

Long winded conversation, again. Sorry. I get
on my soap box when it comes to education
and keeping oneself knowledgeable.

Peggy A. Wenk, HTL(ASCP)
William Beaumont Hospital
Royal Oak, MI 48073