Expanding its library of learning programs, the American Proficiency Institute (API) is offering an educational commentary on biochemical markers of cardiac function for its customers. This commentary is one of over a hundred free continuing education programs available to API Paperless Proficiency Testing participants. Download Document
In its fourth year, the medical laboratory science scholarship program of the American Proficiency Institute (API) has granted nearly two dozen awards to deserving college students. This year, five students from across the country were selected from over 400 applicants. Download Document
Traverse City, MI – The American Proficiency Institute (API) will award $10,000 in scholarships to medical laboratory science students for the fourth year in a row. Download Document
The American Proficiency Institute has added several new test options for 2012. Download Document
The new Lab Advantage program is designed to be one-stop shopping for laboratories looking for accreditation, education, and proficiency testing products and services. Full Story
Proficiency testing (PT) verifies a laboratory’s analytical performance against other laboratories performing the same analysis. Full Story
Quality improvement in health care has a long history that includes such epic figures as Ignaz Semmelweis, the nineteenth-century obstetrician who introduced hand washing to medical care, and Florence Nightingale, the English nurse who determined that poor living conditions were a leading cause of the deaths of soldiers at army hospitals. Full Story
The Michigan Society for Clinical Laboratory Science bestowed on Daniel C. Edson its 2011 Board of Directors Award in appreciation for “his devotion and invaluable services” to Michigan medical laboratory scientists. Mr. Edson is President of the American Proficiency Institute, based in Traverse City, Michigan. Download Document
Laboratory medical scientists can raise their income by 14 percent if they become certified, according to the American Society for Clinical Pathology’s (ASCP) 2010 Wage Survey. Non-certified staff level histotechnicians (HT), for example, reported that they make on average $19.60 per hour, but the average wage for certified HT is $22.98, a 14.7 percent differential. Download Document
According to the American Society for Clinical Pathology’s 2011 Vacancy Survey of U.S. Clinical Laboratories, blood banking and transfusion medicine laboratories are experiencing the highest overall vacancy rate at more than 11 percent. Histology departments also struggle with staffing, with a reported vacancy rate of almost 10 percent. Download Document
By analyzing and comparing results from a 2008 proficiency test (PT) event to results from a 2003 PT event, we assessed whether laboratories’ abilities to detect Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7 had improved in the intervening 5 years. Download Document
The objective of this study was to assess laboratories’ ability to detect or rule out the presence of four common food pathogens: Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes and Campylobacter spp. To do this, qualitative proficiency test data provided by one proficiency test provider from 1999 to 2007 were examined. The annual and cumulative 9-year percentages of false-negative and false-positive responses were calculated. Download Document
This study assesses proficiency test (PT) performance in detecting and identifying malaria parasites and examines malaria screening practices in laboratories in the United States. Download Document
To participate successfully in proficiency testing, laboratories should follow basic good laboratory practices, pay attention to proficiency testing details, and investigate unsatisfactory results thoroughly and methodically. Good laboratory practices include maintaining staff proficiency, using appropriate quality control rules, accurately validating the instrument’s performance range, and following consensus guidelines. Download Document