Published February 27, 2014
Jessica Lasiter, assistant professor of medical laboratory science (MLS) at the University
of Louisiana at Monroe, presented at the American Society for Clinical Laboratory
Sciences 30th Annual Clinical Laboratory Educators Conference in San Jose, Calif.
Lasiter spoke about real-time and paperless clinical record keeping as part of the
“Hot Topics” session. In fall 2013, ULM’s MLS program began using an electronic recordkeeping
system, which allows clinical and course instructors to input evaluations of required
clinical competencies performed by students at the time of completion.
Clinical instructors and students, who were trained by Lasiter to use the system,
are able to document the evaluation process as it occurs. ULM faculty monitor student
attendance, competencies, and evaluations continually rather than at the end of the
course.
The system has improved student outcome due to immediate feedback, identified the
need for retraining or coaching clinical instructors in a few instances, and increased
the efficiency of ULM faculty by decreasing the need for clinical site visits.
The Clinical Laboratory Educators Conference serves as the most important annual event
for faculty, administrators, directors, advisors and others in medical laboratory
science education.
The conference creates opportunities for educators to learn new teaching strategies
and trends beyond the classroom, campus, and region.
Faculty at the forefront of medical laboratory science education present topics that
provide colleagues the knowledge and skills required to meet the challenges of educating
medical laboratory scientists, including the development of curricula that meet the
current needs and future directions of medical laboratory practice.
