American Society for Clinical Pathology

Fact Sheet

Founded in 1922, ASCP is a professional society with 130,000 members working as pathologists, residents and other physicians, pathologists’ assistants, laboratory professionals, medical students and laboratory students. Based in Chicago with offices in Washington, DC, and Indianapolis, IN, ASCP provides excellence in education, certification, and advocacy on behalf of patients, pathologists, and laboratory professionals.

The ASCP Board of Directors governs the activities of the Society and is responsible for its fiscal viability and for achieving the mission of the Society.

Education

ASCP offers more than 300 Continuing Medical Education (CME) and self-study programs every year for pathologists and laboratory medicine professionals. These include Educational Courses, Weekends of Pathology, Teleconferences, Workshops for Laboratory Professionals, and Assessment and Self-Study programs. ASCP is accredited with Commendation by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide CME for physicians. ASCP also offers a variety of activities and tools designed to help pathologists meet Part II and Part IV Maintenance of Certification (MOC) requirements of the American Board of Pathology, as well as a Certification Maintenance Program (CMP) for laboratory professionals.

Certification

The ASCP Board of Certification (BOC), with accreditation from the American National Standards Institute, represents the gold standard for certification of pathologists’ assistants and laboratory professionals. As a certification agency that is administratively independent from ASCP, the BOC prepares relevant standards and develops procedures that ensure the competence of non-physician medical laboratory personnel. ASCPi—ASCP’s international certification credential—is now offered in 28 countries.

Advocacy

ASCP, through its Washington office, represents the interests of pathology and laboratory medicine before Congress, the Administration, federal regulatory agencies, and state governments. Through its advocacy efforts, ASCP mobilizes its members to communicate directly with their representatives to influence laws and regulations. With 130,000 members, ASCP wields power and influence in the nation’s capital. The Washington office also interacts with patient, allied health, laboratory and medical organizations to build coalitions to further the goals of ASCP.

Publications

ASCP Press is a full-scale medical publisher of reference manuals, slide atlases, multimedia, and journals, including the American Journal of Clinical Pathology (AJCP), the leading peer-reviewed pathology and laboratory medicine research journal, and Laboratory Medicine (LABMEDICINE), a monthly periodical dedicated to providing continuing education, career development and new technologies to the laboratory community. Critical Values, a quarterly newsmagazine, contains news and features for the entire laboratory team, with each issue exploring a particular theme.

Media and Public Communications

Through its growing network of media spokespersons, ASCP brings forward the knowledge of pathologists and laboratory professionals to help patients and the public understand laboratory tests and disease diagnosis. ASCP also raises awareness about career opportunities in pathology and laboratory medicine through National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week and other initiatives.

resources: related to this section

.

Daily Videos from the 2009 ASCP Annual Meeting
Take a look at what happened at the ASCP Annual Meeting in Chicago on Wednesday, October 28, 2009. Each day, a new video will be added. more...

Influence of Credentials of Lab Professionals on Performance
A retrospective study published in the October issue of AJCP compared the relationship of proficiency testing (PT) performance with the credentials of the testing personnel using logistic regression analyses. The data from the study suggests that clinical laboratories should be staffed by people who have completed a formal clinical laboratory education program to ensure quality of laboratory testing and to reduce the risk of medical errors. more...

Pathology and Lab Medicine News
Get the latest pathology and laboratory medicine news from ASCP's partnership website with Medscape. more...

AJCP Call for Abstracts
Present your research at the premier educational event for pathologists and pathology residents. The AJCP Poster Sessions and Resident Research Symposium competition will take place at the 2009 ASCP Annual Meeting in Chicago, October 29-November 1. The deadline to submit abstracts for both the competition and poster sessions is April 30, 2009. more...

Go to AJCP
American Journal of Clinical Pathology is the leading clinical-oriented peer-reviewed pathology and laboratory medicine research journal. more...

Go to LABMEDICINE
Laboratory Medicine is our monthly periodical dedicated to providing continuing education, career development and new technologies to the entire laboratory community. more...

From: 
Email:  
To: 
Email:  
Subject: 
Message: