I'm stumped. I thought the purpose of proficiencies was to do your best
with what you had in front of you, and treat it like a patient. It's also
supposed to be a test of your facility's proficiency in this particular type
of sample. It's not supposed to be a group effort. Many accreditations
hinge on whether these are properly done; however I would be very reluctant
to go this "bulletin board" route. I understand there is the underground
word-of-mouth proficiency sample comparison stuff going on all the time, and
while not particularly ethical, it does happen. But the internet???
While in my last position in microbiology, I moonlighted in another micro
lab performing O&P and Fungal examinations. My supervisor was adamant that
I have nothing to do with their proficiency samples as I had to work on
ours. I spoke it over with the supervisor and that became a condition of my
employment. I know technically that I should have been involved in them as
I was performing them, but that's a whole long story with not a very happy
ending over which I had no control. Suffice it to say, if I had posted
something like this on the internet regarding proficiency samples I probably
would have been up for some kind of disciplinary action. Sorry to say this.
Am I out of line here? What does everyone else think?
Judy Dilworth, M.T. (ASCP)
Microbiology in hiatus
Michael Corriss wrote:
> I work in a hospital hematology laboratory. Every few months we receive
> proficiency test samples. In the past, numerous varieties of leukemias,
> cell types, various parasites, and even artifacts have been showcased.
> It's great because one gets to see items that may never present
> otherwise.
> I am stumped with the latest offering.......(case follows)
