As part of its mission to improve global health, ASCP is assisting the government in Ethiopia and Addis Ababa University in enhancing training programs in-country to create more medical laboratory professionals.
Individuals seeking ASCP certification as medical laboratory professionals in Ethiopia have been successful in the past, but insufficient certified medical laboratory scientists (MLS) are present in the country to meet workforce needs.
“The work we are doing in Ethiopia is so important,” said ASCP Chief Medical Officer Dan A. Milner, Jr., MD, MSc, FASCP, MBA. “We are building educational opportunities for people to eventually be ASCP-certified so that they can go back to their laboratories and provide a higher quality of diagnostic medicine to patients.”
ASCP’s Center for Global Health (CGH) has worked in Ethiopia for quite some time, so it has already established strong relationships with leaders in the nation’s Ministry of Health, as well as the universities and laboratories. During the COVID-19 pandemic, however, some of ASCP’s work in Ethiopia was delayed. Nonetheless, the Society continued to maintain a dialogue with health leaders in the African nation. The key factor in ASCP’s success with Ethiopia has been collaborating with two ASCP-certified laboratory professionals that reside in-country and provide both design and drive for the progressing mission.
For this current project, ASCP has sent a large shipment of textbooks that will be used in an upcoming training program for students seeking to become medical laboratory scientists, medical laboratory technologists, and histotechnologists.
Additionally, the Society took part in a job fair held at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia. George Okb, an ASCP-certified histotechnician, represented ASCP in fielding questions from prospective students about working in the medical laboratory, the training that is required for certain positions, and what it is like to work in the profession. Similarly, Eshetu Lemma, also ASCP-certified, routinely visits laboratories within and outside of Addis Ababa to perform needs assessments and create potential implementation plans with ASCP CGH.
Through continued bilateral, equal partnership with the Ethiopian team, ASCP CGH continues to expand services and improve quality for patients while creating opportunities for improved and increasing laboratory workforce.
