The Importance of Being (Published) in the Clinical Laboratory Science Journal

So from my perspective, to me, the Clinical Laboratory Science Journal is CLS Journal is the place where medical laboratory scientists and other professionals who care about our medical practice, our version of laboratory practice, which is that evidence-based, right at the bench, dealing with patients and helping inform each other about advances and new strategies to care for our patients.

That's where the publications regarding those topics are going to go.

And it is every topic in the laboratory, blood bank, hematology, molecular, microchemistry, education.

We do have a lot of educators who are setting the publications our way because that is where laboratory professionals go look for information about our profession

so with all of that obviously like you said this is a place where everything about the profession is going to be published so why do we need a professional journal

I'll just say that kind of when I think about this and I think about what separates a profession from an occupation, for example, one of the things that immediately comes to my mind is that professions generate and share their own knowledge.

And so a professional journal is one of the ways that we do that.

Clinical laboratory professionals have specialized expertise that, as Leticia said, directly impacts patient care, education, workforce needs, etc.

quality, safety, laboratory operations.

And if we don't have a place to publish that work, then our knowledge can easily become invisible.

So the journal really gives us a place to ask questions, share those findings, even learn from each other.

And sort of even, I would say, document the evolution of our profession.

It sort of becomes this collective memory of who we are and even maybe where we're going.

I

would also add that it gives our profession a voice.

And it also displays the type of work that laboratory professionals can do and that we can bring to the advancement of knowledge.

It also allows for work to be cited by others.

Like Dr.

Moon mentioned, it documents our contributions to patient care and demonstrates that CLS professionals are not only users of knowledge, but that they can create it And that they can serve as sources and references.

And having a journal is also a way of networking.

It creates a space for professionals across disciplines, institutions, countries, all different places to learn from each other.

And this can create collaborations.

I love that phrasing, the collective memory, but also like a living journal that basically connects all the different kinds of people together from everywhere at all parts, especially since we had one episode in our last season where we spoke to a professor up in Alaska where her and her students are actually doing their own research and publishing that as well, specifically tracking E. coli in wildlife, specifically moose scat.

It was fascinating to hear about that.

And I love that this exists for us to be able to share what we can.