How and Why We Started Our ASCP Chapter

For pathologists and laboratory professionals, some of the most valuable professional connections may be the ones closest to home.

That need for local connection helped spur the creation of the Texas Riverwalk Chapter, founded after laboratory professionals in San Antonio recognized that they had few opportunities to connect with colleagues outside their own workplaces.

In Virginia, meanwhile, an existing chapter was revitalized and expanded from its regional roots to better serve laboratory professionals across the state.

The two chapters started from very different places, but their experiences demonstrate the role local ASCP chapters can play in bringing together laboratory professionals, pathologists, and students for education, professional development, networking, and community outreach.

Building a laboratory community in Texas

For Alfonso Ortiz, MLS(ASCP)^CM, and Brittany Teeter, PhD, MS, CLS, MLS(ASCP)^CM, the idea for the Texas Riverwalk Chapter grew out of a simple observation: laboratory professionals routinely worked alongside colleagues within their own organizations but had fewer opportunities to build relationships beyond them.

“We operate within our own organizations, and we don't have many opportunities to connect with colleagues outside of those walls,” Mr. Ortiz says. The goal was to create a space where laboratory professionals could “access continuing education, develop professionally, and share experiences as well as build relationships across the profession.”

There was also a striking absence to address. Despite the size of Texas and its large laboratory community, the state did not have a local ASCP chapter. Mr. Ortiz says inquiries from other professionals confirmed that there was an appetite for one.

Once the decision was made, they gathered a small group of laboratory professionals who brought experience spanning clinical laboratory work, education, nonprofit and financial knowledge, and legal expertise. Getting established took longer than expected, Dr. Teeter says, in part because of the paperwork and the process of clarifying what the new organization could do within ASCP guidelines.

From the beginning, however, the priority wasn't simply accumulating members.

“We didn't want to focus...just [on] growing membership,” Mr. Ortiz says. “[We] wanted to focus on creating the value first.”

That meant offering quality education and professional development as well as networking and opportunities to connect. Dr. Teeter, who was teaching in a medical laboratory science program, also saw an opportunity to involve students while strengthening connections between laboratory professionals and pathologists.

The response suggests that the approach resonated. Mr. Ortiz says the chapter attracted around 40 members within its first few days, had grown to approximately 200 by the time of the 2024 ASCP KnowledgeLab, and now has more than 1,000 members.

Its activities also extend beyond traditional professional events. Community outreach gives laboratory professionals, pathologists, fellows, residents, and students opportunities to volunteer together while introducing young people to laboratory careers. Mr. Ortiz particularly enjoys seeing students' reactions as they look through a microscope and learn about a field they may previously have known little about.

For Dr. Teeter, those events also provide something that was previously missing: opportunities for different parts of the laboratory community to interact outside the workplace.

Next, the chapter hopes to build on its early momentum with a larger in-person meeting. Dr. Teeter envisions a two-day event featuring pathologist speakers and opportunities for students to volunteer.

Taking Virginia's chapter statewide

Virginia faced a different challenge. It already had an ASCP chapter, but its identity and activities had historically been associated with one part of the state.

When Steven Wilson, MBA, became president, one of his first changes was renaming the Tidewater Chapter of ASCP as the Virginia Chapter. The Tidewater name associated the chapter with the Virginia Beach area, which could leave professionals elsewhere in the state feeling disconnected from an organization that was technically theirs.

“If you're in Northern Virginia, you thought, well, that's a Tidewater chapter. Where's my chapter?” Mr. Wilson says it was a chapter for ASCP members throughout the state, but many members didn't feel it was.

Changing the name was only the beginning. Mr. Wilson surveyed members about what they wanted and heard a clear desire for programming that better reflected where they lived. “One of the things that I heard loud and clear was that [members] wanted to see more relevance to the area they were in, but also educational events based upon the areas where they lived in the state,” he says.

Instead of concentrating events in one area, the revitalized chapter holds meetings in regions across the state. For Mr. Wilson, that local presence complements what a national professional organization can provide. Local chapters can respond to issues specific to their communities and connect members with nearby mentors and colleagues who can help them navigate their careers.

The Virginia Chapter now has more than 700 members, with approximately 20 to 30 people attending each meeting. Particularly encouraging to Wilson has been seeing former members return.

“What I'm really excited about [is] those who were former members who let their membership lapse, who now rejoin because they see there are more opportunities to become involved,” he says.

Education is central to maintaining that engagement. With laboratory professionals able to choose among several professional organizations, Mr. Wilson believes chapters need to demonstrate tangible value. Virginia therefore combines educational programming with opportunities to network, giving each event a dual purpose.

The chapter is also looking toward the next generation, with plans for an initiative introducing high school students interested in science to laboratory careers. Students would have opportunities to put on lab coats, conduct hands-on activities, examine cells under a microscope, and learn about laboratory science programs and career paths.

Creating connections close to home

Texas and Virginia illustrate two routes to building a stronger local professional community. Texas Riverwalk started from scratch, filling the absence of a local chapter and rapidly attracting professionals looking for ways to connect. Virginia took an established organization and reconsidered whom it was reaching, expanding its identity and programming across the state.

Yet both have arrived at a similar approach: combine relevant education with opportunities for laboratory professionals, pathologists and students to build relationships beyond their own workplaces.

For Mr. Wilson, that human connection matters in a profession where people may spend much of their working lives within their own laboratories. Local events can help laboratorians, pathologists, and laboratory professionals meet others in their field while renewing their connection to the profession itself.

They can come away thinking, he says, “This is a pretty cool profession I've chosen.”