With continuing education programs, clinical laboratorians have opportunities for professional improvement year-round
New Year, New You – This social media-inspired saying marks the New Year as a time of renewed resolve to improve ourselves in some way. This feeling of renewed resolve encourages us to seek ways to continually improve ourselves in our work. As clinical laboratorians, pursuing continuing education opportunities is a key part of not only maintaining but improving the quality of our work. It is for this very reason that attaining CE credits is required for clinical laboratory scientists today to maintain certification. In light of this ongoing need for CE programs, laboratory managers may offer their staff free course offerings as part of their job benefits package to support the professional development of their staff. With this added job perk, lab managers can measure competency more closely. WSLH Proficiency Testing offers a large variety of online training and competency programs at low cost in partnership with Medical Training Solutions (MTS) at the University of Washington. These program offerings are most often used as a tool to measure staff competency, on a twice-per-year basis. In this article, we provide a question-and-answer (Q & A) section for more information about our partnership with MTS and how it benefits laboratories.
What is MTS?
Medical Training Solutions, or MTS, is a program offered by WSLH PT, which originates from the University of Washington. MTS develops and publishes online training and competency courses on a wide range of clinical topics. These topics are appropriate for a variety of educational contexts, including initial training. Educational content includes images, which also may serve as a tool for remedial training. MTS also provides management tools, such as document tracking, email notifications, and kit-specific, point-of-care trainings.
How does MTS work?
Laboratories choose programs from the list of program offerings, and may enroll with their proficiency testing order. Our best enrollment option includes all training and competency programs for 1 year for up to 30 users. The competency programs include 2 different sets of content/per year to meet competency requirements. Our point-of-care training and competency options are popular as well.
You determine the number of users on the account and then enroll. Your account set-up is part of an automated process that allows you to quickly assign one staff member or many staff members to certain selections. Then, staff receives an automated notification by email with the appropriate links to access the materials. The administrator then monitors progress and results. Account administrators can also upload their own tracking documents. CE credits are earned at the completion of the programs.
What are the different types of education provided?
Training programs include items such as Safety, Specimen Collection, Specimen Processing, and all the subspecialties including molecular diagnostics. Competency courses include 10-question multiple-choice tests related to the subject. Microscopy procedures are also available for both training and competency programs. A lecture library series is also available which includes a monthly topic as well as access to archived lectures. Over 50 CE credit hours are available upon completion of these programs, combined.
What are some advantages of using MTS?
The MTS online training and competency coursework is provided as an additional offering to participants. MTS develops programs in response to emergent and trending topics. Some advantages are:
- The programs are also low-cost, especially when multiple staff participates.
- You may order your MTS products alongside your proficiency testing products to make it easier for purchasing.
- You are able to choose programs to meet your needs instead of being unsure of what you will receive.
- Real-time reporting is also available in the competency assessment offerings, which means your score is available to view right away.
Helping you assure your laboratory’s professional training and competency goals is important to us. If you are interested in learning more, you may review our MTS programs on our website, as well as watch a short video tour. A demo account may be requested if you want to see first-hand some of the program content prior to enrolling. Please contact WSLH PT with any additional questions.
If you are interested in reading more related articles about Continuing Education and professional development resources, check out other articles on our blog at wslhpt.org/blog, or sign up to receive this content and more via our monthly e-digest, The Med Lab Retriever.
WSLH Proficiency Testing hopes that you have a great start to 2023 and that you and your staff have everything that you need to support your laboratory’s goals. Thank you for all that you have accomplished in 2022, and we look forward to providing excellent service to you and your laboratory this year.
