[Japanese Association of Clinical Laborato Physicians--What We Are Doing Now and How We Should Develop in the Future as Competent Members of Team Medicine].

No clinical laboratory would admit they do not practice team medicine, at least conceptually. However, true team medicine is more than an aspiration--it is an intentional care structure built, led, and delivered by a diverse, multidisciplinary team of physicians, medical technologists, nurses, pharmacists, and dozens of other professionals. We clinical laboratory physicians are able to fulfill an important role as competent members of the team medicine. Because we can look at the results of clinical examinations of patients earlier than anyone else, we can interpret the patient's condition by analyzing that results, and provide useful information to facilitate team medicine. I have conducted a questionnaire survey on team medicine targeting clinical laboratory physicians to clarify the tasks we are performing. In this paper, I describe what clinical laboratory physicians are currently doing, and how should we develop in the future.

Evidence-based laboratory medicine as a tool for continuous professional improvement.

BACKGROUND: Evidence-based medicine (EBM), defined as "the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of the current best evidence in making decisions about the care of patients," seems a tool (a "new paradigm") able to meet individual clinical experience with robust observations. EBM has been driven by the need to manage information overload by cost control and by public request for the best in diagnostics and treatment. METHODS: The application of EBM in laboratory medicine or evidence-based laboratory medicine (EBLM) is aimed to advance clinical diagnosis by researching and disseminating new knowledge, combining methods from clinical epidemiology, statistics, and social science with the traditional pathophysiological molecular approach. RESULTS: EBLM, by evaluating the role of diagnostic investigations in the clinical decision-making process with emphasis on measurable outcome, can help both in improving the quality of new scientific findings and in translating the results of good-quality research into everyday practice. CONCLUSIONS: Since there is a need to integrate many educational tools to focus the strategy on promoting the implementation of best practices, the STARD proposal for robust diagnostic test primary studies, the presence of systematic reviews of high quality, and the development of valid guidelines based on the best scientific evidence may be useful to promote an a evidence-based culture for appropriateness, efficiency, and effectiveness in laboratory medicine.

CLS education at a new crossroad.

OBJECTIVE: To provide an overview of the history of CLS education at selected points in time; to describe issues facing CLS education today; and to discuss possible directions for CLS education in the future.

[Future guidelines for medical technologists].

In this symposium, ways in which medical technologists can contribute as supporting members in Japan's health care system will be discussed. Improvement in the job specifications of health care professionals has been identified as a major pillar of Japanese health care reform. As members of the medical support team, along with university professors and medical laboratory researchers, medical technologists will be expected to improve their knowledge and skill. Medical technologists should therefore be prepared to make great efforts to progress according to expectations, and these things must be kept in mind as a future guideline for medical technologists in Japan.