How Mentoring Connections Can Make All the Difference

The 2023 AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo will be a destination for clinical laboratorians and those interested in the field from all walks of life, including young professionals. For this group, AACC has included two key events: the Society for Young Clinical Laboratorians (SYCL) Workshop and Mixer on Saturday, and the Careers in Industry 2023: Impact Patient Care through Industry luncheon and panel discussion on Sunday.

Both of these events are designed to help early career professionals find their footing, including those who are new to the field and curious about different approaches to their career opportunities.

The Careers in Industry event, hosted by AACC’s Corporate Advisory Board (CAB) and SYCL, “offers different pathways for laboratorians in all disciplines and degrees to support healthcare, even if it’s not directly inside of a hospital,” said LaShanta Brice, DCLS, MLS (ASCP)SH, scientific engagement and clinical education associate at Stago, and who was a panelist during last year’s Careers in Industry luncheon. The event features leaders working at top diagnostic companies with diverse sets of backgrounds sharing their career paths, expertise, and experiences, followed by a Q&A portion and time for networking.

The Careers in Industry panelists will be a mix of beginning, middle, and advanced career laboratorians, which means young attendees coming to this interactive session will get a “good mix of professionals so you can see a pathway in front of you,” she added.

Brice earned a clinical doctorate in clinical laboratory science which she said is a fairly new degree. The path ahead of her was less clear than if she’d taken a more traditional laboratory medicine route. “One of the challenges was trying to find a group of people that I could talk to, and who could potentially be my advisors outside of the hospital,” she said. She found that both SYCL and the CAB were “great places for me to get connected” with the industry side of laboratory medicine.

For 10 years, including the time she worked on her doctorate degree, she worked at the Brook Army Medical Center, starting as a lead hematology medical laboratory scientist and rising to hematology supervisor. There, she was given a military coin from the chief of medicine—a rare honor for a civilian, and a career highlight, she said.

Looking for a new challenge, and with a doctoral degree in hand, she moved to Stago, and into project management. The connections she made, and mentorship she found, at AACC have helped her make the transition from the bench into scientific affairs and project management. It wasn’t easy at first. “I was so used to firefighting that I didn’t land very well with long term projects. I tended to finish projects like I was Sonic the Hedgehog,” she joked.

But AACC helped. “Now I have to make connections to different groups outside of the laboratory as opposed to working on issues within four walls,” she said. Through mentorships, she learned she didn’t need to rush all the time, and to slow down. In doing so, she has been able to focus on working outside the laboratory with multiple sets of clinicians.

Brice is looking forward to meeting new young professionals at the meeting this year and helping them make the same links, especially for those interested in industry work. “SYCL is the best way for you to connect with AACC if you’re looking to dip your toes into the water and find someone you can partner with as you journey through the process,” she said.

SYCL can also help first time attendees navigate a conference that has returned to full, in-person size since the COVID-19 pandemic. “If this is your first time to AACC, it’s quite overwhelming. The expo floor is gigantic. There are so many scientific sessions, and it can feel daunting if you don’t have a way to find out information and connect with people that are like minded,” she said.