According to the dictionary and the ever-popular Wikipedia, the definition of a consultant is “a person who provides expert advice professionally.” These same sources define “international health” as “an area for study, research and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide. Global health focuses on determinants and distribution of health in international contexts from several perspectives including: the pathology of diseases and promotes prevention, diagnosis, and treatment…”
Describing my “avatar life” as an international global health laboratory consultant is both a lofty definition and a mouthful. When people ask what we do as consultants, it’s easy to say “we provide expertise, training and mentoring in laboratory operations, to help strengthen them in process improvements so countries can grow in their capacity to provide the quality of laboratory services needed to diagnose, treat and prevent diseases in their countries.” What exactly does that all mean?
When a country invites a consulting team to work with them, the first steps are to identify what their particular needs are in their laboratory system. Sometimes it’s developing a classroom curriculum that helps prepare students for laboratory and pathology careers. Often it is preanalytical training so specimen integrity, supply chain, and transportation issues do not compromise results. Other times it is analytical process mapping to identify areas for operational improvements and use limited resources in the most effective ways. And in many cases, it’s helping a lab comply with accreditation requirements. This entails assessing, advising, coaching and mentoring in the areas of procedures and quality metrics.
When a country invites a consulting team to work with them, the first steps are to identify what their particular needs are in their laboratory system.
An in-country consulting project usually has multiple phases. Once a country decides their course of action and focus, a series of visits are arranged to meet the goals set by the country’s leaders and the CDC in their region. That coordination of effort helps maintain focus and leadership so the time and resources are used most efficiently. Consulting teams are then set up depending on the expertise needed, previous experience and familiarity with the country, availability, and other considerations unique to the project. When a team is assembled they work together on logistics, content, accumulating materials needed for the project, and coordinating their efforts. When the project finishes, the team continues to collaborate on follow up, reports, lessons learned, next steps, and sustainability issues. It’s all very fun and exciting. It’s also all hard work as my fellow consultants and ASCP staff teammates can attest to! And that same cycle is being done in multiple countries, multiple phases, and multiple times during the year. Shifting gears quickly and maintaining flexibility are key capabilities you must be able to pull out of your bag of resume tricks or you won’t survive to tell the story!
That is a summary of what we do and how we do it, but that’s just the standard operating procedure. The real purpose is the passion and dedication to improving the health and laboratory conditions alongside our international colleagues and partners. And the outcome? Evidence based results are proving each step makes a difference, and we are seeing growth and change each trip, each project, each step of the journey. Come to the ASCP Annual Meeting and see the progress being made and how the Global Outreach teams are working together!
Next time let’s talk about some of the “pros and cons” of what works…and what sometimes doesn’t. And if you are ever in Kazakhstan, be sure to order beshbarmak…which means “five fingers” because you eat it with your hands. The traditional dish is made of wonderful thick boiled noodles in an onion broth and chunks of a variety of boiled meat…goat, mutton, beef and yes, horse. And if you’re there in the spring, wash it down with the traditional drink of fermented mare’s milk.I don’t have a recipe…but I do have a wonderful friend there who will take you out for an authentic Kazakhstani meal! Contact me at bsumwalt@pacbell.net.
-Beverly Sumwalt
Lablogatory 