The Georgia Society for Histotechnology invites you to the 2009 meeting to be held at Sea Palms Resort at St. Simons Island, Georgia, March 20-22, 2009. The program is below and the registration form can be downloaded from www.histosearch.com/gsh soon or I will email you a copy personally. The complete hotel information is already on the GSH website. Please call for reservations now by calling the Sea Palms Resort. Be sure to tell them you are attending the GSH meeting. The phone number is 1-800-841-6268. Visit the web site at www.seapalms.com. Special GSH Room Rates are $99 for two double beds and $109 for two double beds or a King bed Suites are available as well as Villas.
March 20, 2009 - Friday 1 to 5 p.m.: HT/HTL Review Session for Students 5 to 7 p.m.: Meeting Registration 7 to 9 p.m.: Vendor Reception in Vendor Area March 21, 2009 - Saturday 7:00-8:00 a.m.: Meeting Registration 8:30 a.m. to 12: Workshop #1 - Today's Artifacts - Tomorrow's Facts 8:30 a.m. to 12: Workshop #2 - Expense Analysis and Reduction in the IHC Lab (10:00 - 10:30 a.m.: Break in Vendor Area) 12:00 - 1:00-GSH AWARDS LUNCHEON 1:00 to 4:30 p.m.: Workshop #3 - Decalcified and Undecalcified Bone: Histology Techniques 1:00 to 4:30 p.m.: Workshop #4 - Basic Troubleshooting for Histology Laboratory Equipment (2:30 - 3:00 p.m.: Break in Vendor area) 4:30 p.m.: GSH General Membership Meeting (GSH Board Meeting to Follow) March 22, 2009 - Sunday 7:00-8:00 a.m.: Meeting Registration 8:30 to 12 a.m.: Workshop #5 - Commitment in the Workplace - What Does it Mean to the Employee and the Employer 8:30 to 12 a.m.: Workshop #6 - Contemporary Trends in Immunohistochemistry (10:00 - 10:30 a.m.: Break in Vendor Area) WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS: #1: Today's Artifacts - Tomorrow's Facts? Lamar Jones, BS, HT(ASCP) - This workshop will teach the participant to recognize and identify artifacts from the gross board, fixation, processing, embedding, microtomy, staining, coverslipping and other areas of histotechnology. #2: Expense Analysis and Reduction in the IHC Lab Joe Myers, - This workshop will discuss ways to cut expenses in the immunohistochemistry laboratory without sacrificing quality. #3: Decalcified and Undecalcified Bone: Histology Techniques Vickie Kalscheur - The speaker will give an overview of Decalcified and Undecalcified bone sample preparation for research histology. Specimen collection, fixation, decalcification, processing, and more will be covered using a wide variety of bone samples. The undecalcified component, again discusses handling, preparation, and staining of undecalcified Plastic embedded bone samples. Special and immunohistochemical staining of bone specimens will be discussed. This talk will be casual and informative for those working in clinical or research settings. Handouts will be provided. #4: Basic Troubleshooting for Histology Laboratory Equipment Jason Velasquez, Technical Engineer -This course will provide a basic preventive maintenance guide that will assist users of histology equipment in the upkeep and troubleshooting of their instruments. The type of cleaning solvents that can and cannot be used will be discussed (along with some pictures that show what happens when the wrong cleaning supplies are used) and how and where to clean for best results. The types of tools that should be kept in the laboratory's tool chest and how and when to use them will be demonstrated. Common types of faults that can be reasonably repaired by the average Histotech will be discussed and the ways, tools and thoughts behind the troubleshooting process will be investigated. Some symptoms that precede failures will be made known so that the users can notify their bio-medical technicians or repair group of a pending failure, before the instrument breaks completely. #5: Commitment in the Workplace - What Does it Mean to the Employee and Employer Wanda Grace Jones, - Hospitals, Research Labs, and Private Laboratories still struggle with continuous loss of employees and finding new employees to fill these positions. Past research has isolated two variables that impact employee turnover. 1st variable is employee's identification with and involvement in an organization (how involved are you). 2nd variable is the employee's perception of level of commitment an organization has to the employee. We will discuss the attitude toward an organization which attaches the person to an organization, the process by which the goals of the organization and employee become integrated, building better communication between employee and employer and cost associated when an employee decides to leave. #6: Contemporary Trends in Immunohistochemistry Mary Cheles, MPH, HTL, DLM(ASCP) - The analysis of a patient has historically relied on morphology and the evaluation of individual antibodies on pathological tissue. Immunohistochemistry has been in practice for the past 40 years. During that time, we have seen an evolution from individual reagents to optimized systems and from manual staining practices to fully automated options. Pathology and laboratory medicine is changing faster than ever. In the future, personalized medicine will define the effect of a therapy based on an individual's gene and protein profile. What does this mean and where does the histology community fit in? This workshop will briefly review immunohistochemistry basics, opportunities for automation, process standardization, antibody validation, regulatory product labeling and current proficiency testing. Shirley A. Powell, HT(ASCP)HTL, QIHC Technical Director Histology Curricular Support Laboratory Mercer University School of Medicine 1550 College Street Macon, GA 31207 Ph: 478-301-2374 Fx: 478-301-5489 _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet