SEQC Spanish Society of Laboratory Medicine

LABCLIN 2022

•  The Residents Meeting is an annual meeting of residents and young specialists belonging to the Clinical Laboratory field, where members of the three national clinical laboratory societies (AEFA, AEBM-ML and SEQC^ML) collaborates.
  
  
• Synthesizing the sources in which to look for quality information during the residency, together with the contribution of guidelines to follow for their complete development as future Area Specialist Physicians (FEA), among the key messages.
  
  

Madrid, October 28, 2022 - As part of the XVI National Clinical Laboratory Congress (LABCLIN 2022), the XV Meeting of Residents, an annual gathering of residents and young physicians involved in the Clinical Laboratory field, has been held. The meeting, which took place on October 19th, was attended by members of the three national clinical laboratory societies: the Spanish Clinical Laboratory Association (AEFA), the Spanish Association of Medical Biopathology (AEBM-ML) and the Spanish Society of Laboratory Medicine (SEQC^ML). Throughout the day, the need to help control and manage stress during residency and in future working life, in order to avoid the so-called burnout syndrome, was discussed. Likewise, it was recommended to summarize the most complete sources in which to look for quality information to learn during the residency. In addition, guidelines have been offered to follow for their complete development as future Area Specialist Physicians (FEA), which will allow them to stand out among the majority.

For the president of the SEQC^ML Commission of Residents and Young Scientists and moderator of the XV Meeting of Residents, Dr. Julia Maroto, this meeting between residents from different hospitals and young scientists is very enriching: "It helps to learn from others to be able to apply to ourselves how we want to continue to develop and also helps to generate new contacts that will serve us in our future work", she explains. She also highlights the importance of these conferences in guiding them on how to prioritize a type of training, course or other activity "depending on the year of residence in which they are in order to get the most out of it".

More in detail, the first of the three sessions pointed out burnout syndrome as the "silent enemy of the resident". According to the specialist, the lecture presented different scales capable of evaluating the level of stress perceived by the worker and encouraged their use in the different services or departments to improve the work environment. "It has been shown that the level of stress increases with the years of residency and they propose to carry out a more in-depth study to evaluate stress according to the year of residency, as well as the workload of each hospital," she said. As the expert asserts, there are numerous to evaluate stress, but none has been standardized for this specific purpose. "Their use can be interesting to determine the severity and try to minimize the problem," she points out.

Clinical services rotation

In the presentation, "Where can I study during residency? Courses, journals, books and congresses for each rotation", invited to look for information beyond societies and laboratory manuals, and to collaborate with other clinical societies. According to Dr. Julia Maroto, in general terms, they have recommended taking continuing education courses from the different national and international scientific societies, "which are more general at the beginning and more specific at the end of the residency", she indicates. On the other hand, the president of the Commission of Residents and Young Scientists of the SEQC^ML stressed the excess of information that residents receive and the difficulty of knowing how to filter it and choose high quality information.

Finally, during the session "From resi to FEA, tips to stand out", it was recommended that residents and young physicians leave the laboratory to rotate in clinical services such as Endocrinology or Nephrology, for example, in order to achieve, as Dr. Maroto states, "a multidisciplinary vision of their work and to favour relationships with other specialists". Other advice to be followed is "not to stop training even after the residency and to be proactive, teaching and humble when we do not know something. As well as immersing oneself little by little in the world of research, doing quality studies. We have to start by making posters or oral communications that lead to publications," she concludes.

Spanish Society of Laboratory Medicine (SEQCML)

The Spanish Society of Laboratory Medicine (SEQC^ML) -founded in 1976- is an active member of the International and European Clinical Laboratory Federations IFCC and EFLM. It currently comprises almost 3,000 professionals and its main objective is to bring together all scientists interested in the field of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, to promote the dissemination of scientific and technical publications, to organize meetings, courses and congresses of national and international character and to cooperate with other Scientific Societies. The Society also wants to contribute to the study and recommendation of standardized methods and to establish guidelines and recommendations for training in the field of Laboratory Medicine. For more information: www.seqc.es