Visitor Training

Visitor Training Program

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, current health risks, travel restraints and strict local directives, the CCEN VTP committee has taken the difficult decision to postpone the CCEN VTP program until travel safety resumes.

The Visitor Training Program is an educational program enabling talented and motivated clinical laboratory scientists and/or medical technologists from developing countries to receive comprehensive training on a variety of flow cytometry topics based on their area-specific needs. Training is conducted in a clinical laboratory under the mentorship of an established expert faculty member and will include appropriate practical aspects of flow cytometry assays. The ultimate goal of this program is to foster best practices in clinical flow cytometry in developing countries in order to improve both research and patient care globally. In addition, by implementing the training in their home institution, the trainees will have the opportunity to optimize flow cytometry capacity for themselves and their colleagues, ultimately leading to improved patient care and/or research.

Program Includes

    • Funds for travel and living expenses while visiting the mentor’s home institution for training (applicant must submit a proposed budget during application process).
    • One-on-one personalized training with an established mentor.
    • Additional resources available within the scientific community of ICCS and ESCCA.
    • Membership in either ICCS or ESCCA.

Program Details
The trainees shall receive training and mentoring tailored to the needs of their geographic area that include but are not limited to:

A.        Two-week on-site training at the mentoring faculty's laboratory preferably following the ICCS or ESCCA annual conference on the following topics:

    • Instrumentation review and optimization of settings with the help of a vendor specific application specialist
    • Selection of antibodies, fluorochromes and panel design for selected assays (chosen by trainees)
    • Specimen transportation, processing and staining
    • Quality control of reagents and antibodies based on established cytometry guidelines
    • Assay development and validation
    • Trouble shooting pertaining to all steps of various flow cytometric assays
    • Data acquisition and analysis
    • Result interpretation and reporting
    • Training and Competency assessment procedures for flow cytometry staff
    • Use of appropriate guidelines, publications and other flow cytometry resources available to all ICCS/ESCCA members

B.         Follow-up through e-mail survey and/or conference calls with the mentor and/or the Net/VTP committee to ensure the implementation of learned material in their area.
C.         Subsequent attendance and possible presentation at either an ICCS or ESCCA conference in the year following.

Eligibility Requirements for Applicants

    • Must be a Medical technologist or have received a related science degree.
    • Must have at least 2 years of clinical flow cytometry bench experience.
    • Example applicants include lead clinical technologists, medical technologists, supervisors or clinical scientists.
    • Should be proficient in host lab’s language and competent in English including ability to complete a phone interview in English.
    • Must pledge to be active in the field of clinical flow cytometry for 5 years following completion of this training program.
    • Preference will be given to applicants from developing countries.
    • Must be able to complete phone interview

Eligibility Requirement for Mentoring Faculty

    • Physician and/or laboratory scientist with expertise in clinical flow cytometry.
    • Member of ESCCA/ICCS.
    • Access to suitable resources to provide an appropriate learning environment for the trainee.
    • Should have low cost housing nearby
    • Mentor should be available for consult for one year after training program concludes
    • Waived Registration at Meeting

The expert's facility will be a primarily clinically oriented flow cytometry laboratory with teaching experience in the commonly used flow cytometry assays, focusing on but not limited to leukemia/lymphoma/myeloma and Immunodeficiency assays.

Program Evaluation and Improvement
An integral aspect of the Visitor Training Program is measuring the degree to which the trainees are able to implement the training they receive at their home institutions after the completion of this program. At the end of the on-site training, the faculty should fill out the evaluation form for the trainee, and the trainee should fill out the end-of-training survey form for program improvement. One (1) year after completion of the on-site training, the trainee should fill out a follow-up survey form. The evaluations will be reviewed by the mentoring faculties and members of the N/VT committee. The results of these evaluations will be used to assess the impact of the program on the trainee's professional career, the implementation of the training received at the trainee's home institution and allow the trainee to express any issues that have arisen since returning to his or her home institution concerning the implementation of skills and procedures learned.