International Society for Laboratory Hematology: Focus on education, 2023

It has been a busy year since writing last year's focus on education editorial for the International Society for Laboratory Hematology (ISLH). The premeeting educational workshop on September 7, 2022, was very successful, with live hybrid format, both in person in Bologna, and virtually. As shown in Figure 1, there were a greater number of attendees at the 2022 workshop (198) compared with the 2019 workshop (139), the last year data were collected. At the 2022 premeeting educational workshop, there was an approximately 50:50 split between virtual attendees (102 of 198) and in person attendees (96 of 198). An interesting finding is that for trainees, a greater proportion attended virtually (19 of 25, 76%) compared with regular attendees who attended virtually (83 of 173, 48%). This year's premeeting workshop will also be a hybrid format with virtual/in-person options, on Wednesday May 10, 2023, so mark your calendars! The presentations at the premeeting educational workshop are given again to the global laboratory haematology community as free live webinars. These live webinars are then archived on the ISLH website, educational tab, accessible to ISLH members. The live webinar series was supplemented by an additional live webinar on November 10, 2022, “Haematological, Haemostasis and Immune Aspects of SARS-COV-2 Infection”, a collaboration between ISLH and the South African Society of Haematology, with presentations by Dr. Catherine Hayward, Dr. Andreas Greinacher and Dr. Tracey Wiggill, with 594 registered live participants. This webinar is also archived on the ISLH website, educational tab, accessible to ISLH members. For 2023, there are plans to have another collaborative ISLH live webinar with speakers from the ISLH, World Association of Societies of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (WASPaLM) and Uruguayan Congress of Clinical Pathology (SUMAC) on diagnostic flow cytometry, based on the session that was presented at the 2022 WASPaLM annual meeting. Collaborations with other societies make for enriched educational events, and if other societies have ideas for joint educational sessions with ISLH, they are encouraged to consult the information on the ISLH website on the International Networking & Collaboration Program, and reach out to ISLH at [email protected]. The importance of the ISLH educational website has been highlighted by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with an exponential increase in cumulative website visits, from 10,804 in 2017 to 321,598 in 2022, as illustrated in Figure 2. The educational website can always benefit from new content, and I encourage everyone to consider contributing e-case studies or e-learning modules, and you can email your submission to [email protected]. Each year the official journal of ISLH, International Journal of Laboratory Hematology (IJLH), publishes a free access educational supplement issue, with invited manuscripts reviewing highlights of the annual ISLH meeting. Many haematology laboratorians have found it worthwhile to dip into these free access articles, for example, currently the second most highly accessed and cited article of IJLH is in the 2020 IJLH educational supplement issue: Frater JL, Zini G, d'Onofrio G, Rogers HJ. COVID-19 and the clinical hematology laboratory. Int J Lab Hematol 2020;42(Suppl. 1):11–18, doi: 10:1111/ijlh.13229. Another highlight of IJLH with educational impact is the “How I investigate” review series, with currently 13 published articles covering many aspects of diagnostic laboratory haematology. I plan to step down from the VP (education) role in May 2024, at the completion of my 3-year term. Current board members are eligible to apply for this position, with the successful candidate elected by ballot from voting of all regular ISLH members in the spring of 2024. Activities of the VP (education) include but are not limited to taking a leadership role in the planning of the annual premeeting educational workshop by seeking input from the members of the education committee, executive committee, and annual meeting program committee, and by reviewing the annual meeting evaluations. Other activities include attending monthly ISLH executive committee meetings, preparing and presenting the VP (education) report at the biannual ISLH board meetings, attending in-person the annual ISLH meeting, and reviewing and editing the submissions for e-case studies on the educational website. For newer members of ISLH, a good way to start your involvement with the ISLH organizational structure is consider joining one of the 12 ISLH committees, and if you have a vision for the direction of educational endeavours at ISLH, I encourage you to put your name forward for the Education Committee by email at [email protected]. The author declares no conflict of interest. Data in this editorial are from the VP (education) report, in the minutes of the December 2022 ISLH Board Meeting.

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