Being a member of a highly focused professional online community provides great advantages to laboratory professionals seeking advice from colleagues, networking, or ways of sharing their expertise with an inclusive cadre of peers and receiving feedback on their work. For clinical laboratory professionals wondering whether they should join AACC Artery, the association’s members-only online community, here are four tangible reasons to do so:


 

1) Networking

Communication is the foundation of networking, and communicating online can be as beneficial as interacting in person. Networking is also one of the main reasons for joining a professional association, as members benefit from having a ready-and-able team to discuss practice and career issues. Online communities also provide clinicians with the opportunity to network free of the barriers of distance, time, and expenses. 

While communities like AACC Artery connect knowledgeable professionals from across the globe, they also allow participants to find like-minded professionals who live nearby, bringing networking to a local level. 

2) Collaboration

Laboratory medicine’s constant evolution has been challenging clinicians to find solutions rapidly to new problems and unforeseen situations. AACC Artery provides discussion forums for members to ask specific questions and get thoughtful, relevant responses. Thanks to online communities, members benefit from having their inquiries answered and from receiving almost instantaneous insights from expert colleagues. More than 1,000 AACC Artery visitors every month help each other respond to issues still not resolved by research, within a few hours or even minutes.

3) Learning

A typical online community success story works like this: a member asks a question regarding a specific topic, like the pros and cons of affinity chromatography versus fructosamine for monitoring glycemic control in individuals with homozygous variant hemoglobin. Respondents recommend solutions, cite studies, and bring up new alternatives that give great insights to all participants, even to individuals who only read responses and are not actively engaged in the community. Many AACC Artery users report having designed their routines so they can connect on the Artery daily, and learn something new every day by just reading the conversations within the Open Forum or 38 division, local section, or SYCL forums.

4) Recognition

In an online community, members who reply to conversations, find answers and solutions to others’ questions, and share their knowledge for the benefit of the whole community are professionals who provide a great value for the greater community. AACC Artery has recognized several members who have provided exceptional service in contributing their knowledge, raising their professional profile, and in distinguishing themselves among Artery participants. Their contributions to AACC Artery’s crowd-sourced library of knowledge have made them super-users and super members of the association.

Being a connected professional is a way to face changing times and keep up to date with the latest in laboratory medicine. All AACC members have free access to AACC Artery and its unique way to connect, stay informed and collaborate with fellow members.

Becoming an AACC member is simple and easy. Learn more about AACC member benefits online or contact AACC customer service. For more information about AACC Artery, contact AACC online community manager Simona Ciampi.