In July 2023, we changed our name from AACC (short for the American Association for Clinical Chemistry) to the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM). The following page was written prior to this rebranding and contains mentions of the association’s old name. It may contain other out-of-date information as well.
2001 International Travel Fellowship
Bernard Gouget, PhD, served as Coordinator, Medical Expertise, of the French Hospital Federation and Assistant Professor of Medical Physiology at the University of Paris.
Dr. Gouget has pursued a career in laboratory medicine with two main thrusts: organ physiology in intensive care and the adaptation of laboratory services to required standards of patient care. After his initial studies in laboratory medicine, he worked in the Paris public hospital service in the Necker Children’s Hospital, becoming Section Head in the critical care laboratory. At the same time, he continued studies that led to a doctorate in economic sciences and certification in hospital management. This combination of interests has provided Dr. Gouget with an exceptional experience in France, which he has extended to encompass many countries around the world.
The interest in organ physiology in critical care is demonstrated by his activities in the fields of critical care analysis and the applications of micro- and nanotechnologies to existing and new parameters of organ function. An active member of the French Society of Clinical Chemistry’s Expert Panel on pH and Blood Gas Analysis, he has participated in numerous reviews and recommendations concerning technologies and organizational solutions for critical care testing, and has coordinated several multicenter trials of new products.
Dr. Gouget later served as Deputy Director of the clinical laboratory at a regional hospital in Meaux, near Paris. This was a pioneering institution in the 1990s and a testing center for several innovative technologies for diagnosis and management, notably imaging techniques, all of which had profound implications for the role of the clinical laboratory.
Returning to Paris in 1992, Dr. Gouget directed the activities of monitoring new technologies and commercial development for the National Center for Hospital Expertise (CNEH) and set up the CNEH Laboratory Services Club, a unique working group composed of members of the laboratory professions, hospital managers, and representatives from industry, whose role was to proactively examine the organizational and economic impact of the clinical laboratory in the hospital service and to evaluate the practical solutions that were used in other countries for the applicability in a French context.
Dr. Gouget also contributed largely to the development of a database on laboratory performance, both activities and costs, that allowed participating laboratories an opportunity for benchmarking, and to the laboratory aspects of hospital accreditation in the first manual for accreditation of French Public Hospitals in 1993. As Manager and Coordinator for Laboratory Projects at the CNEH, he performed more than 60 audits of laboratories, including audits for planning laboratory consolidation projects in public and teaching hospitals.
Following an internal mission for the Medical Policy Directorate of the Headquarters of the Paris Public Hospitals, which involved the planning of technical services for a region of 13 million people, he joined the French Hospital Federation in 2000 as Coordinator and Manager of teams of experts in various medical disciplines. Their role is strategic, to reflect on the impact on hospital organizations arising from changes in social and healthcare policies as well as new technologies. Dr. Gouget’s personal interests are especially oriented toward evaluating the impact of new diagnostic and therapeutic techniques, including information technologies and telecommunications, on the way hospitals are organized and on the new types of professional responsibilities that will arise, including those in the laboratory.
Since the early 1990s, Dr. Gouget has been active in the IFCC. Currently, he is Chair of the Communications and Publications Division (IFCC-CPD). In this context, he has initiated and overseen numerous changes, notably in the use of the IFCC website for communication between National Societies, Working Groups, and the membership. He foresees the IFCC-CPD ultimately putting in place interactive networks for training and knowledge management for the membership.
Dr. Gouget is especially concerned with the needs of regional organizations and members in IFCC, being active in the promotion of the Ibero-American activities and contributing to professional advancement in Latin America and Mexico. He feels very honored by the award and plans to use it to extend the network of contacts he has already made into new territories through participation in congresses and workshops in India, Eastern Europe, and Mediterranean countries.