Official publication of

AMTEVENTSJu

ne 2

018

VOL.

35

NO.

2

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

59 Medical Ethics

66 National

AMT Award Winners

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CONTENTS

June 2018 • Volume 35 • Number 2

59

departments 44 President’s Comments by Jeffrey Lavender

46 Government News by Michael McCarty

51 Councillor’s Corner by Beverly Christensen

54 RMA Update by Janet Sesser

56 Armed Services Report by Fred Morley

Center Pullout AMT Convention Section Preliminary Program

82 New Certificants

86 AMT Directory

features

59 Medical Ethics by Solomon Goldenberg

62 Nominating Committee Report

64 AMT Board Candidates

66 National AMT Award Winners

79 Proposed Amendments to AMT National Bylaws

AMT — A National Certification AgencyAmerican Medical Technologists (AMT), established in 1939, is a national, non-profit certification agency for: Medical Technologist, MT®; Medical Laboratory Technician, MLT®; Registered Medical Assistant, RMA; Registered Dental Assistant, RDA; Certified Medical Laboratory Assistant, CMLA; Registered Phlebotomy Technician, RPT; Certified Laboratory Consultant, CLC; Certified Allied Health Instructor, CAHI; Certified Medical Administrative Specialist, CMAS

For information on qualifications necessary for each certification, contact:AMT, 10700 Higgins Rd., Suite 150, Rosemont, IL 60018—Phone: 847/823-5169.

MEMBER:Institute for Credentialing Excellence/National Commission for Certifying Agencies

Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute

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44 | AMT Events June 2018

president’s comments

Greetings to you, my AMT Family,

Washington DC on Independence Day! How could it get any better than that? I hope you’re planning on joining us this July as we earn more than 15 CE credits, see what’s new and what’s on the horizon in our disciplines, and take care of the business of making AMT strong and relevant. Please come to the biggest family reunion of the year.

This year we will have a very important Bylaw amendment to consider. The Board would like to convert the Vice-President position to a President-Elect position. This allows for more conti-nuity of the Board, better develops the next AMT President, and gives predictability to our awesome staff. Being AMT President involves a lot of moving parts, and having a better opportunity to prepare for this important position is critical. If you are serv-ing as a delegate this summer, I encourage you to vote for this amendment, or talk to me about it first.

Plans are already underway for our annual meeting in 2019 in Chicago IL. We’ll be right downtown, too. The best way to prepare is to attend your state society meeting, make some friends, and join us with your AMT family.

Since I last wrote to you in March, your AMT Board of Directors held a strategic planning conference. Our goal is to strengthen the state societies, and continue to work to meet the needs of our over 80,000 members. We intend to put a plan in place to keep AMT growing, and continue to keep AMT’s hard-working members relevant and difference makers in the work place and community. The plan will begin to unfold over the next couple of years. In the meantime, I encourage you to reach out to the Board members and let them know what you need out of your AMT membership.

Once again, AMT was an active participant in the Medical Laboratory Legislative Symposium in Washington, DC. Laboratorians from AMT, ASCP, ASCLS (host organization), CLMA and others came together to discuss the legislative issues,

Jeffrey Lavender, MT (AMT)President

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58 | AMT Events June 2018

SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS

Alabama 10/19-20/2018 Gulfport, MS

Arizona October TBD

CASMET 10/19-20/2018 Gulfport, MS

Central Plains (KS/NE) 8/11/2018 Wichita, KS

Delaware/DC/Maryland 9/29/2018 TBD

Florida 11/18/2018 Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Georgia 10/19-20/2018 Gulfport, MS

Illinois 10/5-6/2018 West Chester, OH

Indiana 10/5-6/2018 West Chester, OH

Iowa 10/5-6/2018 West Chester, OH

Kentucky 10/19-20/2018 Gulfport, MS

Louisiana 10/19-20/2018 Gulfport, MS

Maine/New Hampshire 10/19-20/2018 Gulfport, MS

Michigan 10/5-6/2018 West Chester, OH

Minnesota 10/5-6/2018 West Chester, OH

Mississippi 10/19-20/2018 Gulfport, MS

Nevada 9/14/2018 Reno, NV

New Jersey 10/20/2018 Edison, NJ

New Mexico 10/20/2018 Albuquerque, NM

New York 10/20/2018 Flushing, NY

North Carolina 10/19-20/2018 Gulfport, MS

Northwest (WA/ID/MT) 10/24-27/2018 Portland, OR

Ohio 10/5-6/2018 West Chester, OH

Oklahoma 10/13/2018 TBD

Oregon 10/24-27/2018 Portland, OR

South Carolina 10/19-20/2018 Gulfport, MS

Tennessee 10/19-20/2018 Gulfport, MS

Texas 10/12-13/2018 San Antonio, TX

Utah 9/15/2018 TBD

Virginia 10/19-20/2018 Gulfport, MS

Wisconsin 10/5-6/2018 West Chester, OH

state societies

In MemoriamLouise E. Bauer, MLT, Clarkston, MI, certified in 1971, died August 17, 2017

Martin C. Belknap, MT, Hardin, MT, certified in 1983, DOD unknown

Marcia L. Duren, MT, Adel, GA, certified in 1964, died February 23, 2018

William C. Hanley, MT, Riverside, CA, certified in 1953, DOD unknown

Sherree L. Hughes, RMA, Hot Springs, AR, certified in 2014, died January 27, 2018

Davide M. Johnson, MT, Navarre, FL, certified in 1992, died December 4, 2017

Shelby J. Kania, MT, Austin, TX, certified in 1957, died March 16, 2018

Wendy Sershen, RMA, Spring Hill, FL, certified in 1987, DOD unknown

James Smith, MT, Bluffton, SC, certified in 1968, died July 13, 2017

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AMT Events June 2018 | 59

“

MEDICAL ETHICS

by Sol Goldenberg, RMA (AMT), FRCGP, M.Sc., MBA

Every health worker justifies his role in the health industry by laying claim to the original ethical principles of Autonomy, Beneficience, Non-maleficence and Justice (1). To these four, two more principles have recently been added: Dignity and Truthfulness with Honesty, But how many of us know what theses terms really mean?

Historically, medical ethics dates back to Hippocrates and form the basis of the Hippocratic Oath. Maimonides, Catholic moral theologians and Islamic physicians have also contributed to our understanding of medical ethics. Perhaps the first book dedicated to medical ethics was written by a Muslim physician, Ishaq Bin ali Tahawi who wrote “The Conduct of a Physician.” In the 18th Century, a British doctor, Thomas Percival (1740-1804) of Manchester, England, wrote about “Medical Jurisprudence” and coined the phrase “Medical Ethics.” In 1847, the American Medical Association adopted its first Code of Ethics based largely upon Percival’s work.

When moral values are in conflict, such as in the case of treatment of HIV illness or the rights of an octuplet moth-er, the result may become an ethical dilemma or crisis. Similarly, conflicts may arise between health care providers and protectionism from legal issues and religious doctrines. More recent issues of research, resuscitation and stem cell treatment have aroused heated argu-ments among politicians, health care professionals and theologians.

AutonomyThe principle of autonomy recognizes the right of the individual to self-deter-

mination. It relies on having the ability to make informed decisions about per-sonal matters. Consider the case of a 22 year old patient who has been admitted to hospital 14 times following a bone marrow transplant 14 times. She now comes in with a chest infection and renal failure and her condition continues to deteriorate. She has a cardiac and respi-ratory arrest. Her parents are keen that all resuscitative measures should be taken, but her husband produces a signed living will that she does not wish to be resuscitated. Should the health worker pursue Kant’s moral deontolog-ical principle(2) of respect for each oth-er’s autonomy or should he attempt to resuscitate her into a vegetative state thus follow the Utilitarian Ethical the-ory(3) of maximizing the greatest good for the greatest number in the commu-nity? Kant believed that one must never treat any individual as a means to an end. In exercising one’s autonomy, the principle must conform to the require-ment of rationality.

Situations involving informed con-sent are founded on the principle of autonomy. If the patient is incapacitat-ed such as an Alzheimer’s patient or mentally subnormal individual, a next of kin or court appointee should also be informed. How much information for the patient constitutes “enough?” If the individual is not sufficiently informed, then his autonomy is impaired. Other situations of under-taking risky treatment in a life threat-ening episode that may jeopardize the patient’s life may conflict with the patient’s autonomy if the risks are not adequately explained before the pro-cedure. Consequentialism, however,

Conflicts may arise

between health care

providers and

protectionism from

legal issues and

religious doctrines”

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