Catering to more than 30 persons from other Caribbean countries, past president of The Bahamas Association of Medical Technologist (BAMT) Bonnie Culmer said that the meeting gives medical technologists an opportunity to share best practices and make improvements in their various labs.
She noted that the BAMT is a branch of that CAMT and the group meets every six months in one of the various countries.
"Whatever country we go to we will take a look at the laboratories and facilities, look at what is happening with medical technology in that country and make recommendations if need be," she said.
"The seminar helps us on a national scale to really look at the process in the laboratory to improve turnaround time and results for patients and just give better quality service in the lab."
She also admitted that there are some laboratory challenges on a local level.
'There is a lot of wastage sometimes with inventory, wastage in that the way things are stored and are not as organized as it should be. One of the challenges at the Rand Memorial Hospital (RMH) is space." Culmer noted.
"We have the expertise and state of the art equipment here in the RMH and in Nassau, but the basic challenge is space which is critical for them to be able to improve their productivity."
Culmer said that as im-provements to the RMH are underway, unfortunately there will be no improvements for the lab area at this time.
"We have realized that not just in The Bahamas, but all over the Caribbean everytime another area in the hospital needs space the lab is either left out or the space is taken from the lab.
"One of the things we try to do as a med tech association is to bring more awareness to what we do as medical technologists. We want people to know the importance of what we are doing so that they can start giving us some space instead of taking it away.
She noted that the laboratory plays a key role in the medical field as it is the core of any diagnosis.
Yesterday's seminar was sponsored by Johnson & Johnson. Representative Eli Hernandez said that the purpose of the conference and training is to inform laboratory managers of ways to im-prove their set up with the goal of becoming more efficient.
"We are trying to get in-volved and give them the right tools for the laboratories and services."
An opening ceremony for the conference was held last night in the Manor House of the Our Lucaya Resort.
