Networking involves nurturing professional connections and engaging with people who have expertise in different areas. This enables lab professionals to ask questions, discuss difficult cases and learn more for future testing. When there are unusual results or new, complex challenges, having a healthy, broad professional network gives lab professionals the chance to learn about new techniques or refer patients to experts in other fields for specialty services.

In addition, we should also network with patients and our clinical customers. By being open to discussing questions, concerns, data and techniques, we can learn from others. In doing so, we also make it clear that our laboratories are institutions that pursue honest feedback, scientific and managerial knowledge, technical expertise and high-quality services for our patients. 

Each type of potential partnership that a lab professional can form carries unique benefits.

Interprofessional partnerships

Partnerships with other laboratory professionals—can help us advance our techniques and satisfy our questions for particular cases. We can consult with experts in our fields and learn how to best utilise technology for very specific challenges. These relationships also offer opportunities for career growth and transitions.

Extraprofessional partnerships

Relationships with clinicians or experts in other professional fields—can help bridge the gap between the lab and its customers. For example, Dr Kasemmongkol’s lab employs a clinical pathologist who serves both lab professionals (by explaining clinical context and interpretations to them) and clinicians (by explaining lab science and testing technology). Likewise, fostering relationships with clinicians and experts outside of laboratory medicine can broaden a lab professional’s understanding of the other field’s importance. It can also offer their personal connections a better understanding of the value of lab science.

Multidisciplinary partnerships

Collaborations with a team of individuals from various professions—can offer a lab insight into the needs of its customers. These teams can also highlight ways in which lab science can improve its offerings and evolve to continue operating successfully in the future. Many hospitals, including Dr Huang’s, utilise multidisciplinary teams to help improve healthcare management. The teams are especially helpful for areas of medicine that increasingly involve complex or high-touch laboratory work, including infectious diseases, cancer, blood diseases and autoimmune diseases. The teams allow both lab professionals and clinicians to improve their communication, knowledge and skill.

Lab association and professional organisation partnerships

Participation in groups that exist to facilitate interprofessional communication and to advocate for the advancement of lab science—can greatly improve a lab specialist’s education, professional growth, and ability to contribute to the success of their lab. These organisations can support labs by offering ideas for improvement. In addition, they can stimulate and nurture young professionals’ passion for their field and guide the lab’s development into new frontiers.

Industry partnerships

Communications and working relationships with technology and software companies—can result in the development of better products and equipment. It can also help laboratories communicate their needs and desires for new or different products that can be directly used by the industry to change the way they provide a service, or to develop something new.

How can networking elevate the reputation of laboratory science as a profession?

Getting to know experts in other fields gives them a better understanding of the value of lab specialists as professionals, individuals and contributors to good healthcare and the advancement of medical science. It also shows our colleagues in other areas of practice that we are able to communicate the value of our role and that what we have to say is worth their attention.

Without building relationships with our clinical and industry colleagues, we leave them to form their own opinion of laboratory scientists, based on what they see, rather than what they have experienced from us directly. By reaching out, we convey our expertise. We demonstrate our commitment to learning and patient outcomes. Bit by bit, this will transform the perception of laboratory science into something more cohesive and positive—a field other experts acknowledge, respect and engage with as equals.

These tips can help you grow your professional network:

• Attend educational lectures provided by clinicians and administrators at your lab’s affiliated hospitals
• Participate in professional meetings by attending, asking questions, going to their related social events, and engaging with other attendees
• Join the leadership boards of laboratory and pathology organisations, or volunteer to help organise events
• Reach out to related public-benefit organisations, including government offices and public interest groups, to volunteer your services or sit in on their meetings
• Pitch the idea of a multidisciplinary team or linked clinical pathologist to your hospital administration
• Strike up a conversation with a clinician or lab professional from another area of practice
• Use career-focused social media services to reach out to potential mentors
• Ask questions and volunteer to give presentations, both within your institution and outside
• Invite industry partners to visit your lab to offer training or demonstration sessions
• Shadow a clinician or lab professional at other institutions, to learn more about how they spend their days

In short: Why networking is crucial to you and your lab

The many forms of professional collaborations available to laboratory specialists carry significant benefits for patients, clinicians and staff. Not only do they improve relationships among lab professionals, they also grow the reach of the laboratory by fostering connections with clinicians, industry and other experts, which will open doors to mutual respect, collaboration and advancement.