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 ASM offers several opportunities to build scientific community in your local area. Start a student and postdoctoral chapter at your institution or apply to be an ASM Ambassador.

Accepting Applications

Start an ASM Student and Postdoctoral Chapter

ASM Student and Postdoctoral Chapters are for students and postdocs interested in microbiology at their local university. Chapters host several events throughout the year, such as career panels, visits to microbiology companies, judging science fairs, etc. to promote ASM's mission of advancing the microbial sciences. Each chapter must have an ASM member to serve as a faculty advisor.


ASM Connect Community Champion

is an online community for ASM members to network with other microbial scientists from around the world.

ASM is looking for 10+ volunteers to serve as community champions in ASM Connect. Community champions will post discussions online related to scientific areas of interest, respond to member comments, upload content and participate in conversations posted by other members.

Commitment

  • Contributors will need to commit to be active in the role for a period of at least 6 months.
  • Expect to spend approximately 1-2 hours per week on the ASM Connect platform.

Responsibilities and Expectations

  • Post between 1-2 discussions a per week in ASM Connect and respond to member comments or questions within 24 hours.
  • Contribute content ideas and topics that generate conversations.
  • Maintain communication with ASM Connect Community Manager and participate in brainstorming sessions.

Eligibility

  • Individuals are required to have excellent grammar skills and be able to use proper “netiquette.”
  • Experience using social media platforms, such as X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn or Facebook.
  • Must be an ASM member.

 Application Process

  • Interested members must submit the first.
  • Potential candidates will be asked to confirm their availability before starting.
  • Selected candidates will be expected to start contributing no later than 2 weeks after receiving the approval notification.

Currently Closed

ASM Diagnostic Centers of Excellence (COE) in Clinical °®¶¹´«Ã½ Designation Working Group Member
ASM’s °®¶¹´«Ã½ leaders are introducing a designation program aimed at recognizing laboratories that demonstrate diagnostic excellence and promoting the field of clinical/public health microbiology. The working group will establish criteria and maintenance requirements for the designation. ASM is looking for 3-5 members.

Project Details

Initial Framework

  • Rationale: 70% of diagnoses rely on laboratory data, but clinical laboratories are often overlooked in hospital quality process measures or as key components to operational success if not associated with monetary penalties (the laboratory gets called upon to help avoid losses, but does not get rewarded for the wins).
  • Use Choosing Wisely and IDSA/ASM Utilization Guide as a roadmap to develop standards.
  • Include quality measures and metrics in the framework, rather than prescriptive practices—inclusive, not exclusive standards

Why now? How is this different? What is the opportunity?

  • Primary goal: To promote ASM, the field and gain visibility within and outside of individual systems (the laboratory should toot it's own horn).
  • Focuses on the utilization of resources and not resources alone (not who has the most/best technology), clinical microbiologist consultative services and the value of clinical microbiology to patient care. 
  • Establish ASM COE laboratories as leaders in diagnostic utilization and stewardship before the opportunity is lost to other societies.
  • Could eventually be expanded to include public health and laboratories in other regions of the world and align with ASM Health initiative.
  • Dovetails with the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) Antimicrobial Stewardship Centers of Excellence program while highlighting the unique focus of diagnostic utilization and stewardship. 
  • Opportunity to fill in the gap that the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) designation does not cover (many labs are CAP-accredited, not accredited by The Joint Commission).

Eligibility

Open to ASM members in good standing with doctoral-level or bench-level experience in a clinical microbiology laboratory. Experience with quality improvement process development is a plus.

Commitment

  • This is an ad hoc group.
  • The group will meet virtually monthly (with the potential to move to bi-monthly).

 


ASM Representative to the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) Board of Credentialing (BOC) °®¶¹´«Ã½ Examination Committee
ASM provides 3 representatives to sit on the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) Board of Credentialing (BOC) Exam Committee to conjointly develop the M(ASCP) Medical Lab Scientist (MLS) exam. ASM is seeking an active member to fill this position, as one member’s term ends.

Eligibility

Open to ASM members in good standing with doctoral level experience in a clinical microbiology laboratory and board certification (ABMM, ABP or other). Experience with education and teaching medical laboratory scientists is a plus.

Commitment 

  • Two consecutive 3-year terms.
  • One 2-day annual in-person meeting in Chicago and occasional 1- to 2-hour virtual meetings, depending on the exam cycle.

Member Role

The committee/work group is responsible for practice analyses, item development and evaluation and maintenance of item banks.
  • Maintain item banks that are appropriate measures of knowledge and skills for various laboratory professionals.
  • Utilize practice analysis data to determine content of item banks.
  • Participate in the development and maintenance of item banks by:
    • Developing and reviewing content guidelines / topic outlines based on current practice data.
    • Developing new items, including images as assigned by the committee chair and BOC staff.
    • Reviewing item performance, proofreading and selecting new items for inclusion in the examination item banks.
    • Monitoring the content, task and cognitive skill distributions of items within the examination item banks.
    • Monitoring the content quality and difficulty of each item.
    • Setting the standard against which examinees are measured.
    • Reviewing the statistical performance of each item to ascertain the quality of the content and structure of the item.
  • Develop and review the examination eligibility requirements, examination content guidelines/topic outlines and reading lists for possible revision.
  • Participate in all committee/work group meetings, conference calls and activities.

ASM Country Ambassador

Country Ambassadors are senior scientists who connect ASM members across the globe, building relationships with key institutions, facilitating partnerships and responding to the needs of the local scientific community. There are currently 90 ASM Country Ambassadors all over the world. 

Country Ambassadors are appointed for an initial 3-year term, with the possibility of a second 3-year term (up to 6 years total). Average time commitment is 3-5 hours per month.

 


ASM Young Ambassador

ASM Young Ambassadors are dynamic early career leaders who represent ASM in their local scientific communities, facilitating networking, professional development and collaboration to strengthen science globally. This prestigious volunteer position is open to students and early career scientists in the °®¶¹´«Ã½ States and around the world who are interested in working with ASM.

Young Ambassadors are appointed for an initial 1-year term, with the possibility of a 2-year extension (up to 3 years total). Average time commitment is 3-5 hours per month.