Hello Tidewater Chapter!
I am very excited to see both the new ASCP Chapters and the Communities both coming online at the same time and I just wanted to introduce myself to the group. I am a Pathologists' Assistant by training, having served as a grossing tech, lab assistant, and Diener prior to going to PathA School at U. Maryland. I then worked in Surgical Pathology at the University of Florida for a number of years before being recruited to help start the Pathologists' Assistant Program at Eastern Virginia Medical School (Norfolk, VA). I currently serve as the Educational Coordinator for the EVMS Pathologists' Assistant Program and am an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology and Anatomy. In addition to training new PathAs, I am active in both the American Association of Pathologists' Assistants (AAPA) and the ASCP, and I have a strong interest in educational research.
In the ASCP, I have been a Career Ambassador for the last ten years and am one of the founders of the NextPo initiative. (Please consider becoming a Career Ambassador, if you are not already. It is incredibly rewarding and is one way we can all directly address the workforce shortage problem. Also, be sure to check out more information about NextPo-To-Go. The toolkit is already available to Career Ambassadors and there will be training offered on January 10th). I currently am honored to serve as a member of the ASCP Council of Laboratory Professionals where I am proud to help represent all of our medical laboratory professionals, including you. So please let me know if you have any concerns or if I can help with anything. In this role, I am able to help ensure that your thoughts and concerns are heard.
I look forward to hopefully meeting some of you in the future. Thank you all for your dedication to patient care and for your involvement with the ASCP.
Stronger Together,
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Kerwin Kolheffer
Pathologists' Assistant
Virginia Beach VA
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