Charting the Future Direction of National Microbiological Reference Services in Canada

[Table of Contents]

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A Synopsis of the Forum

The two-day forum featured keynote speakers, informal and formal full group discussion and a series of focused breakout sessions. Each of the three breakout sessions focused on a key step in the process of shaping the future of Canada's reference services. Breakout topics were highlighted by keynote presentations. Abstracts of these presentations can be found in Appendix B

. Key note speakers provided valuable insights from across Canada-provincially and nationally-from the United States and the United Kingdom. A listing follows.

Keynote speakers were featured;

Dr. Fraser Ashton
Laboratory Centre for Disease Control

Dr. Gilles Delage
Public Health Laboratory, Quebec

Dr. Helen Demshar
Laboratory Services Branch, Ontario

Dr. Kevin Forward
Public Health, Nova Scotia

Dr. Robert George
Central Public Health Laboratory, UK

Dr. Greg Hammond
Public Health, Manitoba

Dr. Joe Losos
Laboratory Centre for Disease Control (LCDC)

Dr. Robert Martin
American State & Territorial Public Health Laboratories

Dr. Brian Mahy
Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)

Dr. John Smith
Centre for Disease Control, B.C.

Dr. Jim Talbot
Provincial Laboratory of Public Health for Northern Alberta

Dr. John Wade
Manitoba Health

Breakout sessions were employed to stimulate ideas-and consensus.

Four key questions were progressively addressed during the course of the forum:

Vision-What are the characteristics of an optimum microbiological reference service system?
Model-How would you design an optimum reference services model?
Gaps-What are the gaps and issues between our optimum model and our current system?
Actions-What actions can be taken to move toward the vision? Participants were also asked to consider each topic within the context of a common set of themes:

Common themes carried through the breakout session discussions.

• Services and Research
• Structure and Linkages
• Funding
• Governance and Leadership
• Quality and Accreditation.