Introduction
The Korean Society of Pathologists, mother society of Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine (KSLM) was inaugurated on October 1st, 1946 by 20 some pioneers in Seoul. And its first Congress was held in 1949 and their contribution to medical advancement was evident in diagnosis of cancer and malignant neoplasm. Clinical Pathology (Laboratory Medicine) was incorporated as the 2nd Division of the Korean Society of Pathologists in 1960. In 1963, 49 clinical pathologists were certified by the board (Korean government).
The Korean Society of Pathologists, mother society of Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine (KSLM) was inaugurated on October 1st, 1946 by 20 some pioneers in Seoul. And its first Congress was held in 1949 and their contribution to medical advancement was evident in diagnosis of cancer and malignant neoplasm. Clinical Pathology (Laboratory Medicine) was incorporated as the 2nd Division of the Korean Society of Pathologists in 1960. In 1963, 49 clinical pathologists were certified by the board (Korean government).
The KSLM has 1154 members (clinical pathologists) and 134 doctors in training (residents) as of January, 2024. The society is represented by the chairperson of the board and the president. The chairperson of the board is the head of the board of directors and in charge of day to day business operation and future planning. He or she is also in charge of all professional and academic committees of KSLM. And the president is in charge of academic affairs such as conferences and represents the KSLM as head figure to the business outside of the KSLM. Besides board, we have senate, composed of senators or elders of the society, which makes final decisions on important matters and recommends those to the general assembly. As of 2024, we have 34 directors and 33 professional and academic committees.
The KSCP was admitted to the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies as a full member in 1983 and as a full member of KMA. First CME for clinics was held in 1984 as a part of an annual meeting, conference and monthly conferences. The KSLM members are playing key roles in affiliated professional societies such as the Korean Society for Laboratory Hematology, the Korean Society of Clinical Chemistry, the Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology, the Korean Society for Diagnostic Immunology, the Korean Society of Blood Transfusion, Korean Society for Genetic Diagnostics. And pioneers of KSLM members established the Korean Sssociation of External Quality Assessment Service, a nationwide proficiency testing body, which is running very successful external quality assessment survey all across the disciplines of laboratory.
The Korean Society of Laboratory (KSLM) Medicine organizes annual conference, publishes journal, and provides proficiency testing (PT). The KSLM also provides the Outstanding Laboratory Accreditation Program with the Laboratory Medicine Foundation for the laboratories across the nation. We also collaborate with the government and th National Health Insurance Service of Korea, and other professional organizations in order to improve the quality of medical laboratory services for better patient care.
1) Academic Activities (Conferences, Journal)
The KSLM hosts two regular academic meetings each year: one is the Spring Symposium, and the other is the LMCE (Laboratory Medicine Congress & Exhibition) & KSLM Annual Meeting,
serving as an international congress in autumn. The LMCE is emerging as Asia's premier laboratory medicine event, attracting over 2,000 participants and approximately 200 exhibitors from
around 20 countries worldwide. Monthly conferences are held six times a year.
The KSLM publishes the SCI-E journal Annals of Laboratory Medicine (ALM) and Laboratory Medicine Online (LMO) as official academic journals. ALM achieved an impact factor of 4.9
in 2023 and is listed in Q1 within the category of Medical Laboratory Technology.
2) The Outstanding Laboratory Accreditation Program and PT
The Outstanding Laboratory Accreditation Program provided by the Korean Society of Laboratory Medicine (KSLM) was launched in 1999 and business was delegated to
the Laboratory Medicine Foundation (LMF). Inspection checklist for 14 inspection fields including ‘laboratory management’, ‘clinical chemistry’,’urinalysis and microscopy’,
‘diagnostic hematology’, ‘clinical microbiology’, ‘diagnostic immunology’, ‘transfusion medicine’, ‘cytogenetics’, ‘molecular genetics’, ‘histocompatibility testing’, ‘flow cytometry’,
‘POCT’, ‘comprehensive verification’, and ’referral medical laboratory’. About 340 institutions were accredited and received certificates from LMF. For the past 25 years,
the laboratory accreditation program has enhanced overall quality of the clinical laboratories in Korea. Its main contributing points were systematic approach to the laboratory quality
from pre-analytic phase, analytical phase to post-analytical phase. All aspects of clinical laboratory activities are to be inspected by the surveyors. The standard and surveyor
training program were accredited by ISQuaEEA, establishing itself as a world-class laboratory certification program.
The Korean-Japanese Joint Meeting of Clinical Pathologists was held from 1976 to 1988, alternating between Korea and Japan. In 1990, the Asian Conference of Clinical Pathology (The Asian Society of Clinical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, ASCPaLM) was established, inviting colleagues from Taiwan and other Asian countries. The 2nd Asian Conference of Clinical Pathology took place in Jeju in May 1992, with delegates from Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and other countries. In 2003, the 22nd World Congress of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (WSAPaLM) was successfully held in Busan. The KSLM sponsored many international conferences, such as the 5th International Conference of Laboratory Automation and Robotics in 2006 and the 12th Asian-Pacific Congress of Clinical Biochemistry in October 2010. The KSLM supports the Asian Network for Clinical Laboratory Standardization and Harmonization and its Asian Quality Assurance Survey program (AQuAS). The 10th Congress of ANCLS was held in conjunction with the 50th KSLM annual meeting in Daegu in October 2009. The KSLM is prepared to serve the academic communities in clinical pathology fields.
KSLM also maintains close collaborative relationships with major laboratory medicine organizations in the United States, such as the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM), the Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI), and the College of American Pathologists (CAP). Through this partnership, KSLM has hosted joint sessions during the LMCE international academic conference. Since 2010, as part of KSLM's 30th-anniversary project, we have annually conducted the Korean translation of CLSI standard guidelines, with a total of 147 document translations completed by 2023.