Onboarding: For New Lab Directors

Learning your surroundings: Familiarize yourself with surrounding organizations, lab program areas and functions and your budget.

First Days Checklist: Covering the basics, from security to email.
Public Health Labs’ Core Functions and Capabilities: Understand the role, value, capabilities and functions of the lab.
Scientific Program Areas: Use the APHL site to get up to speed on the program areas you may not be as familiar with, from food safety to newborn screening.
Reviewing the Reporting Structures: Determine where the lab sits within its parent organization and surrounding entities.
Budget Checklist: Learn how to work with and within your lab’s budget.
External Organizations List: Learn the organizations you’ll be interacting with.

Communicating clearly, effectively: A director may be spokesperson for the lab or help the communications team shape messages. Effective communication extends into community outreach, interacting with legislatures and working with outside deputies, officials and executives.

Communications Checklist: Use the right messages in clear, concise, meaningful ways for more effective communications, management and teamwork.
Message Development Process: Use this step-by-step message development method for all kinds of advocacy communications—within the lab or without.
Media Training: As part of its new lab director orientation, APHL will often offer hands-on media training, including on-camera guidance.

Improve yourself, better your lab: Set personal goals and realistic ways of reaching them. Tracking your own success will help strengthen your lab moving forward.

Lab Director Self-Evaluation Form: Track effectiveness at the first month mark.
Lab Director Personal Development Plan: Reach your goals in a timely manner.
Lab Director Training Plan: Further leadership skills through continued education—and contact Member Services for more training program offerings.
Lab System Improvement Program: Meet the right people and collaborate with partners toward meeting your lab system’s needs. This program helps improve labs through system performance assessments.

Be ready for anything:

Emergency Preparedness Checklist: No matter how new you are to the job, your lab must always be prepared to be an effective responder in health emergencies.
Importance of public awareness: Know how to talk about your lab in all situations—and how to make the case for its essentiality to public health. Use these guides and presentations:

Public Health Lab Awareness Toolkit - Salmonella Outbreak, Mercury Spill, Forensic Surveillance of K2

MMWR - "Guidelines for Biosafety Laboratory Competency"
Communicating with the SHO and Legislature: Get insight into dealing with these important state groups.

Training and professional development:

APHL Member Professional Development and Training: A host of services to help you develop the complex skill sets needed in running a lab.
The National Center for Public Health Laboratory Leadership: Offers new director orientation programs and other leadership forums.

Our Value Mega Menu	https://www.aphl.org/Lists/Mega Menu Story/DispForm.aspx?ID=1	Our Value Mega Menu	<div class="ExternalClassB536FA0EE1D943C292A8BC5098D300B8"><p>APHL’s AIMS platform exchanged over 250,000,000 messages in 2018, its 10th anniversary year. </p></div>	Our Value	<img alt="" src="/PublishingImages/cyber%20-%20iStock-880444220_super.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" />
Our Work Mega Menu	https://www.aphl.org/Lists/Mega Menu Story/DispForm.aspx?ID=2	Our Work Mega Menu	<div class="ExternalClass3018644464274CF1A442E6A7546F310E"><p>APHL is helping Zimbabwe to convert to viral load (VL) testing for monitoring of HIV patients. Below, the US Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Ambassador Nichols, vists Masvingo Provincial Laboratory.</p></div>	Our Work	<img alt="" src="/PublishingImages/US-Ambassador-Zimbabwe.JPG" style="BORDER:0px solid;" />
Your Resources Mega Menu	https://www.aphl.org/Lists/Mega Menu Story/DispForm.aspx?ID=3	Your Resources Mega Menu	<div class="ExternalClass1BF7DB5AC26D44A08CEFAE1E89BC7C71"><p>APHL helped 16 state newborn screening programs to implement one or more new disorders with $1,386,820 in direct funding.</p></div>	Your Resources	<img alt="" src="/PublishingImages/Baby%20-%20PHO_INF_MEIGS_2.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" />
Your Development	https://www.aphl.org/Lists/Mega Menu Story/DispForm.aspx?ID=4	Your Development	<div class="ExternalClassC1476CEF6CAA4C9A84B74137AA769F43"><p>Each year APHL partners with a public health lab to sponsor an event for local students. Here, Pasadena middle school students become “toxic crusaders” at the city’s environmental chemistry lab. </p></div>	Your Development	<img alt="" src="/PublishingImages/toxic_crusaders.JPG" style="BORDER:0px solid;" />
I Want To	https://www.aphl.org/Lists/Mega Menu Story/DispForm.aspx?ID=5	I Want To	<div class="ExternalClass6F92F0D3EF0C4D3083DEDA3F0D150994"><p>In collaboration with CDC, APHL sponsors multiple fellowships in diverse disciplines. Below, Infectious Disease Fellow Chelsea Carmen works at the bench.</p></div>	I Want To	<img alt="" src="/PublishingImages/ID-Fellow-ChelseaCarman.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" />

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Onboarding: For New Lab Directors

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