Greetings Gang 😈😜 Real talk: it’s been quiet in here, and that’s on me. There are 2,100 of you, all working toward the same goal: passing the ASCP. That’s way too many smart people to be studying alone. So starting today, I’m showing up in here every weekday with something to help you study, like helpful hint/tips, mini-quizzes, and exam traps. All you have to do is show up too. Your first job (it takes 10 seconds) is to comment below with: 1. Your exam date (if you have one, if not, just put the tentative month) 2. The subject you dread most I’ll reply to every single one. The subject that gets the most votes will be the topic of my next post. If you want to go all in, my paid community kicks off 7 days of live study sessions on November 1st, one subject per day. Members also get my ultimate mycology chart, thalassemias and anemias quick guide and the bacteriology buzzwords cheat sheet. 👉🏽 Join here: https://www.skool.com/microscopeviews Let’s get it poppin in here, Gang! — Marilyn

Greetings Gang 😈😜 Oh boy... the very first time I saw an antigram, I wanted to walk out of class. A whole grid of +’s and 0’s, and somehow I’m supposed to find the antibody hiding in there? But here’s what nobody tells you: 𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺 𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗹. You just have to pick the right answer. Those are two different skills, and here’s how to do the second one. 1. Read the question BEFORE the panel. 2. Are they asking which antibody is present? Which one can’t be ruled out? Which units to give? Which test to do next? Each one needs a different amount of work. Don’t solve the whole panel when the question only asks what to do next. 3. Work backwards from the answer choices. 4. This is the biggest time-saver. Instead of crossing out all 20+ antigens, 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗹. 5. Pick an answer, say anti-Jkᵃ. Look down the Jkᵃ column. 6. Is every Jkᵃ-positive cell reacting? Is every Jkᵃ-negative cell nonreactive? 7. If a Jkᵃ-positive cell is a 0, and it’s a homozygous cell, cross that answer off. 8. Four answer choices = four column checks. That’s it. 9. Glance at the autocontrol and phases first. They give you a head start. 10. AC negative = alloantibody. AC positive = think autoantibody, a recent transfusion or a drug like daratumumab. 11. Reacting only at immediate spin or room temp = think cold/IgM: Lewis, I, M, N, P1. 12. Reacting at 37 °C or AHG = think IgG: Rh, Kell, Kidd, Duffy, S/s. 13. Sometimes this alone knocks out two answer choices before you even look at the grid. 14. Mark your homozygous cells. 15. Dosage antigens: Rh (C, c, E, e), Kidd, Duffy and MNS. Only rule these out on cells with a double dose. On your scratch board, star the homozygous cells for whichever antigen you’re checking so you don’t get tricked. 16. Read the reaction strengths. 17. All cells react at the same strength + AC negative = antibody to a high-frequency antigen. 18. Different strengths = dosage or more than one antibody. 19. AC positive + all cells positive = warm autoantibody (or daratumumab). 20. Know the “what’s next” clues. 21. Can’t rule out Duffy or MNS? → enzyme panel (enzymes destroy them). 22. Kell in the way or a daratumumab patient? → DTT-treated cells. 23. Cold antibody masking things? → prewarm. 24. Warm auto covering everything up? → adsorption. 25. Practice like it’s game day.

Greetings Gang 😈😜 I gotta be honest... biochemicals are the WORST. Even now after 10 years of being in the field and over a year of teaching them... Catalase, coagulase, oxidase, bile esculin, PYR, CAMP, novobiocin... it starts to feel like a lost cause. The problem isn’t your memory. It’s how most of us study them: as long lists. Your brain doesn’t store lists well. It stores stories, pictures and decisions. Here’s how to switch. 1. Every biochemical answers ONE question. Stop memorizing “S. aureus: catalase +, coagulase +, DNase +, mannitol +...” Instead, ask: “𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴?” - Catalase: Staph (+) vs. Strep/Enterococcus (−) - Coagulase: S. aureus (+) vs. all other Staph (−) - Novobiocin: S. epidermidis (sensitive) vs. S. saprophyticus (resistant) - Bacitracin / PYR: Group A Strep, S. pyogenes (sensitive / +) - CAMP / hippurate: Group B Strep, S. agalactiae (+) - Optochin / bile solubility: S. pneumoniae (sensitive / soluble) vs. viridans strep - Bile esculin + 6.5% NaCl: Enterococcus (+ / +) vs. group D strep (+ / −) - Oxidase: Pseudomonas, Neisseria, Vibrio, Campylobacter, Helicobacter (+) vs. Enterobacterales (−) If you know what each test splits, you can work out the answer even when you blank on the details. 2. Learn flowcharts, not facts. The exam gives you clues one step at a time, like a flowchart: Gram stain → morphology → arrangement → first test → second test. Study the same way. Example: Gram-positive cocci in clusters → catalase + → coagulase − → novobiocin resistant → UTI in a young woman = S. saprophyticus. Action step: Draw the gram-positive cocci flowchart from memory on a blank page every day this week. Day 1 will be hella messy, but by Day 5 you’ll be doing it in 2 minutes. 3. Give every organism a “personality card," and a gender LOL. Make one card per organism with: - Gram stain + shape: what it looks like under the scope - Plate: what the colony looks like (color, hemolysis, smell) - 1–2 key biochemicals: only the ones that separate it from look-alikes - The disease: the clinical story

Greetings Gang 😈😜 Be honest: is mycology the section you dread most? You’re not alone. It’s full of look-alike molds, budding yeasts and names that keep changing. So I made The Ultimate Mycology Chart for the ASCP. What’s inside: - 72 organisms: yeasts, dimorphic fungi, dermatophytes, Mucorales, and hyaline and dematiaceous molds - Key ID features, diseases and red diagnostic pearls for each one - Look-alikes the exam loves to test, like Sepedonium vs. Histoplasma - Reference pages for stains, ID tests and culture media Here’s a free pearl: Mold in the cold, yeast in the heat... except Coccidioides, which makes spherules in tissue. And if a fluffy white mold grows from a patient who traveled to the Southwest, it stays in the biological safety cabinet! Get the full chart for $19, or get it FREE when you join Microscope Views Inner Circle, along with my antibody panel guide, anemias and thalassemias cheat sheet and the 7 days of live study sessions every month (1st–7th). 👉🏽 Buy the chart: https://www.skool.com/microscopeviewsfree/classroom ✨ Join and get it free: https://www.skool.com/microscopeviews — Marilyn

Hello I am a fresh BS MLT graduate and planning to prepare for the ASCP exam. Is MLT the same as MLS, or is there any difference between them for ASCP eligibility? Thank you.