THE WESTGARD WORKSHOPS: CLASS OF 2001

The Westgard Workshops of 2001 were a great success. The atmosphere was more like a "retreat" than a formal seminar or lecture. Both workshops included ample time for questions & answer sessions, as well as discussions on how to apply the teachings once the workshops were over. Attendance was closed at thirty participants, so everyone had plenty of opportunities to discuss their own views, problems, and experiences with their peers and with Dr. Westgard. (And they had plenty of coffee, pastries, fruit, cookies, and some wonderful lunches.) In addition to participants from hospitals and laboratories from around the world, we had participants from: Beckman Coulter, Covance Laboratories, Kaiser Permanente, LabCorp, Quest Diagnostics, Radiometer, and Roche When they weren't in the workshop, participants had time to explore Madison, one of the most livable cities in the US. The second night, we arranged a visit to the downtown district, the University of Wisconsin's Student Union terrace and State Street. Local beer was drunk, brats were eaten. We even heard that some participants sampled the more exotic restaurant cuisine (Kangaroo!). Basic Planning for Quality This workshop gave people a thorough grounding on the fundamentals of Quality Planning. Dr. Westgard used the Basic Planning for Quality manual as a resource, but added significantly to the seminar topics by using audience examples. Most important was the fact that simple manual tools were included in this workshop so that participants had everything they needed to begin performing Quality Planning immediately upon return to their home laboratories.

Workshop Photos Part of the Six Sigma QC Class of 2001 Top row: Stan Johnson, Pat Shaw, Liz Mac Namara, Joan Westgard, James Westgard, Malak Rizk Bottom row: Robert Kennedy, Thomas Krarup, Gitte Wennecke, Susan Becker, Gloria Lauher, Mary Telander And just to prove that the participants weren't drinking the whole time, here's a taken photo from inside the conference room:

Six Sigma Quality Design and Control

The Six Sigma workshop proved to be the most provocative, interesting, revelatory, and challenging workshop. Dr. Westgard explained the basics of Six Sigma, and showed how current laboratory Sigma levels compared to Sigma levels in other industries. In other words, he did one thing that's been impossible to do up until now: objectively benchmark healthcare laboratories with industries and services outside of healthcare. The results were eye-opening. Then Dr. Westgard showed how the Sigma values of laboratory methods could be improved. We were lucky to have several Quest Diagnostics personnel in attendance - who were deeply involved in their own company-wide Six Sigma program.

Here are some quotes from participants, taken from anonymous evaluation forms:

"Most informative! A new way of seeing things! I hope to be able to
take these principles home and apply them. Thank you, Dr. Westgard"

"This was one of the most unique and thought provoking workshops I have been to in the last 20 years. The level of expertise of the speaker
combined with the innovation of the applications involved was way beyond all my expectations."

"Overall the quality of these few days have been six sigma. Thanks to
all the members of the Westgard family for lots of inspiration and your
kind hospitality"

Future Workshops

We will be holding the Westgard Workshops again next year, tentatively at the end of May. We will change the topics somewhat. The first workshop will be Basic QC Practices. The second and third days will be devoted again to Six Sigma Quality Design and Control, however there will be some changes in the presentation of the material, to allow more interactive team exercises and even greater audience participation. We look forward to seeing you there!