>editor Some called him "the guru of near patient and physicians' office laboratory testing." Richard E. Belsey, MD was an educator, philosopher, and innovator in clinical pathology. His major areas of activity were related to the quality and relevance of testing and in maintaining the quality of testing as it moved from the traditional laboratory to sites closer to the patient and to physicians' offices. As a team, he and I wrote 3 books and 55 articles directed to the laboratory community,

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... ufacturers, and regulators. We often appeared at symposia and presented many workshops. During a 10-year period, we co-directed ASCP workshops on consultation to physicians' office laboratories, managing near patient testing, quality management, and preparing for accreditation inspections. ASCP Press published our self-study program, Lab-Works, for office laboratory directors and staff. He was concerned about providing those without formal laboratory training the tools and knowledge to produce high quality test results. These activities were influential in shaping the instruments now used in near patient testing, the regulations governing its performance, and the oversight methods used by laboratory professionals in relating to near patient testing. Belsey entered medicine relatively late, in his 40s, after a successful career in the drapery business and several years as a junior high school teacher in New York City. Much of his thinking in medicine was shaped by the pragmatism of the business world. He started his medical career as an internist with subspecialty boards in endocrinology. He soon became director of the laboratories at Harvard Community Health