Postgraduate Course: Principles of Laboratory Medicine (GMED11065)

Course Outline
School	Deanery of Clinical Sciences	College	College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Credit level (Normal year taken)	SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate)	Availability	Not available to visiting students
SCQF Credits	10	ECTS Credits	5
Summary	This programme aims to ensure that practitioners have a sound understanding of the laboratory techniques used to aid in the diagnosis of common general medical problems. Key clinical cases will be used to improve understanding in each of the disciplines- microbiology, haematology and biochemistry. Students will discuss how to interpret a blood film, diagnose coagulation disorders, make a microbiological diagnosis and conduct simple biochemistry assays. This module will also cover hospital-acquired infection, resistance patterns, lipid metabolism, porphyrias and some of the more unusual diagnoses requiring clinical biochemistry input. It will cover common clinical pitfalls and be largely taught by way of problem based learning using clinical scenarios.
Course description	Not entered

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites		Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations		Other requirements	None

Course Delivery Information

Academic year 2015/16, Not available to visiting students (SS1)		Quota: None
Course Start	Semester 2
Timetable	Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info)	Total Hours: 100 ( Lecture Hours 10, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 5, Online Activities 50, Summative Assessment Hours 10, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 25 )
Assessment (Further Info)	Written Exam 70 %, Coursework 30 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment)	Formal summative written assessment will constitute 70% of the studentżs grade. This will take the form of an online MCQ exam. Online assessment (participation in discussion boards, group work or short written assignments) will constitute the other 30% of their overall course grade and is taken to represent a formative assessment of their learning throughout the module.
Feedback	Not entered
No Exam Information

Learning Outcomes
At completion of this course the candidate should have a basic understand of the techniques used in laboratory medicine to aid in the diagnosis of clinical conditions. The candidate should: ż Understand various methods used to conduct biochemistry assays (ELISAs, immunoassays etc.) and the benefits and disadvantages of these ż Be able to interpret most commonly used biochemical tests, understanding their limitations ż Gain an appreciation of clinical scenarios that might result in spurious results. ż Understand various methods used to diagnose common haematological conditions and coagulation problems. ż Be able to interpret common abnormalities on a blood film ż Be able to diagnose some common microbiological infections from examination of culture dishes ż Have an appreciation of the other common techniques used in microbiological/ virology diagnosis such as PCR.