Knowledge of Laboratory Medicine in Medical Students: Is It Sufficient?

Abstract

KEYWORDS ABSTRACTClinical pathology, Education, Laboratory medicine, Medical studentScan to discover online Background & Objective: Appropriate use of laboratory testing is essential for achieving safe and effective care to patient. Insufficient knowledge could lead to poor case management and increase the health care costs. It is believed that education on laboratory testing for undergraduate medical student is inadequate. This study was designed to evaluate the level of knowledge of 5 and 6 year undergraduate medical students in field of laboratory medicine.Methods: Totally, 59 questions including 8 basic questions concerning individual assessment of their knowledge and 51 objective questions focusing on various stages of test ordering and interpretation were asked.Results: Thirty seven undergraduate medical students at the level of internship participated. On average, 47.9% of students evaluated themselves as "weak" in 8 selfassessment questions. There was no significant difference between responders assessment on their own knowledge in various aspects of laboratory testing (P=0.184).In the objective questions regarding various stages of test ordering including preanalytic, analytic and post analytic phases,45.6%,51.9% and 50% correct answers were reported ,respectively. Comparison of the level of the knowledge of the students regarding various stages of pathology testing did not show significant difference (P=0.638). Conclusion:Prioritizing an effective teaching method of laboratory medicine to medical students on appropriate time should be considered in medical school curriculum for better clinical decision making and optimal modern medical care. Main Subjects: Clinical Pathology

Development of a virtual classroom for pre-analytical phase of laboratory medicine for undergraduate medical students using the Delphi technique

“…The level of satisfaction of majority students in our study reflects utility of our session design in terms of both engaging the students, acquiring new knowledge and fostering their learning. Such level of satisfaction is in agreement with other studies with similar introduction of laboratory medicine teachings [ 9 , 11 , 32 ]. The developed classroom can not only be used for undergraduate medical students, but it can also serve as a useful tool for Pathology & Laboratory Medicine residents, fellows and technologists.…”

“…Despite the increasing attention and importance of prevention of the errors for quality improvement, there is lack of formal education of laboratory medicine in most of the medical school curricula across the globe [ 8 – 11 ]. Studies have reported inadequate knowledge of undergraduate medical students about various phases of pathology testing [ 9 ]. Inadequate knowledge in this field, makes medical students more prone to inappropriate test ordering and mistakes in interpreting the results as future health care providers [ 10 ].…”

Gamified versus non-gamified online educational modules for teaching clinical laboratory medicine to first-year medical students at a large allopathic medical school in the United States

“…Laboratory medicine, an often overlooked subset of undergraduate pathology education [ 13 ], is an area that may benefit from well-planned innovative teaching solutions. As medical knowledge continues to expand, so do discoveries related to diagnostic testing [ 14 , 15 ]; however, many medical students graduate unprepared to be good stewards of the clinical laboratory [ 15 – 20 ]. Improper utilization of laboratory services can lead to waste, misdiagnosis, and patient harm [ 14 – 16 , 21 , 22 ].…”