Medical Laboratory Procedures

Unit 1 Fundamentals of laboratory practice: introduction to laboratory practice; safety and infection control; legal and ethical considerations; quality assurance and quality control; instrumentation. Unit 2 Specimen collection: introduction to specimen collection and transport; collection of urine specimens; collection of blood specimens; collection of microbial specimens. Unit 3 Urinalysis: introduction to urinalysis procedures; physical assessment of urine; chemical analysis of urine; microscopic examiniation of urine. Unit 4 Clinical haematology and chemistry: introduction to haematology; haemoglobin; microhaematocrit; blood cell counts; blood smear preparation and differential blood count; erythrocyte sedimentation rate; introduction to clinical chemistry; blood glucose testing. Unit 5 Microbiology and immunology: introduction to microbiology; bacterial smear preparation and gram stain; introduction to immunology; streptococci testing; pregnancy testing; infectious mononucleosis testing; rheumatoid arthritis testing. Appendices: OSHA precautions in collection of specimens; abbreviations in clinical medicine; reference ranges; symbols for OSHA bloodborne pathogen exposure controls applicable to clinical procedures; 1990 DACUM analysis of the medical assisting profession.