This course introduces clinical laboratory procedures, including hematology, blood chemistry, urinalysis, and serology. Students learn the appropriate use of clinical laboratory tests as screening and/or diagnostic tools and the differences between and significance of normal and abnormal laboratory values. Students learn to understand the importance of the sensitivity and specificity of various laboratory tests in explaining why a particular laboratory value falls outside the normal reference range. In the corresponding laboratory sessions, students learn “universal precautions,” risks associated with exposure to blood borne pathogens, and proper procedures for collecting blood and other specimens, and perform simple laboratory procedures that can be utilized as in-office tests.
- Instructor: Leslie Fuller