Medical Knowledge

• Utilize all relevant information resources to acquire and evaluate evidence-based information. Demonstrate proficiency in evaluating and presenting findings from appropriate peer-reviewed journals.
• Develop and maintain a knowledge base in the basic and clinical sciences necessary for effective consultation in laboratory medicine.
• Demonstrate sufficient knowledge to determine clinically optimal yet cost-effective testing and laboratory-based therapeutic strategies, including issues of turnaround time, test menu construction, and in-house vs. referral diagnostic testing.
• Employ mathematics and statistics as appropriate to laboratory testing; understand and implement quality control (QC) and quality assurance procedures as required.
• Recognize the unique aspects of laboratory medicine practice as modified by patient age and other patient population characteristics, especially aspects of pediatric and geriatric practice.
• Demonstrate awareness and understanding of general and test-specific standards for method development and evaluation, such as those promulgated by the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI; formerly NCCLS), CAP, and similar organizations.
• Demonstrate awareness and understanding of proficiency programs, such as those provided by CAP and similar organizations.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the principles of clinical research design, implementation, and interpretation. Understand the various levels of evidence in medicine and their translation into evidence-based practice.
• Be able to design a study that can be used to validate methodologies and parameters of clinical utility for the implementation and continuing use of new evidence-based analytes in the local setting.
• Demonstrate understanding of and ability to interpret major regulations and guidelines that are applicable to collection, processing, storage, and release of blood and other cellular therapeutic products.
• Participation in at least one research project, such as clinicopathologic studies, or case reports with literature review for each senior rotation (PGY3-4 levels).
• Demonstrate familiarity with the clinical presentations and manifestations of various diseases diagnosed during work-up of abnormal pre-transfusion tests (such as cold agglutinins, antibody formation) and/or treated with blood component therapy (such as neonatal transfusions for hemolytic disease of the newborn), and therapeutic apheresis (such as TTP).