Practical Skills in Clinical Pathology and Biochemistry  - SHB4021

Assessment 1: Focused classwork observations

In-class tutorials

Assessment 1: Practical Skills Assessment

In-class practical assessments and reports

Assessment 3: Portfolio

Reflective commentary in pathobiology

Assessment 2: In-Class Test

Test

Cellular pathology is the microscopic examination of normal and abnormal cells (cytopathology), and tissues (histopathology) for indicators of disease. Students will prepare and analyse specimens with disease-relevant markers and familiarise themselves with the use of light microscopy and interpretation of generated data. Immunohistochemistry slides will be prepared, processed and stained with antibodies and staining patterns will be compared between normal and diseased tissues. Lectures will be sectioned into an introduction to anatomy followed by an introduction to tissue architecture and organ function with particular reference to pathological diseases including cancer. The theory and concepts of clinically relevant techniques such as histochemistry and immunohistochemistry utilising chromogenic or fluorescent detection will be discussed with special reference to standardised clinical pathology services.
 
Clinical biochemistry is the investigation of the function and dysfunction of systems, organs and tissues by the measurement of biochemical markers. Lectures will expose students to the broad range of function tests (e.g. liver, cardiac, kidney, pancreatic, thyroid function tests). The different biochemicals used as tumour markers will be described with an overview of the methodology used in laboratory tests. Methods for detection of triglycerides and LDL cholesterol will be discussed alongside the factors which may affect the accuracy of the test. Therapeutic drug monitoring will be discussed with reference to optimizing individual dosage regimens appropriate for the clinical condition.
 
Quality Control in a clinical laboratory will be discussed with tutorials on the use of Levey-Jennings Charts and Westgard rules.

School of Applied Sciences

SHB4021 - Practical Skills in Clinical Pathology and Biochemistry 

Practical Skills in Clinical Pathology and Biochemistry 

the differences between normal and diseased tissues

describe the gross structure and ultrastructure of normal cells and tissues and the structural changes which may occur during disease

describe how various diseases are caused at the biochemical level and how this may lead to the presentation of different symptoms. 

apply Westgard rules to evaluate the quality of analytical runs

the principles and applications of biochemical investigations used for screening, diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of disease 

analyse and interpret staining patterns with particular reference to pathologies such as cancer 

detection methods and investigation of substance abuse. 

how therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is applied to difficult-to-manage-medications to optimize clinical outcomes. 

the application of histochemical and immunohistochemical techniques to identify pathological disorders such as cancer in patient specimen

reproductive science, including infertility and embryology

the principles and applications of visualisation and imaging techniques, including microscopy, to aid diagnosis and treatment selection.

perform an ELISA to analyse samples for the presence of proteins or metabolites

prepare and stain cells or tissues with dyes and/or antibodies for microscopic examination

principles of anatomy and tissue architecture/organ function

analyse samples using clinical tests to detect and diagnose metabolic abnormalities/disease (e.g. liver and/or kidney disease

the range, and methods used for the collection of, clinical samples that may be subjected to biochemical analysis

create a Levey-Jennings Chart and use this to evaluate the quality of analytical runs 