Assessment of Pathology Learning Modules With Virtual Microscopy in a Preclinical Medical School Curriculum.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the ability of pathology modules to promote learning of pathology-related course content in a preclinical medical education curriculum. METHODS: Pathology modules were created for the "Hematology/Oncology" and "Women's Health" (WH) courses. Students were recruited over 2 consecutive academic years; cohorts 1 and 2 refer to 2 separate groups of students in years 1 and 2, respectively, of the study. Course performance data were collected. RESULTS: Use of pathology modules resulted in a statistically significant higher correlation between performance on the final examination and pathology-related questions in the Hematology/Oncology course and written examination and pathology-related questions in cohort 1 in the WH course. There was statistically significant improvement (P = .026) on pathology-related laboratory practical examination questions in the WH course for cohort 1, and no other statistically significant improvement for the other cohorts and examinations. The percentage of students completing all or part of the modules was highest in the WH course for cohort 1 (60%) compared with WH course cohort 2 (33%) and Hematology/Oncology cohort 1 (30%) and cohort 2 (39%). CONCLUSIONS: Pathology modules may improve acquisition and retention of pathology-related course content when used appropriately.

Does routine repeat testing of critical values offer any advantage over single testing?

CONTEXT: Before being communicated to the caregiver, critical laboratory values are verified by repeat testing to ensure their accuracy and to avoid reporting false or erroneous results. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether 2 testing runs offered any advantage over a single testing run in ensuring accuracy or in avoiding the reporting of false or erroneous results. DESIGN: Within the hematology laboratory, 5 tests were selected: hemoglobin level, white blood cell count, platelet count, prothrombin time, and activated partial thromboplastin time. A minimum of 500 consecutive critical laboratory test values were collected retrospectively for each test category. The absolute value and the percentage of change between the 2 testing runs for each critical value were calculated and averaged for each test category and then compared with our laboratory's preset, acceptable tolerance limits for reruns. RESULTS: The mean results obtained for the absolute value and the percentage of change between the testing runs were 0.08 g/dL (1.4%) for hemoglobin levels, 50 cells/µL (10.2%) for white blood cell counts, 1500 cells/µL (9.9%) for platelet counts, 0.7 seconds (1.4%) for prothrombin time, and 5.1 seconds (4.4%) for activated partial thromboplastin time (all within our laboratory's acceptable tolerance limits for reruns). The percentage of specimens with an absolute value or a mean percentage of change outside our laboratory's acceptable tolerance limits for reruns ranged between 0% and 2.2% among the test categories. No false or erroneous results were identified between the 2 testing runs in any category. CONCLUSIONS: Routine, repeat testing of critical hemoglobin level, platelet count, white blood cell count, prothrombin time, and activated partial thromboplastin time results did not offer any advantage over a single run.