BIOB3100 Transfusion Medicine and Medical Immunology Course description

Biomedical laboratory scientists play a key role in transfusion medicine. They are responsible for ensuring that safe and correct blood products reach the patients at the right time. Work at a blood bank requires a good understanding of immunology, genetics and cell membrane chemistry, as well as the physiology and function of blood cells. Topics included in the course are how to select and collect blood from donors, production of blood components, blood typing, i dentification of antibodies, compatibility testing and hemotherapy.

Biomedical laboratory scientists also perform important tasks relating to medical immunology, as well as organ transplantation and stem cell treatment. The biomedical laboratory scientist must have a good understanding of this part of immunology in order to perform the laboratory investigations that are necessary to make diagnoses in medical immunology and before transplantation from a donor to a patient.

Hematology is the study of blood and blood diseases. This is a basic hematology course, focusing on the blood cells’ development, function and morphology, and the most important blood diseases. The course will give students a foundation for analysing hematology and coagulation samples, and for quality assuring, interpreting and assessing test results.

The course deals with genetics, genes, DNA structure and function, and elucidates different approaches to how the field is studied and applied clinically. Gene technology methods are used in many of the health services’ laboratories - medical genetics, microbiology, pathology, biochemistry, hematology and immunology. Among other things, the methods are used in disease diagnostics, individually adapted medication, in vitro fertilisation, and in the detection of infectious microorganisms. New technology provides increasing opportunities to map hereditary factors and risks relating to the development of disease in future. This is strictly regulated in the Biotechnology Act. Ethical aspects of genetic analyses, both at the individual and societal levels, are therefore a key part of the course. The DNA analyses are used to identify persons, for instance in forensic medicine, which is not part of the health service.

In order to carry out the analyses and process and understand the results from the different fields, it is important to have knowledge of the methods used and have background knowledge of DNA and genes. Large quantities of data from new technology also makes requirements of competence and skills in bioinformatics.

The course consists of the following subject areas, specified below as the number of credits:

• Hematology and morphology 8 credits
• Hemostasis 2 credits

After completing the course, the student is expected to have achieved the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence: 

Knowledge 

The student 

• has knowledge of the structure and function of the different blood cells
• can characterise blood cells in a non-pathological blood sample and describe the selected pathological cells/conditions
• can describe the principles for different methods of measuring selected hematology and coagulation analyses
• can describe the significance of different analyses for diagnosis and treatment
• can explain the principle for manual counting and differentiation of blood cells
• can explain different sources of error relating to hematological analyses and how the sources of error can affect the results
• can explain the hemostasis mechanism
• can describe some blood diseases

Skills 

The student

• can carry out regular manual and automatic hematology and coagulation analyses
• can perform start-up, daily maintenance and quality control of hematology and coagulation instruments
• can identify and characterise normal and certain pathological cells/conditions in the blood by means of manual and digital morphology
• can assess and assure the quality of sample materials and test results
• can assess and interpret scattergrams (plots) from automatic cell counters
• can interpret test results in conjunction with other parameters

General competence

The student

• can make plans for and carry out own laboratory work by using relevant documents such as procedures, product information and method applications

In order to be permitted to take the exam, the following must have been approved: 

• a minimum of 90 per cent attendance in laboratory teaching

Supervised individual written exam, combination of multiple choice and free text assignments, 3 hours.

No aids are permitted.

Supervised individual written exam, 4 hours

Alphanumeric/financial calculator with cleared memory. A digital calculator is available to the student during the exam.

All answers are assessed by two examiners. An external examiner is used regularly, at a minimum of every third completion of the course. When selecting answers for external evaluation, a minimum of 10 percent of the answers shall be included, with no fewer than 5 answers. The external examiner’s assessment of the selected answers shall benefit all students.