An Algorithm for Curriculum Decisions in Medical Laboratory Science Education

Advances in medical science occur at a dramatic rate, leading to new knowledge and technology that changes clinical laboratory practice. To prepare students for entry level practice and careers in the clinical laboratory profession, MLT and MLS educators need to continually review their curricula to decide what should be added or deleted. Decisions about deleting content are difficult but important in order to avoid curriculum saturation and to facilitate learning. This article presents a rationale for deleting some content and an algorithm that can guide decisions about what to teach and what not to teach. ABBREVIATIONS: ASCLS - American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science, ASCP - American Society for Clinical Pathology, BOC - Board of Certification, CBC - Complete Blood Count, CLEC - Clinical Laboratory Educators' Conference, CLSI - Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute, FAB - French-American-British, MALDI-TOF - Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time of Flight, MLS - Medical Laboratory Science, MLT - Medical Laboratory Technician, NAACLS - National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences, SSA - Sulfosalicylic Acid, WHO - World Health Organization