DIAG207-1009: Quality Management for the Veterinary Clinical Pathology Laboratory, Part II

INSTRUCTORS:
Kathleen P. Freeman, DVM, BS, MS, PhD, DipECVCP, MRCPath, MRCVS,Certificate in Laboratory Quality Management (University of Wisconsin)
In conjunction with the European College for Veterinary Clinical Pathology, Committee for Laboratory Standards
Martina Becker, DVM, DrMedVet,DipECVCP, Clinical Pathologist, Novartis Laboratories, Basel, Switzerland
Ernst Leidinger, DVM, Dip.ECVCP, Specialist for Clinical Pathologist (national); Lab director and clinical pathologist at In Vitro laboratory in Vienna, Austria
Elizabeth Villiers, BVSc, DipRCPath, Dip.ECVCP, Cert VR, Cert SAM, MRCVS. European Specialist in Veterinary Clinical Pathology

DATES:
October 4 - December 20, 2009
Real-time sessions: Sundays, October 4, 18, November 1, 15, 29 and December 13; 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm ET (USA)

Course Description

The course, "Quality Management for the Veterinary Clinical Pathology Laboratory," is designed to provide an introduction to and practical application of quality management in the veterinary clinical pathology laboratory. It is given in one 14-week and one 12-week part (Part I and Part II). Part I is a prerequisite for Part II.

In Part I, participants will be introduced to theories of management and concepts vital to quality planning. Examples of ISO-based and GLP standards will be included. Laboratory design, Westgard Rules, QC Validation and Sigma Metrics will be covered.

In Part II, participants will study personnel specifications, job descriptions, training records and employee appraisals, learn about audits in the veterinary clinical pathology laboratory and determination of reference intervals. Improvement Opportunities, external Quality Assurance performance and a Quality Plan for the laboratory are the final topics in Part II.

There will be real-time sessions every other week. The majority of the work will be done by e-mail of drafts and revisions to the instructors, with the final products of some sections shared with the rest of the participants by posting on the course message boards. The review and participant questions will also be shared on the course message boards. In order to demonstrate satisfactory participation in this course, participants are expected to attend all of the real-time sessions, hand in completed homework assignments and to work with the instructor(s) in revising assigned items until both the instructor(s) and participant are satisfied with the results, as well as pass the examination with a score of at least 60%.

There is some flexibility in the length of time of the course to accommodate holidays for the Instructors and participants. These should be arranged in advance between the instructor and the participants assigned to him/her.

Objectives:

At the end of Part II of this course, the participants should:

1. Understand concepts of personnel specification, job descriptions, training records and employee appraisals and their relationships and show how to approach this by drafting a personnel specification, job description, training record and employee appraisal form for a position within the veterinary clinical pathology laboratory.

2. Know how to apply quality standards for an audit in the Veterinary Clinical Pathology Laboratory and show how to do this by writing an SOP for an audit and designing an Audit Form for a process or task and conducting an audit for an item within his/her laboratory.

3. Know how to do health and safety risk assessments for the Veterinary Clinical Pathology Laboratory and show how to do this by designing a Risk Assessment Form and performing a Risk Assessment for an item within his/her laboratory.

4. Know how to evaluate performance of the laboratory in external Quality Assurance (QA) and show how to do this by evaluating external QA for an instrument within his/her laboratory choice and making recommendations based on the findings.

5. Know about continuous quality improvement in the laboratory and show how to promote this by developing an Improvement Opportunity Form.

6. Know how to apply concepts for quality planning in order to promote ongoing quality improvement with the veterinary clinical pathology laboratory and show how to apply concepts for quality planning by drafting a Quality Plan for his/her laboratory.

7. Share their thoughts, experiences, comments and work with others in the course in order to contribute to better understanding of the topics and appreciation of the approaches taken by others to similar or different laboratory circumstances

8. Successfully pass an examination with multiple choice, short answer and/or essay questions regarding the above topics by achieving a score of > or = 60%

COURSE OUTLINE:
Dates in parentheses indicate the date of the real-time session.

Week 1 (October 4): Personnel Specifications, Job Descriptions, Training Records and Appraisal

Week 2: Personnel Specifications, Job Descriptions, Training Records and Appraisal (no Week 2 real-time session)

Week 3 (October 18): Audit

Week 4: Audit (no Week 4 real-time session)

Week 5 (November 1): Health and Safety Risk Assessment

Week 6: Reference Intervals (no Week 6 real-time session)

Week 7 (November 15): Reference Intervals

Week 8: Improvement Opportunities (no Week 8 real-time session)

Week 9 (November 29): External QA Performance Evaluation

Week 10: Quality Plan for the Clinical Pathology Laboratory (no Week 10 real-time session)

Week 11 (December 13): Review, Discussions, Questions and Sharing

Week 12: Examination (no Week 12 real-time session)

MESSAGE BOARD DISCUSSIONS:
Discussions will begin on the start date of the course and continue for 7 days following the last real-time session.

CE HOURS: 9 (for RACE)
4.0 ECVCP Training Credits

TUITION:
Member and Non-Member/$650
Course not open to veterinary students.

Prerequisite:
Part I is a prerequisite for Part II.

The instructors require that participants of this course have a specific type of training and experience, due to the advanced level of the course material.

The majority of candidates will be those in training for a career in clinical pathology or those who already working in the clinical pathology laboratory. In some instances there may be a practitioner or veterinary nurse with an intense interest in clinical pathology that may wish to take this course, but should be advised that the course is intensive and will require a considerable input of time and effort when coming from a background without prior experience in a clinical pathology laboratory typical of a University or reference laboratory.

Desired experience should include:
- prior experience in a clinical pathology laboratory environment - prior experience in clinical pathology laboratory testing - interest in quality systems for the clinical pathology laboratory - interest in provision of leadership and quality management in the clinical pathology laboratory - desire to gain experience in application of quality management and planning principles using data from your own laboratory, with guidance from experienced clinical pathologists who are experts in quality leadership and quality management.

Required Textbook: None

Recommended Textbooks: None

For More Information on VIN's Upcoming CE Courses, check out https://www.vin.com/CE/Catalog.htm

This course has been approved for 4 European College of Veterinary Clinical Pathology Training Credits.

"This course has been approved for 9 hours of continuing education credit in jurisdictions which recognize AAVSB RACE approval; however participants should be aware that some boards have limitations on the number of hours accepted in certain categories and/or restrictions on certain methods of delivery of continuing education. Call VIN at 1-800-700-4636 for further information."

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COURSE WITHDRAWAL AND REFUND POLICY: Withdrawal prior to the listed start date of a course entitles the registrant to a complete refund or a credit toward a future VIN CE course, whichever is preferred. Withdrawal within 1 week after the listed start date (i.e. including no more than one real-time session) entitles the registrant to a credit toward any future VIN CE course. (Does not apply to courses with only one real-time session.) After the first real-time session, a registrant may withdraw due to special circumstances and receive prorated credit towards a future VIN course. These requests will be handled on an individual basis. The amount of the prorated credit will be determined based on 65% of the time remaining in the course at the time of withdrawal. It is not possible to withdraw retroactively.

Note: To ensure rapid handling of your request for withdrawal, we recommend that you call the VIN office at 1-800-700-INFO.

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Debbie Friedler
Coordinator
Continual Education Division
Veterinary Information Network
CEonVIN@vin.com

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