Volume 84 - Spring/Summer 2003	Download

Including a Research Component in the CLS/MT and DMS Curricula by Karen Madsen Myers, MA, MT(ASCP)SC, CLS(NCA) Member, PARC Committee

The current standards for the Clinical Laboratory Scientist/Medical Technologist (CLS/MT) and Diagnostic Molecular Scientist (DMS) both require that a research emphasis be included in the curriculum. Standard III.9.B.8 (CLS/MT) states: "The curriculum must include knowledge of research/design/practice sufficient to evaluate published studies as an informed consumer." Standard III.9.B.9 (DMS) reads: "The curriculum must include principles and practices of applied study design, implementation
and dissemination of results".

The new standards serve to highlight this curricular component for those programs already offering comprehensive research curricula as well as for programs wondering if an existing component needs to be expanded to be in line with this requirement. Currently, comprehensive data does not exist regarding the status of research curricula within accredited programs in the clinical laboratory field. In order to determine program director attitudes regarding research curricula and content of existing curricula, I will send a survey to program directors during the next quarter. The results will be disseminated through a future NAACLS News.

As the new CLS/MT standards are written, programs must meet this requirement minimally by offering learning activities that would prepare graduates to be informed consumers of research published in their field of emphasis. This requirement could be met either as a separate course or as part of an existing course. In the wording of the DMS standard exists a formula for becoming an informed consumer. In order to evaluate published research such that research results can be applied to practice, students should be given opportunities to understand how a research study is conceptualized, "implemented" by the researcher, and "disseminated" in published format to peers.

One approach programs might take in assisting students in becoming informed consumers of research is to focus on evaluating published research articles in the field. Faculty and students together can analyze well written research in order to identify: (1) the purpose of the research project and the specific problem under investigation; (2) the quality of the literature review presented and whether the literature review supports a need for the research (i.e., will this research fill a gap in the existing knowledge base as supported by the literature?); (3) the definition of key research concepts; (4) the hypothesis being presented, and (5) how well the research results contribute either to basic scientific knowledge or to existing practice.

An emphasis on how and where to publish research not only offers an opportunity for faculty to highlight the journals in the field but also to present venues for published writing to the student at an early point in the student's career. This approach can be quite effective for programs with a limited amount of time available for expanding curricula since such activities could be added to an existing course. Faculty must have knowledge of principles of basic research design in order to handle such exercises effectively. Both universities and medical centers have research staff who can assist a faculty member with the design of such tasks if faculty are not already involved in research on a regular basis.

Another approach programs might
take is to involve students in an actual research project as part of a research course. This approach is time consuming but particularly appropriate in masters level curricula.

In my own CLS/MT curriculum we have had a separate research course for the past 15 years. While we do not have time in the curriculum for students to be involved in primary research, we meet the requirements of becoming informed consumers of research design, implementation, and dissemination, by having each student write an appropriate research question, perform a literature search around that question, write a research proposal, and present findings as part of a research poster session. We present basic principle of research design reinforced by exercises that include the analysis of published research studies. Both the medical librarian and staff researchers at our facility play a key role in supporting this educational process. The material is covered during four seminar sessions. The first session is held early in the year and involves an introduction to the medical library system and activities that focus the student on use of library research facilities. The two middle sessions focus on theory and application. The final session is the poster presentation session.

Research is the formalized process of adding new knowledge to a field. Most of us engage in research everyday on an informal basis, but what we do never gets shared or published. Students are the future of any profession. That we are able to send them out into their careers better prepared to make decisions about the literature that supports practice and, perhaps, better prepared to engage in research, is the intention behind the new standards that emphasize research.

Top of the News
			CEO's Corner by Olive M. Kimball, PhD, EdD NAACLS Chief Executive Officer
			Credentialing, Accreditation, Certification, Licensure Their Importance to the Practice of Clinical Laboratory Science by Dr. Kathy V. Waller President, NAACLS Board of Directors
			New Policy for Inactive Programs by Dan Tice Administrative Liaison
			Programs to be Site Visited Fall 2003/Winter 2004 Cycle
Features
			Annual Report From Programs is a NAACLS Requirement
			Board of Directors Update (From the April 10, 2003 Meeting)
			Dr. NAACLS Advice for Accredited and Approved Programs
			Including a Research Component in the CLS/MT and DMS Curricula by Karen Madsen Myers, MA, MT(ASCP)SC, CLS(NCA) Member, PARC Committee
			Information Services Update by Elizabeth Everson Information Services Coordinator
			NAACLS Elections Held by Olive M. Kimball, EdD, PhD Chief Executive Officer
			NAACLS Meeting Dates
			NAACLS to Conduct Workshop in Chicago
			Newly Accredited NAACLS Programs

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