Volume 95 - Spring 2007	Download

How to Meet the Requirement for Psychomotor Objectives for Molecular Diagnostics by Martha Lake, EdD, CLS(NCA), MT(ASCP) Vice Chair, Clinical Laboratory Sciences Programs Review Committee (CLSPRC)

NAACLS' Standard 9A for CLS/MT programs requires that the curriculum structure contain the following elements:

"Instruction must follow a plan which documents a structured curriculum composed of general education, basic sciences, and professional courses including applied (clinical) education. The curriculum must include clearly written program goals and competencies with syllabi which include individual course goals and objectives.

The curriculum must include all the major subject areas currently offered in the contemporary clinical laboratory. Behavioral objectives which address cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains must be provided for didactic and applied (clinical practice) aspects of the program and must include clinical significance and correlation. Course objectives must show progression to the level consistent with entry into the progression.

Several CLS/MT programs have had difficulty meeting Standard 9A, specifically with regards to psychomotor objectives for molecular diagnostics. Standard 9B2 includes molecular diagnostics in the list of curricular components. Many programs struggle with how to incorporate this new requirement in their curricula. The challenge is compounded because not all of the clinical laboratories utilized by a program perform molecular diagnostic procedures. When a hospital-based program (or an academic-based program's clinical affiliate) does not perform the procedures, the program must design the means to teach not only the cognitive domain, but also the psychomotor domain of molecular diagnostics. This may be a temporary problem for most programs as our clinical laboratories may adopt this new methodology in the near future. However, at this time it is a very real concern for CLS/MT programs.

To meet the requirement, programs must have hands-on laboratory activities in molecular diagnostics for all students enrolled. It is not enough that some of an academic based program's clinical affiliated hospitals offer molecular diagnostic procedures unless all of the students can rotate through that site. It is also not adequate for a program to be "planning" a laboratory activity at the time of their self-study and/or site visit. The activity must already be in place.

Some programs, both on-campus and distance learning, have attempted to meet the requirement for psychomotor objectives for molecular diagnostics with "virtual laboratories." The virtual laboratory is a simulated laboratory exercise that takes place on paper or on the computer. This does not give the students the true psychomotor learning experiences required by the Standards and these attempts have not been interpreted as in compliance with the Standards.

For the programs who wish to create a student laboratory experience, there are relatively inexpensive kits available for teaching molecular laboratory procedures. Some of these kits are available from laboratory supply companies that specialize in educational products. These procedures are designed to be performed without expensive equipment and supplies. Because they are hands-on laboratory exercises, they give the student the opportunity to meet the psychomotor objectives for molecular diagnostics.

Programs that have limited resources can still add this expensive technology to their curricula by being creative and sometimes forming partnerships with other institutions or other units of their own institution. A few hospital-based programs have formed partnerships with biotechnology companies in their areas sending their students to the company for the hands-on laboratory session(s). Other hospital-based programs have formed partnerships with the biology departments of academic institutions. Biotechnology procedures have been incorporated into the curriculum of biology departments for several years and the biology faculty of many schools have been very helpful to CLS programs in their areas. Some schools have even designed and taught Saturday laboratory sessions for the CLS students. Many academic-based programs have used their biology or chemistry pre-requisite courses to incorporate molecular diagnostic psychomotor objectives into their curriculum.

NAACLS will not dictate how programs should meet the Standards; however, each CLS/MT program must have hands-on laboratory exercises that can be used to meet the psychomotor objectives for molecular diagnostics. If your program has a creative way to teach the psychomotor domain for molecular diagnostics, please send a message to info@naacls.org. We will compile them for a future issue of NAACLS News.
 

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