Preparing online students for comprehensive examinations.

OBJECTIVE: Identify and remedy difficulties in the preparation of online students for certification examination success. DESIGN: The final examination scores for the CLS Seminar course for the 2008 class of 27 on-campus and 10 online students were compared for statistical differences in seven examination areas. Problem areas were identified and changes in the CLS Seminar course were made in 2009 to improve the scores of the online students. The examination scores for the 2009 class of 33 on-campus and 10 online students were studied to determine improvement. Student's two-tailed t-test was used to determine statistical significance of differences between scores of on-campus and online students. INTERVENTIONS: Interactive video over the web; used to answer online student questions, review games, more class time, and more recorded review sessions; were added to the Seminar. The study guides provided during preceptorships were tied to the objectives of the seminar course and the questions on examinations. Specific objectives for each question missed on the final examinations were provided to the student. RESULTS: In 2008, examination scores for online students were lower in two of seven areas by a statistically significant amount than on-campus students. The difference approached significance in a third area. After interventions in 2009, the examinations scores had equalized with the exception of one area, Immunology. CONCLUSION: Increasing the amount and method of review in areas deemed important to online education was successful in improving examination scores.

Student laboratories as a component of a web-based curriculum.

OBJECTIVE: To enable place-bound working clinical laboratory technicians (CLTs) to benefit from hands-on student laboratory sessions taught in University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) facilities by UTMB professors. DESIGN: Weekend student laboratory sessions similar to "wet workshops" were implemented and integrated into regular coursework. Student laboratory sessions of 12 hours to 16 hours in length were provided. SETTING: The UTMB student laboratories. PARTICIPANTS: Web-based education in Clinical Laboratory Science (WEBCLS) students who are working CLTs in rural place-bound situations. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Course grades and certification examination scores on laboratory and comprehensive examinations given to both on-campus students and WEBCLS students. RESULTS: Of 68 WEBCLS students enrolled in laboratory courses during the calendar years 2003, 2004, and 2005, 66.2% earned grades of A or B in the course compared with 64.2% of students enrolled in the same laboratory courses on-campus. Over a three year period, the WEBCLS students averaged 564.8 on certification exam scores, while on-campus students averaged 470.9.

Developments in component therapy: novel components and new uses for familiar preparations.

Over the years, the significant role of blood components in treating certain diseases or conditions has been recognized. The use of these components has expanded as patients undergo chemotherapy for bone marrow ablation and require short-term component support. On the other hand, these transfusions can cause reactions ranging from mild to severe. Despite advances in serological testing for infectious disease agents, the risk of infectious complications from transfusion still remains. In addition, newly identified agents that may be transmitted via transfusion are constantly identified. The cellular components most people are familiar with include packed red blood cells (PRBC), washed PRBC, leukoreduced PRBC, and pooled or apheresis platelets. Plasma products such as fresh frozen plasma (FFP) or crytoprecipitated anti-hemophiliac factor (CRYO), on the other hand, may not be as familiar. As our understanding of how the immune system functions and as technology has progressed, specialized components or manufactured products such as blood substitutes have been advanced as remedies to some of the complications with component transfusion or to meet the ever-increasing need for these products. In this article we will focus on some of the new uses of common components and uncommonly used or newly developing components. We will discuss their origins, composition, and the conditions or diseases they are used to treat. These components include: donor leukocyte infusions, dendritic cell vaccines, blood substitutes, novel platelet products and substitutes, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), fresh frozen plasma and cryosupernatant in therapeutic plasma exchange. The variety of products and conditions reflect the ever-expanding role of immunohematology in the treatment of disease.