Advancing medical laboratory practice in Pakistan: insights from a focus group study on technologists' training needs.
Focus group
Medical laboratory personnel.
Medical laboratory technology
Needs assessment
Pakistan
Journal
BMC medical education
ISSN: 1472-6920
Titre abrégé: BMC Med Educ
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101088679
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
28 Aug 2024
28 Aug 2024
Historique:
received:
15
02
2024
accepted:
29
07
2024
medline:
31
8
2024
pubmed:
31
8
2024
entrez:
28
8
2024
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
The realm of medical laboratory technology (MLT) training and education is unstructured in Pakistan. The primary challenge currently confronting the workforce in MLT is the absence of standardized curricula and assessments in education and training. This was an exploratory study aiming to inquire experiences of trainees, alumni and teaching coordinators regarding the technologist training program in a single institute at Pakistan. To gain an in depth understanding of MLT program, three focus group discussions (FGDs) were held at Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Aga Khan University, Pakistan during Feb-April 2024. A team of pathologists and educationists developed interview guides for FGDs in English. Interviews were bilingual, transcribed verbatim and coded using thematic analysis. Participants included current trainees, alumni, teaching and learning coordinators and moderators for the interview. A total of 29 participants were engaged; these included current MLT trainees (n = 10), alumni (n = 10), and teaching/learning coordinators and sectional supervisors (n = 9). Five main themes emerged from the analysis of FGDs: (Scott MG, Rifai N, Smith B, Oellerich M, Panteghini M, Apple F et al. The changing face of laboratory medicine: a more service and less academically oriented profession? 2015;61(2):322-9.) Recognition of key features of the MTT program, (Ferraro S, Braga F, Panteghini MJCC, Medicine L. Lab Med new Healthc Environ. 2016;54(4):523-33.) Evaluating curriculum design, (Waheed U, Ahmad M, Wazeer A, Saeed M, Saba N, Rasheed FJMJMS. Medical laboratory science education; shaping competent and skilled healthcare professionals. 2023;1(1):58-63.) Teaching and learning strategies, (Ned-Sykes R, Johnson C, Ridderhof JC, Perlman E, Pollock A, DeBoy JM. Competency guidelines for public health laboratory professionals. 2015.) Addressing the need to improve assessment methods, and (Linder RJJM, Education B. Educating medical laboratory technologists: revisiting our assumptions in the current economic and health-care environment. 2012;13(2):150-4.) Navigating the transition from a trainee to a competent technologist. Our investigation demonstrated its potential as a valuable needs assessment study, highlighting key strengths, drawbacks, and challenges of the existing MTT program. Importantly, these findings at our institute can inform further research efforts to design competency-based MLT education and training programs in Pakistan.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
The realm of medical laboratory technology (MLT) training and education is unstructured in Pakistan. The primary challenge currently confronting the workforce in MLT is the absence of standardized curricula and assessments in education and training. This was an exploratory study aiming to inquire experiences of trainees, alumni and teaching coordinators regarding the technologist training program in a single institute at Pakistan.
METHODS
METHODS
To gain an in depth understanding of MLT program, three focus group discussions (FGDs) were held at Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Aga Khan University, Pakistan during Feb-April 2024. A team of pathologists and educationists developed interview guides for FGDs in English. Interviews were bilingual, transcribed verbatim and coded using thematic analysis. Participants included current trainees, alumni, teaching and learning coordinators and moderators for the interview.
RESULTS
RESULTS
A total of 29 participants were engaged; these included current MLT trainees (n = 10), alumni (n = 10), and teaching/learning coordinators and sectional supervisors (n = 9). Five main themes emerged from the analysis of FGDs: (Scott MG, Rifai N, Smith B, Oellerich M, Panteghini M, Apple F et al. The changing face of laboratory medicine: a more service and less academically oriented profession? 2015;61(2):322-9.) Recognition of key features of the MTT program, (Ferraro S, Braga F, Panteghini MJCC, Medicine L. Lab Med new Healthc Environ. 2016;54(4):523-33.) Evaluating curriculum design, (Waheed U, Ahmad M, Wazeer A, Saeed M, Saba N, Rasheed FJMJMS. Medical laboratory science education; shaping competent and skilled healthcare professionals. 2023;1(1):58-63.) Teaching and learning strategies, (Ned-Sykes R, Johnson C, Ridderhof JC, Perlman E, Pollock A, DeBoy JM. Competency guidelines for public health laboratory professionals. 2015.) Addressing the need to improve assessment methods, and (Linder RJJM, Education B. Educating medical laboratory technologists: revisiting our assumptions in the current economic and health-care environment. 2012;13(2):150-4.) Navigating the transition from a trainee to a competent technologist.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSIONS
Our investigation demonstrated its potential as a valuable needs assessment study, highlighting key strengths, drawbacks, and challenges of the existing MTT program. Importantly, these findings at our institute can inform further research efforts to design competency-based MLT education and training programs in Pakistan.
Identifiants
pubmed: 39198837
doi: 10.1186/s12909-024-05836-x
pii: 10.1186/s12909-024-05836-x
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
938Informations de copyright
© 2024. The Author(s).
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