Shohini Mukerji¹, D Thomas¹, L McDonald¹, D Chesher¹

¹Chemical Pathology Department, Royal North Short Hospital, St Leonards, NSW, Australia, NSW Health Pathology

Background 

In biochemistry departments, laboratory staff are typically responsible for the majority of internal quality control troubleshooting, result validation and communication of critical results. Our main laboratory supervises eight other laboratories, and it is a challenge to provide high quality ongoing education for staff with varying levels of experience across multiple sites. Among other formats, our laboratory has a fortnightly internal education program via oral presentations for staff at the main laboratory and is in the process of developing online modules for continuing education.

Biochemistry staff at our main laboratory, and other metropolitan and regional laboratories were surveyed to gauge the appeal and perceived effectiveness of different education formats. Staff with management responsibilities were also surveyed on their perception of the effectiveness of education formats. 

The education formats that staff prefer may vary over time depending on factors such as staff experience/qualification levels, evolving technology and the introduction of new responsibilities. Staff perceptions of the value of onsite and external education are reported occasionally in studies.1,2 There is however, limited literature on the format of internal education preferred by laboratory staff. This survey can assist with future improvements in the quality of continuing education programs for our staff.   

1.      Blagg LN, Hruban RH, Gehrie EA. A Department-Sponsored, Hospital-Based Pathology Education Symposium Is a Cost-Effective Method to Provide Laboratory Staff With Highly Rated Continuing Education Experiences. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2021 Feb 1;145(2):231-239. 

2.      Novis DA, Nelson S, Blond BJ, Guidi AJ, Talbert ML, Mix P, Perrotta PL. Laboratory Staff Turnover: A College of American Pathologists Q-Probes Study of 23 Clinical Laboratories. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2020 Mar;144(3):350-355.

Statement of Contribution 

SM devised the project plan and drafts of the abstract and poster. All other authors were involved in review and editing of content