Creation and evaluation of a laboratory administration curriculum for pathology residents

Objectives: A clinical laboratory management (CLM) curriculum that can objectively assess the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education pathology systems-based practice milestones and can provide consistent resident training across institutions is needed. Methods: Faculty at Emory University created a curriculum that consists of assay verification exercises and interactive, case-based online modules. Beta testing was done at Emory University and Johns Hopkins. Residents were required to obtain a score of more than 80% in the online modules to achieve levels 3 to 4 in the milestones. In addition, residents shadowed a laboratory director, performed an inspection of a laboratory section, and completed training in human subjects research and test utilization. Results: Fourteen residents took and evaluated the laboratory administration curriculum. The printed certificates from the modules were used for objective faculty evaluation of mastery of concepts. Of all the activities the residents performed during the rotation, the online modules were ranked most helpful by all residents. A 25-question knowledge assessment was performed before and after the rotation and showed an average increase of 8 points (P = .0001). Conclusions: The multimodal CLM training described here is an easily adoptable, objective system for teaching CLM. It was well liked by residents and provided an objective measurement of mastery of concepts for faculty.