Academic Programs

THREE-YEAR DIPLOMA PROGRAM: LABORATORY PRACTICE AND MANAGEMENT

This program is designed to train students in clinical laboratory practices and laboratory management. It involves training of students as laboratory technicians who can also efficiently manage clinical laboratories and medical research centers. Students are trained in hematology, chemical pathology, microbiology, basic histopathology, laboratory quality control and in basic laboratory management practices. They are also trained to design and undertake clinical research projects and write credible research reports. The core clientele of the Medicare College of Applied Sciences (MCAS) include the following;

    1: Hospitals and clinics

    2: Medical research institutions

    3: Self-employment

PROGRAM DESIGN

The course is practically oriented, hence our well-equipped and resourced laboratories. It is designed to give students practical training for eight hours a week for the entire duration of three years (six semesters). Besides this, students do periodic attachment to hospitals and clinics where we have memoranda of understanding (MOU) for such activities. Furthermore, students are required to do two months industrial attachment during the end of year vacation, write and submit a report, and take part in the annual seminar which is planned for the first semester of every year. During the attachment period emphasis is placed on laboratory management procedures in the real working environment. With this experience we believe our graduates can successfully compete in the job market.

The program make full use of ICT facilities. Prior to laboratory work, students use the internet to find information that relates to their practical work. For instance, when doing test for malaria parasites

The program provides specialized streams of knowledge in laboratory management  education. MCAS graduates will therefore be adequately prepared for their specialized fields.

1. The content base of the program is enhanced to meet comparable standards in related institutions of higher learning.
2. MCAS products will be capable of practicing as laboratory technicians and managers in their places of employment.
3. MCAS graduates will be adequately equipped with skills and competencies that will enable them to serve the diversified and complex field of clinical laboratory practice and management.

STRUCTURE OF THE PROGRAM

The program is a composition of Foundation, Professional and Management courses designed to equip graduates with the requisite knowledge in Laboratory Practice and Management. A few general courses have been provided to broaden the horizon of the graduates. There is a deliberate high practical content, as indicated  below, intended to enrich the program by giving the students a hands-on approach to the program.

The course structure indicated above was informed by the observation that graduates from most tertiary institutions enter the job market totally unprepared for practical engagement on the job. This is simply because practical training did not really form an integral part of their study. We believe it is time to change this old-fashioned way of preparing career technicians for the job market. For this reason we have planned;

1. A strong professional and in-depth practical base for the program. The large spectrum of professional courses is intended to make our graduates versatile on the ground.
2. The perception that most graduates are low performers as a result of inadequate preparation through marginal practical training in their fields of endeavour will be averted. This will be done through our carefully designed practical program, and the enforcement of a mandatory eight hour practical tuition every week.
3. Well-equipped laboratories have been provided for practical training of our students. Other laboratories have been planned in the short term, i.e., within six months to strengthen the practical instruction base at the College.
4. It is mandatory for all students to do practical attachment and submit reports at the beginning of each semester, This is followed by seminars during which students defend their reports to a panel of eminent lecturers, with accompanying questions and suggestions. This aspect of training carries a weighting of two (2) credit hours.
5. Projects assigned students in the College are coordinated to achieve specific goals that would enhance the overall aspirations of the College in medical, industrial or academic research. The results of these projects are expected to meet the needs of siciety as a whole.

                  RUNNING OF EXTERNAL PRACTICAL PROGRAMS DURING ACADEMIC SESSIONS

Practical training is an essential component of the Laboratory Practice and Management program. For this reason three approaches have been planned to ensure that essential transferable skills in this area are attained by all students.

 Practical Training within the College Premises

The viability and efficiency of this component is premised on the availability of a large number, and the provision of the full complement of the laboratory equipment required for the program, as well as ample working space for use by students. Furthermore, it is premised on the implementation of frequent sessions in the laboratory for all students. In the program there has been an institution of a mandatory eight hours of practical work for all students each week. There is also a special effort to invest in standard equipment, and to increase the number of laboratories to four in the long term.

For now the student to microscope ratio is expected to be 1:2.5. It our aim to improve this ratio to 1:1.5 in the short term (i.e., within six months), and eventually, to achieve a standard ratio of 1:1. Other equipment such as colorimeters, spectrophotometers and chemistry analysers are presently, in the ratio of 1:10. In the case of such equipment what is of prime importance is the material required to meet the demands of test protocols. Thus sufficient material for the tests such as test tubes, pipettes, petri dishes, culture media, etc. and working reagents and chemicals have been provided to meet the needs of each student. Budgetary allowances have also been made to ensure that stocks are maintained.

Furthermore, there is a program to link laboratory work to the use of the internet. The  aim of this aspect is to help students use the internet to find information about what they would do in the laboratory. For example, students would be required to use the internet to observe the nature of the Plasmodium falciparum parasite, or urine deposits, or stool parasites, etc., before they commence actual work in the laboratory. Plans are underway therefore, to expand the laboratory so enough computers could be installed for this purpose in the short term.

Samples for experiments within the College premises is obtained from the large number of patients who visit our laboratory for laboratory services as well as from students who wish to provide samples.

                 Practical Training During Mass Medical Screening Exercises

The laboratory services component of the College of Applied Sciences has been operational since 1995 under Medicare Research Centre. Our clientele over the years have included individuals, corporate and academic institutions. Since 2006, we have been performing annual medical screening exercises for some of these institutions.

There have been occasions when thousands of people have been screened over a period of a few months. It is our plan to integrate this component into our academic program so as to speed up the acquisition of practical skills by our students. The volume of samples taken and the variety of tests done in our clinical laboratories during the mass screening exercises will afford our students sufficient opportunity to learn, especially when they are properly supervised.

                 Practical Training with Affiliated Medical Institutions

Medicare College of Applied Sciences has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a number of clinics and hospitals in Kumasi where our students could have practical attachment sessions during the weekend. This activity will begin in the first week of each month and it would be arranged for students to visit these facilities in batches. This would ensure smooth facilitation of the program and effective implementation. In this arrangement each student will have the opportunity to visit such facilities once in a month. Practical attachment appraisal forms will be given to these institutions so that every student could be assessed by the laboratory technologist in charge. The number of students per facility will be a maximum of three so that the activity of each student could be properly monitored.