Introduction

The purpose of the laboratory portion of this course is to interpret and correlate what you see and do in the laboratory with the facts presented in the textbook and during lectures. It is designed to acquaint you with the basic techniques in the manipulation, isolation, identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of bacterial pathogens.

The practical experience in the laboratory should help you to increase your knowledge and skill of Clinical Microbiology. The lab sessions will enable you to acquire the hand, eye, and interpretive skills necessary for a laboratory technologist in Clinical Microbiology to isolate, identify and do susceptibility testing on clinically significant bacteria.

General Information

Each laboratory period will consist of a brief introduction and or/any necessary demonstration of techniques by an instructor followed by a practical exercise. Students should review their lecture notes and text, read the lab instructions and test procedures carefully before coming to lab. It is very important to make complete notes of your work, particularly those procedures that carry over from one lab period to another. In a clinical laboratory, notes should be recorded only at the time the work is done and not after the fact because it is difficult to accurately remember details after a time period has elapsed and patient safety may be compromised if you record inaccurate information.