Flow Cytometry

Goals and Objectives

By the end of the rotation, the Resident will demonstrate the following skills:

Patient Care

• Understand techniques for cellular phenotyping by flow cytometry for the care of patients with hematologic malignancies and transplants.
• Understand the role of flow cytometry in the classification of hematologic malignancies for patient care.
• Understand the role of flow cytometry in the management of patients with immunologic diseases.
• Understand the quality management of the flow cytometry laboratory.

Medical Knowledge

• Understand basic principles of immunology and histocompatibility
• Understand the use of phenotype in classifying hematologic neoplasms.
• Understand the utility of stem cell enumeration.
• Understand the significance of lymphoid cell quantification.
• Understand the technical basis for flow cytometry testing.
• Understand the quality issues involved in flow cytometry testing.

Practice-Based Learning and Improvement

• Interpret flow cytometry testing results.
• Understand potential technical errors and quality issues in the flow cytometry laboratory.

Interpersonal and Communication Skills

• Provide important information about flow cytometry testing to clinicians.
• Demonstrate skills in interacting with the technical staff.

Systems-Based Practice

• Understand the clinical utility of flow cytometry testing as applied to hematology/oncology practice.
• Understand the clinical utility of flow cytometry testing as applied to clinical immunology practice.

Duration

• Training in flow cytometry is two weeks

Duties and Responsibilities of Residents

• Because Resident training in this rotation is taught at one point in time, there is no incremental responsibility in different years of training. During the rotation each Resident is expected to perform the following activities:
• Review and sign out all flow cytometry results with the Attending Pathologist.
• Review Cytospin and peripheral blood smears from specimens received from outside institutions with the attending pathologist to help in the interpretation of the flow cytometry findings.
• Review the CAP checklist questions and guidelines regarding flow cytometry.
• Review the phenotype of hematologic neoplasms.
• Review the immunologic findings in the primary immunodeficiencies.
• Review and sign out all immunodeficiency profiles with the Attending Pathologist.
• Observe, under the supervision of the technical staff, the processing and technical analysis of surgical, bone marrow, and blood specimens.

Teaching Staff

• Howard Meyerson, MD – Director of Flow Cytometry
• Rose Beck, MD, PhD

Supervision and Evaluation

• Residents meet on a regular basis with the Directors and with the lead technologists for supervision.
• Written exams are administered to evaluate the extent to which residents completing the rotation have gained knowledge of critical aspects and laboratory functions in flow cytometry and histocompatibility.
• Residents are evaluated on a monthly basis with regard to attainment of the Core -Competencies specified in this Program Statement. Evaluations are forwarded to the -Residency Program Director, where they are available for review.