COAGCOURSE

http://HemePathReview.com

COAGULATION COURSE

Andy Nguyen,M.D./ UT-Medical School at Houston, Pathology/ Last Revision on: 5/11/01

EDUCATIONAL PURPOSE:
This program is designed to offer a comprehensive training experience for pathology residents on hematology rotation. The materials in this program will supplement other existing clinical and teaching activities on hematology rotation.

The program is designed primarily for pathology residents on hematology rotation. However, parts of the materials are also useful for other groups such as residents in other clinical specialties, practicing physicians, and medical technologists.

The project is supported with a grant ( Web-based Tools for Pathology Education, Jan 2001-Dec 2001 ) from Universities Associated for Research and Education in Pathology (UAREP).

TAKING THE DEMO:
A student who takes this online course needs to get a web page address (URL) and an account (user name and password). The URL is as follows:
http://129.106.169.35/wcb/schools/11/51/anguyen/4/default.htm

For the purpose of this demo, the user can use the following student guest account:
User name: jsmith (short for John Smith)
Password: 505

Once in the course main page, the user can get access to the following modules:
1. Class information: goals and objectives of the course, policies and procedures, and required texts.
2. Announcements: messages to students from the instructor.
3. Schedule: student assignments (lessons, practical exercises, and examinations) for the whole semester.
4. Students: information on each student taking the course (e-mail, optional biography, etc.)
5. Learning Links: this is the core of the teaching materials (will be described in more details in the next section).
6. Help/ Utilities: guides to help students in various tasks (how to navigates around the class web sites, how to take the course, how to create own home page, etc.).

DESCRIPTION OF THE LEARNING LINKS MODULE:
This is the most essential part of the course. It consists of the following components:

Lessons 1 though 6: covering 43 coagulation disorders (pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment), also 7 therapeutic modalities.
Lesson 1: Hereditary disorders of coagulation proteins
Lesson 2: Acquired disorders of coagulation proteins
Lesson 3: Hereditary disorders of platelets
Lesson 4: Acquired disorders of platelets
Lesson 5: Findings in anticoagulant therapy
Lesson 6: Therapeutic modalities

Practical 1 though 3: case studies with complete clinical history and screening test results. Students are instructed to:
- Read the case history thoroughly, then make a list of differential diagnosis based on the clinical history and screening coagulation laboratory results.
- Formulate a strategy for diagnosis (sequence of tests ordered). Put emphasis on proper utilization of laboratory tests (to prevent over-utilization) and still obtaining optimal care for patients with adequate laboratory testing.
- State different treatment plan for all possible diagnoses.
- Submit the assessment of the case to the course instructor via e-mail.

Note: useful references for the practical can be found from reference links in the "Learning Links" page of this course. Students are also encouraged to use the "Discussion Forum" in the "Learning Links" page to exchange ideas during this exercise.

Final examination: to be taken at the end of the course (only 5 multi-choice questions available in this prototype).

Links to reference materials (developed by the author):
- WEB COAG homepage: a decision-support system for coagulopathy
- Coagulation profiles: displaying pattern of seven screening coagulation tests for each disorder
- Differential diagnosis: displaying differential diagnoses that fit the coagulation results given by the user
- Synopsis of coagulopathy and therapy: displaying essential information on coagulopathy and therapeutic modalities
- Coagulation cascade diagram: viewing the coagulation cascade and clicking on the factors in the diagram to see associated disorders
- Diagnostic flowchart for prolonged aPTT: flowchart with diagnostic algorithms for a prolonged aPTT with a normal PT
PUBLICATION:
Nguyen, A.N.D.: A Comprehensive Web-based Program for Coagulation Training. Association of Pathology Chairs Annual Meeting, July 25-28, 2001, Park City, Utah.