In 2018, the IMU’s Division of Applied Biomedical Sciences and Biotechnology (ABSB) pioneered the Diagnostic Lecture Series in Cytology as a continuous professional development (CPD) programme. Spurred by the encouraging response from the participants, the Division offered the second installment in this series on 22 August 2019, entitled ‘Diagnostic Lecture Series 2019: Basics of Peripheral Blood Film’. 
The interpretation of peripheral blood films is an essential skill in medical laboratory technology. The fundamentals of peripheral blood film analysis, especially on the abnormal morphological changes in blood cells and the underlying principles, are crucial to ensure precise diagnosis of haematological disorders. The workshop saw a number of highly reputable speakers from the IMU Department of Pathology, Dr Arun Kumar Basavaraj and haematologist Dr Afshan Sumera sharing their valuable clinical experience during the session. Besides that, there was Sammy Cheang Pek Tan, Senior Application Manager from Biomed Global, who shared about the latest updates on a robust clinical haematological diagnosis tool, flow cytometry, especially in biomarker identification. This year, 78 participants from various affiliations such as BP Clinical Lab Sdn Bhd, Lablink (M) Sdn Bhd, Sunway Medical Centre, Pantai Premier Pathology Sdn Bhd, and even Eurofin Central Laboratory Pte Ltd (Singapore) actively participated in the workshop.
| Some feedback from the participants include: | |
|---|---|
| “This is my first time attending the workshop. The workshop is well organised and the content and the quality of the speakers are really good. This workshop is very helpful to our work in providing better healthcare services to patients.” | Amber Tan, Laboratory Manager (Eurofin Central Laboratory Pte Ltd, Singapore) |
| “I am working in a medical laboratory and serve in pathology, microbiology, chemistry and blood banking units. We do get to handle some peripheral blood film cases but are not really exposed to the practical aspects of the work, such as cell morphology, and what we should look for and report. The workshop today was very informative and useful especially for my technical work.” | Gandhi Raj, Sunway Medical Centre |
The organising committee, led by Dr Koh Rhun Yian, extends their gratitude to Dr KO Skin Specialist Centre and Herhers Sdn Bhd for their kind sponsorship and support for the event. Following the successes of the first two events, the Division will continue to offer relevant, up-to-date, and insightful topics in the lecture series in the forthcoming years.
Written by: Wong Ying Pei Edited by: Dr Koh Rhun Yian & Dr Lim Chooi Ling
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