The elimination of pathology and laboratory medicine from the curriculum in many medical schools and consequent lack of knowledge of basic science among junior doctors is jeopardising patient safety, according to a report in the Annals of Clinical Biochemistry. There have been instances where patients discharged into the community return to hospital having suffered a major myocardial infarction because of a poorly-performed troponin test, for example.
“Juniors are performing tests at the wrong time, and sometimes with little understanding of what to do with the results when they get them back from the lab. Even worse, they are teaching other juniors, so bad practice is becoming ingrained.”
