AIMS PROFESSIONAL EXAMINATION GUIDELINES

The AIMS Professional Examination

The AIMS Professional Examination is a written short answer paper of three (3) hours, conducted twice a year in March and September in a number of venues in Australia and overseas.

The examination consists of the following sections:

·         Clinical Chemistry 22 marks

·         Haematology 22 marks

·         Medical Microbiology 22 marks

·         Transfusion Science 22 marks

·         Histopathology/Cytology 12 marks

Total 100 marks

All sections are compulsory. To pass the Examination candidates must obtain a total of 50% or more, with a pass of at least 50% in each section. Completed examinations are not released under any circumstances

Applicants who are successful in the Examination will be classified as a Medical Laboratory Scientist.

Please note:  If you have not completed stage 1 of your assessment of professional skills and qualifications then you are not able to apply for the professional examination.

AIMS Professional Examination Application Deadlines

You must apply in writing to sit the AIMS Professional Examination using the application form which will be provided in the examinations pack once stage 1 has been completed in your assessment of professional skills and qualifications.

Closing dates to receive this application form are:

1st December for the March Examination

1st June for the September Examination

Applications to sit the Examination must be received no later than 4pm on the specified date.

You should receive notification of your examination and venue by:

·         The second week of February (for March examinations)

·         The second week of August (for September examinations)

If you do not receive notification by 15th February (March examination) or 15th August (September examination) please contact AIMS immediately.

English Language Requirement

All applicants must submit a valid IELTS report form showing an overall band score of 7.0 or better (Academic or General). AIMS consider an IELTS report to be current for three (3) years from the date of issue.

AIMS also accept the following English language assessments as equivalent to an IELTS overall band score of 7.0: TOEFL (95 points), and Pearson PTE Academic (65 points).

The only exemption to this rule is if you have already provided AIMS with a valid IELTS, TOEFL, or Pearson PTE Academic test report which accompanied your application for Assessment of Professional Skills and Qualifications. If this is the case then you do not need to supply it for a second time provided the application for the AIMS Professional Examination is received within three years of the date of your assessment.

Photographs

Please attach one (1) passport sized photograph to the application form.

Fees

All Fees are in Australian Dollars and are non-refundable. Visit the AIMS website for current fees.

How to Lodge Your Examination Application

Send by post your completed application form together with the required attachments (see below) and submit to:

Postal address: Australian Institute of Medical Scientists

PO Box 1911

MILTON QLD 4064 AUSTRALIA

Courier address: Australian Institute of Medical Scientists

Unit 7 / 31 Black Street

MILTON QLD 4064

AUSTRALIA

REQUIRED ATTACHMENTS

ü  Complete application form with the declaration signed

ü  Complete payment information or enclose a cheque / money order or draft

ü  Attach a valid IELTS, TOEFL, or Pearson PTE Academic certificate

ü  Attach one (1) passport sized recent photographs

Results

It will take up to ten (10) weeks to receive your professional examination result. Results will be given as either a PASS or FAIL. Exact marks will not be given.

Further Information

Email: contact@aims.org.au

Website: www.aims.org.au

The AIMS Professional Examination

The AIMS Professional Examination will be held in centres in Australia and other countries twice yearly, in March and September.

The examination is a three (3) hour short answer paper and is set at the level expected of a professional medical scientist with at least two years post graduate experience. All questions must be attempted.

The examination is divided into five sections:

·         Clinical Chemistry 22 marks

·         Haematology 22 marks

·         Medical Microbiology 22 marks

·         Transfusion Science 22 marks

·         Histopathology/Cytology 12 marks

Total 100 marks

To pass the AIMS Professional examination, candidates must obtain an overall total of 50%, with a pass of at least 50% in each section.

Major Areas of Knowledge

The major areas of knowledge expected of candidates are as follows:

Clinical Chemistry

An understanding of the underlying techniques utilised and methodology behind the measurement of common chemistry anylates and their clinical utility including:

- Blood gas and electrolytes measurement

- Urea, creatinine, and creatinine clearance, uric acid

- Glucose, glucose tolerance, HbA1c

- Liver function tests

- Lipid analysis

- Thyroid function tests

- Adrenal function tests

- Plasma proteins and protein electrophoresis

- Specific plasma proteins e.g. CRP

- Principles of enzyme assays.

- Enzyme tests e.g. amylase, creatine kinase

- Calcium, phosphates, magnesium

- Bilirubin including neonatal bilirubin measurement

- Myocardial function tests.

- Common tumour markers e.g. Prostatic specific antigen, CEA

- Basic virology tests now performed in core lab settings

- Point of care testing

Microbiology

- A basic knowledge of infectious diseases and organisms most commonly associated with these diseases. There will be a greater emphasis on bacterial diseases, but some knowledge of parasitic, fungal and viral disease is also expected.

- Collection, handling and processing of samples including the minimal criteria for acceptance of samples

- Presumptive identification of major groups of bacteria based on microscopic and colonial morphology on a variety of common media and the use of key basic identification test such as catalase, oxidase and atmospheric growth requirements.

- Principles of major methods of susceptibility testing i.e. disc diffusion, agar dilution and broth dilution and the relationship between breakpoints, MIC and susceptible/resistant categories.

- General principles of Quality Control.

- Microscopy:

o Function and maintenance of a modern binocular microscope, including setting up and using for bright field, phase contrast and darkfield microscopy.

- Staining techniques:

o Gram stain

o Ziehl Neelsen

- Knowledge of Normal Flora (indigenous flora) of major body sites or absence of normal flora in sterile body sites.

Haematology

- Principles of automated cell counting

- Macrocytic anaemia

- Microcytic anaemia

- Normocytic anaemia

- Myeloproliferative disorders

- Lymphoproliferative disorders

- Production of erythrocytes, leucocytes and platelets

- Iron metabolism

- Intrinsic and extrinsic coagulation pathways and methods of testing

- Bleeding disorders

- Anticoagulant therapy and methods of monitoring this therapy

- Natural anticoagulants

- Fibrinolysis.

Immunohaematology / Transfusion Science

- Antibody structure and function

- Antibody production

- Blood donation testing

- Blood components

- Blood group systems

- Antibody detection and identification

- Pre transfusion testing

- Quality assurance in the blood bank laboratory

- Antigen/ antibody interaction.

Histopathology and Cytology

- Preparation of specimens for light microscopy including fixation and tissue processing, decalcification technique and general staining methods such as Haematoxylin and Eosin stain, Van Gieson stain and Masson`s Trichrome stain.

- Normal histology especially basic tissue types

- Histochemical methods as applied to light microscopy such as PAS and Perls` Prussian Blue for Iron.

- Fixation of cytological specimens

- The Papanicolaou staining technique

- The cytological features of inflammation and neoplasia in cervical smears

- Normal cell types in cytological specimens

Laboratory Safety and Quality Control

- Safe handling of biological specimens

- Safe handling of hazardous chemicals

- Sterilisation and disinfection procedures

- Handling of infectious specimens

Principles of quality assurance and quality control

- Basic charting and rules for rejection of results.

- Simple statistical evaluation. Reference ranges methodology – parametric and non parametric

- The role of internal quality control and external quality assurance

- Uncertainty of measurement

Basic Laboratory Procedures and equipment

- Normal and Molar solutions

- Basic laboratory calculations

- Basic laboratory equipment and its appropriate use

- Spectrophotometry

- Immunoassay

Recommended Reading List

Any edition of the texts below from the last 10 years would be suitable

1. Manual of Clinical Microbiology. 10th Ed.

James Versalovic Editor in Chief 2011 American Society for Microbiology.

2. Practical Haematology. 6th Ed.

Dacie and Lewis Churchill Livingstone.

3. Medical Laboratory Haematology

Hall and Malia Butterworths.

4. Technical Manual. 10th Ed.

American Association of Blood Banks.

5. Textbook of Diagnostic Cytology

The New South Wales Institute of Technology Information and Publications unit.

6. Cellular Pathology 2nd Ed.

Cook,D.J 2006 Scion Publishing

7. Difiores Atlas of Histology with functional correlations 10th Edition

Eroschenko,V.A 2005 Lippincott

8. The Fundamentals of Clinical Chemistry

Tietz, Saunders Saunders

9. Clinical Chemistry

Kaplan Mosby- Williams Publishers.

10. Essential Guide to blood groups

Daniels and Bromilow Wiley Page 7