Leadership in Quality Management Course

Introduction To The Leadership In Quality Management Certificate Program

The purpose of this Program is to bring Clinical Biochemists, as laboratory leaders, to a level required to provide competent leadership and oversight to the quality management systems (QMS) in their laboratory. The certificate Program is presented as an on-line course in quality management.

History

The original idea for this Program arose out of informal conversations among a few organizers, participants and speakers presenting at the Joint CSCC-SQBC conference in Quebec City in the one-day symposium on “Patient Safety and Medical Error”, in 2012.  A small working group was formed and a teleconference was held in December of 2012 to discuss continuing education needs and opportunities for quality management education for Clinical Biochemists. This was followed by a survey to the membership to assess the need for and interest in further continuing education on quality management. The CSCC Working Group on Quality Management (WG-QM) was formalized and was mandated to develop an educational program for Clinical Biochemists wanting to play a more active role as leaders in the QMS in their own laboratories. Recognition of this advanced study and competency was to be provided through a certificate awarded by CACB to those completing the Program.

Why take this program 

Taking this program will help clinical biochemists to:

• Gain a better understanding of ISO 15189 and other quality standards and guidelines.
• Develop an advanced understanding of quality management systems and how they function.
• Gain new skills toward playing a greater role in promoting quality in the laboratory.
• Provide direction to staff on activities to improve the quality of existing processes and in planning new projects.
• Provide skills to take on a leadership role in implementing or improving the laboratory’s quality management system (QMS)
• Participate as a competent and insightful member of a team involved in implementing, reviewing, or improving a laboratory QMS.
• Assist the Laboratory Director in implementing or improving the QMS.
• Earn PD credits.

The Certificate Program consists of five different modules that collectively provide a comprehensive overview of quality management. The modules are:

• Laboratory Quality Management Standards
• Analytical Performance Goals for Laboratory Tests
• Control of Nonconformities
• Culture of Quality and Patient safety
• Ethics and Risk Management

The Program makes use of a variety of educational resources, including CSCC Education Roundtables, CSCC Travelling Lectureship talks, CSCC Workshop talks, references (mainly open access), IFCC presentations, WHO documents, and other educational material available in the public domain through web access. Each module is divided into subsections with learning objectives and written text to guide learning and augment materials covered in linked presentations, recommended readings, and other reference materials. Mastery of the materials contained within each module will take about 10 hours of self-learning, and will be assessed for credit through a web-based 10 question short-answer quiz. The WG-QM members will serve as course faculty.

This program of 5 modules is approved for 50 PD credits.

This event is an accredited group learning activity as defined by the CACB/CSCC Professional Development Program.

Participants have two years to complete the program.

Leadership in Quality Management Application Form

Email contact

For questions and comments, please email qm@cscc.ca.

Acknowledgements

Chair	Ed Randell
Original Members	Lynn Allen, Ed Randell, Edgard Delvin, Jay Kalra, Annu Khajuria, John Krahn (until 2014)
Current Module Developers	Saranya Arnoldo, Berna Aslan, Ihssan Bouhtiauy, Teralee Burton, Yn Huang, Lianna Kyriakopoulou, Isolde Seiden Long, Vinita Thakur, and Paul Yip
Other WG-QM Members (since 2014)	Adam Ptolemy, Rose Djiana, Lei Fu, Cheryl Tomalty, Nadheige Lochard, Dustin Proctor

We thank the CSCC Council, CACB Board, and our staff, Pamela Lyons, Erica Lattimore, and Elizabeth Hooper, for their strong support.