Medical Laboratory Science - BSc (Hons)

This is a 4-year full-time programme leading to a registrable qualification required for performing diagnostic tests in clinical laboratories in Hong Kong. Graduates will be able to work in the four major discipline areas (Cellular Pathology, Clinical Chemistry, Haematology and Transfusion Science, and Medical Microbiology and Virology) within medical laboratory science.

The programme has the following major content:

• Year One studies include compulsory university subjects such as Freshman Seminars for Health Science and fundamental language subjects; Foundation Subjects in medical laboratory science such as Human Physiology, Human Anatomy, General Chemistry, Laboratory Techniques & Safety, and Clinical Laboratory Instrumentation. The core disciplines of medical laboratory science will be introduced in the 1-credit subject Exploring Medical Laboratory Science.
• Year Two includes more Foundation Subjects in medical laboratory science such as Immunology, Human Biochemistry, Biostatistics and Pathophysiology. The core medical laboratory science disciplines will be further introduced in the 4-credit subject Introduction to Medical Laboratory Science in the first semester, and then one of the four core disciplines - Clinical Chemistry - will be introduced in the second semester.
• Year Three emphasises the remaining three core medical laboratory science disciplines - Cellular Pathology, Haematology, and Medical Microbiology. The year also covers other core subjects, including Introduction to Clinical Research, Molecular Biology in Medicine and Medical Virology.
• Year Four extends to applied subjects such as Human Genetics, Molecular Diagnosis of Human Disease, and Legal and Ethical Issues in Healthcare, and one Elective Subject from a range of other cross-disciplinary health-related subject areas. The core medical laboratory science disciplines are further enhanced through the integrative subject of Current Topics in Laboratory Medicine. There is also a 9-credit laboratory-based Research Project in the Final Year.

Students undertake a 12-week clinical attachment throughout the programme. The first part takes place during the summer period between Years Two and Three (three weeks of Haematology). The second part takes place during the summer period between Years Three and Four (nine weeks in total including three weeks each of Cellular Pathology, Clinical Chemistry and Medical Microbiology).

In addition to lectures, tutorials, case studies and seminars, this programme contains a substantial amount of laboratory-based practical work.