Integrated Clinical Pathophysiology (ICP) is a course which aims to integrate the theory and practicals of the first five semesters of the programme with the laboratory practice learning/ Work Integrated Learning (WIL) of semesters six and seven and to evaluate the laboratory findings in terms of the pathophysiology disease status of the patient. The course involves within subject/ discipline integration which is critical and a precursor to between subject/ discipline integration and ultimately total integration of the knowledge acquired in all semesters of the course. Integration is important because it allows one to process any information presented and appreciate it holistically without apportioning that this is a microbiology issue, chemistry or haematology issue. This comes with the understanding that no disease pronounces itself as discipline specific in a patient, hence we need to use all critical thinking skills acquired in all disciplines to apply our knowledge in the laboratory. It is a very good feeling to like a particular discipline in Medical Laboratory Sciences and even specialise in it, but it is a lot better to understand and apply knowledge across the field of clinical pathology first before specialising.
- Lecturer: Roselin Tsauses