General concepts of clinical biochemistry and laboratory medicine: reference range, diagnostic threshold, sensitivity and specificity, ROC curves, Positive and Negative predictive values. Biological, pre-analytical, analytical and post-analytical variables. Biomarker concept: specific and general biomarkers.
Statistical tools . Analytical performance evaluation (Accuracy, Precision).
The Blood: Arterial, Venous and Capillary. Diagnostic Haematology: Red blood cells (RBCs), white blood cells (WBCs), and platelets. Blood Smear, Hematocrit (Hct), Hemoglobin (Hgb), Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV), Mean Corpuscolar Haemoglobin (MCH ), Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin Concentration (MCHC), Red Cell Distribution Width (RDW). Platelet indices (PI): mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet distribution width (PDW), plateletcrit (PCT).
Hemoglobin: structure, oxygen bonding, binding cooperativity, carbon dioxide transport and Bohr effect, 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate, allosteric regulation. Pathological hemoglobins.
Urine analysis: Physical, chemical and Microscopic exam.