Section 5.1 – Learning Activities
Courses
| COURSE | INSTITUTION | DATE | COURSE DIRECTOR |
| Leadership and Laboratory Management | University of Stellenbosch | 02-05/11/2020 | Prof. R.T. Erasmus |
| Manuscript Writing Course Workshop 1: Principles of scientific writing + poster presentations Workshop 2: Proposal writing for ethical approval Workshop 3: Writing up your thesis vs for publication Workshop 4: Finding your academic voice + referencing |
UCT FHS Writing Lab | 31/07/2019 18/09/2019 02/10/2019 |
Taahira G Hoosen |
| Data Analysis in Stata | CESAR: Centre for Statistical Analysis and Research | 28-30/11/2018 | B. Bello |
| WildMedix Winter Wilderness Medicine Course | Wildmedix, Wilderness Medical Society | 05-10/08/2020 | Walther Meyer / Prof Ross Hofmeyr |
Lectures
| DATE | TOPIC | PRESENTER |
| 02-Aug-19 | DIARRHOEA: Biochemistry of diarrhoea | P Fortgens |
| 18-Sep-19 | Male reproduction and hypogonadism | C Hudson |
| 20-Sep-19 | Pituitary disease | C Hudson |
| 20-Sep-19 | Tumour markers and PSA | H Vreede |
| 02-Oct-19 | Disorders of female reproduction | C Hudson |
| 07-Oct-19 | Adrenal disorders | H Vreede |
| 18-Oct-19 | FASD: Alcohol metabolism | G vd Watt |
| 29-Oct-19 | Anemia: Iron metabolism | F Omar |
| 30-Oct-19 | Anemia: Haemolysis, folate, B12 | G vd Watt |
| 11-Feb-20 | Obesity & Satiety Pathways | G vd Watt |
Workshops
| DATE | TOPIC | PRESENTER/ VENUE | REFLECTIONS |
| 05/03/2018 | Riqas QC Roadshow | Randox QC/ Protea Hotel, De Waterkant | This was an amazing experience at the beginning of my registrarship. It was an introduciton to EQA and the 1-day workshop included tips on troubleshooting EQA reports and identifying possible caveats. |
| 16/05/2018 | Exam Workshop | Prof. TS Pillay/ Red Cross Hospital Laboratory | Learned valuable techniques for studying and approaching exam questions. Some calculations in chemical pathology was discussed. The approach to questions in general in chemical pathology was discussed. The common pitfalls in questions was also discussed. |
| 2019 | Siemens Plasma Protein Market Day | Siemens Healthineers / 99 on Kloof Hotel, Cape Town | This was a day where Siemens Healthineers invited us to their “Plasma Protein Market Day” aimed at introducing us to the Siemens Plasma Protein portfolio. Their test repertoire, methods, state of the art machines and laboratory systems was showcased. There was also an interactive questions and answers session where I could see how some of the pathologists in private practice asked Siemens some important questions. |
Congresses and Symposia attended
| DATE | CONGRESS | REFLECTIONS |
| Aug 2018 | PathCape, Stellenbosch | I was pleased that most people in the exam workshop agreed to some fundamental changes in the exams. The changes are not yet formalised but it seems that the examiners were unanimous. |
| 30-31 October 2018 |
Red Cross Research Days | This was two days at the Red Cross Children’s hospital where researchers at the hospital could showcase their work. I presented a poster on an in-house experiment I had done on the interference of N-acetylcysteine on the measurement procedure of paracetamol. This was taken well by the toxicology centre and it aided in the guidelines for paracetamol testing. There were also interesting case presentations and interesting state of the art neuroscience projects presented. |
| 18-20 July 2019 | PathRed, Johannesburg | This was an amazing experience to connect with fellow registrars from other centers. Sessions attended was: Developing registrar knowledge, skills and reflection of learning objectives and learning opportunities – Dr. Aye Aye Khine & Dr Rivak Punchoo, Risk Management in the Clinical Laboratory Prof Tahir Pillay & Prof Rajiv Erasmus, Supporting surveillance and outbreak investigation for communicable diseases in RSA – Dr Kerrigan McCarthy (Epidemiology), and a registrar meeting convened by Dr Ashlin Rampul. |
| Dec 2020 | AACC International conference (Virtual) | This congress wasn’t necessarily a trip to San Fansisco as we hoped, but, although virtual, due to the travel and convening restrictions, was one of the most interesting congresses attended. I presented a poster on our findings of a big data project on COVID-19 related laboratory analyte changes and the relationship between SARS-CoV2 and HIV, TB and HbA1C in South Africa. There were interesting talks on Machine Learning, some laboratory management topics, and some inspiring talks about Clinical Chemistry in general. Quite a few topics focussed on testing in SARS-CoV-2, such as an interesting talk on neutralising antibody testing in COVID – all very relevant to Chemical Pathology and very worth while to attend. The time difference from America to South Africa was, however bit of a chalenge as some of the talks I needed to attend at 2AM in the morning. Nonetheless, quite interesting and I could attend these afterhours from work. |