Medical Laboratory Analysis Department Students Visited the Smart Laboratory in Erbil

On Thursday, December 19, 2024, under the supervision of Assistant Lecturer Sally Khalil Baqer, first-stage students from the Department of Medical Laboratory Analysis at Cihan University-Erbil visited the Smart Laboratory in Erbil. The objective of the visit was to introduce the students to the main departments at the laboratory.

During the visit, Mr. Rizgar, the laboratory manager, explained the main departments at the laboratory, including the Departments of Immunology, Parasitology, Chemistry, Bacteria, Hormones, and Viruses. Moreover, he talked about how each department operates and described the two different ways to conduct a urine test. Under the microscope, this first traditional way requires effort, time, accuracy, and an experienced person. The second way involves using a device in which some amount of urine is loaded into the device, producing a complete report. Compared to the first way, this method does not require time or an experienced person as the device will do everything perfectly.

Furthermore, he provided a detailed explanation of the rest of the devices available at the laboratory. Among them is the Cobas 6000 device, which has a complete system of two devices. For the first device, he shared that the idea of ​​this device is based on two principles. ELISA, as the first principle, involves interaction between immunity (antibodies) and foreign bodies (antigens) to produce results for hormones, viruses, and vitamins. The second principle is based on the interaction between light and density or a spectrophotometer to generate results for various chemical tests such as kidney and liver functions, lipids levels, etc.

At the end of the visit, students were asked several main and basic questions according to their educational stage and age. Most of the students’ answers were correct. This visit reflects the students’ positive character and increases their passion for learning and delving into this field that carries many important details and is constantly updated due to the development of medicine in particular and science in general. A plan was developed by the university staff for field visits soon for first-year students to develop their skills in this wonderful and important field in our society.