Awareness and Training of Interns & Junior Residents for Proper Use of Microbiology Requisition Forms

Medical graduates like Interns and resident doctors have to carry out different procedures under supervision of senior faculty. The microbiology lab serves an important role in diagnosis of infectious diseases. Proper collection of an appropriate specimen is the first step in obtaining an accurate laboratory diagnosis. The collected sample is sent to microbiology department along with a requisition form. The requisition form must be filled properly having details like clinical diagnosis, tests to be carried out, nature of specimen, etc.

The requisition forms are usually filled by Interns and post-graduate students in our hospital. Hence, this study was undertaken to know the awareness regarding the proper use of requisition forms and to train them for proper use.

Before training, a pre-test was given to all the participants to know their basic knowledge regarding use of requisition form. Training was given to the participants in the form of lecture and demonstration. Requisition forms received in the laboratory before and after training were collected.

There was definite improvement in use of requisition forms after the training. Feedback was obtained from the participants, which showed that such training is essential for improvement in knowledge of the participants, which will help them in various entrance exams as well as in community practice.

Though there was improvement in knowledge, there was not 100% improvement in filling of requisition forms. This means that the participants were aware of the importance but they were not ready to apply their knowledge in practice. This may be because of the workload or time constraint. This shows that a single training module will not help but an ongoing training is essential for proper use of requisition forms.