Navigating HIV Testing: a Writing-focused Lab Sequence

 

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2016, Volume 37

Boriana Marintcheva

Abstract

HIV is a major health threat that continues to spread and affect millions of people world-wide despite the fact that HIV infection is preventable. Curbing the HIV epidemic depends heavily on the reliability of established testing and efforts to modify risk behaviors. From a teaching stand point HIV testing offers great opportunities for integration of lab skills and tools for effective communication of scientific results. The lab sequence assigns mock patient samples to each student to be tested for evidence of HIV infection using ELISA, Western blot and PCR analyses (a total of five labs). The outcomes of individual tests are reported in results summaries, which following a round of instructor feedback are combined in a final lab report communicating evidence-based conclusions for the HIV status of the tested patients. Students are working in teams of four testing four individual samples that require different processing according to the current HIV testing guidelines. This workshop will simulate the student experience using mock data set. Tips how to manage the logistics and the cost of the labs, as well as the lab assessment will be discussed.

Keywords:  PCR, Western blot, ELISA, HIV

Boston University (2015)