By providing evidence of scientific and clinical knowledge, the IBMS Diploma of Expert Practice in Routine Haematology enables you to show your practical competence required to accurately contribute to the detection and diagnosis of haematological diseases.
The qualification will help you to undertake an advanced role involved in the detection and diagnosis of haematological diseases and result interpretation in the routine haematology laboratory environment.
You will be able to offer expert professional and scientific advice to scientific and medical staff on the clinical relevance of results obtained in routine haematological practice.
You will also be able to participate in the training of biomedical and clinical scientists and specialist trainee medical staff in the practices of routine diagnostic haematology.
Fees
£386 for the course fees.
£27 for the training logbook.
Criteria
To apply for the routine haematology course, you must be an HCPC registered IBMS member at Member or Fellow grade with five years post-registration experience in routine haematology.
You must also have a single named consultant pathologist trainer who has overall responsibility for mentoring you and monitoring your progress, and be working in a CPA (Clinical Pathology Accreditation (UK) Ltd) or UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) registered laboratory that has IBMS laboratory post-registration training approval.
If you are unsure whether your laboratory has IBMS laboratory approval, please check with your laboratory manager or training officer.
Payment methods
Payment must be made via either of the following methods:
- Cheque/Postal Order - which must be attached to your application
- Card payment - details of how to make payment will be provided once application has been approved
- Purchase order - you must include the purchase order number, order details and an address to send the invoice.
Please note that a £50 administrative fee will be applied to any refund if you withdraw from the qualification at any time.
Application
Please submit to the IBMS Examinations Team a payment of £27 along with your completed training log book order form.
To apply, in the year in which you plan to submit your portfolio for assessment, you will need to submit to the IBMS Examinations Team a payment of £386 and your completed application form.
Deferrals, withdrawals and mitigating circumstances
If you wish to defer, withdraw or highlight any mitigating circumstances, please contact examinations@ibms.org.
As a professional vocational qualification, the IBMS Diploma of Expert Practice in Routine Haematology is assessed through completion of a training logbook and portfolio of evidence followed by a written examination.
Training logbook and portfolio
The training logbook and portfolio of evidence provide a record of your training. They must contain evidence of regular assessments of your competence in reporting the specimen types covered in this qualification by your named consultant pathologist supervisor.
You can submit your training logbook once your named consultant pathologist supervisor is satisfied that your training is complete.
Once submitted, your portfolio will be independently assessed by two members of the IBMS Haematology Advisory Panel. To pass, there are 27 standards that you must meet before progressing to the written examination.
Written exam
The written examination lasts 120 minutes, and you will answer five mandatory short answer questions, two case studies questions from a choice of three and one essay question from a choice of three.
Practical microscopy assessment
The practical examination requires candidates to answer questions on 12 cases in 96 minutes. The IBMS will provide microscopes for this examination, however candidates can bring their own if they so wish.
For further information, please refer to the Routine Haematology guidance document.
Key Dates
Friday 1 July 2022
Qualification Application Deadline
Friday 29 July 2022
Portfolio Submission Deadline
2022
Examinations date to be confirmed and will depend on number and location of candidates who submit their portfolio.
Submitting your portfolio
You must submit your portfolio electronically, hard copies will not be accepted. Please scan your portfolio and training logbook and send via email to examinations@ibms.org to download the files.
Due to the large file size of the portfolio we recommend that you send your documents using a file sharing system such as Microsoft OneDrive, Google Docs or WeTransfer, then send the link to examinations@ibms.org.
Further information on how to submit your portfolio and evidence can be found in the Routine Haematology guidance.