Education
HLA American College of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ACHI) - Sponsored Continuing Education
The UCLA Immunogenetics Center's program, Current Topics in Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics, is approved by the American Board for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (#2003-03), by the State of California (#0085) and by the State of Florida (#JP000480) for continuing education credits. Seminars are provided by Immunogenetics Center faculty, lead technologists and supervisors as well as UCLA faculty from other divisions. Presentation of teleconference audiotapes and slides from "Current Topics in Histocompatibility and Transplantation for Technologists" sponsored by the Georgetown University Hospital are included in the Immunogenetics Center Program. Each seminar is 1-1 ½ hours in length. Faculty lectures focus on current research in the fields of transplantation and transplant immunology. Faculty and staff provide basic lectures in immunology, immunogenetics, and histocompatibility testing designed to prepare technicians for the ACHI Certified Histocompatibility Technologist and Specialist examinations. The lectures are held at the Immunogenetics Center. Participants receive certificates with the CEU's earned for attending the seminars and this information is reported to the ACHI. For additional information contact the laboratory.
HLA Histocompatibility Technologist Training Program
The California Department of Health Services has approved the UCLA Immunogenetics Center as a training site for Clinical Histocompatibility Scientist Trainees. The Histocompatibility Technologist Training Program was established in January 1999 to train technologists to perform high complexity histocompatibility testing. The primary goal of this program is to train qualified individuals who are not licensed as Clinical Laboratory Scientists by the State of California so they will be eligible for the Clinical Histocompatibility Technologist (CHT) credentialing examination sponsored by the ACHI. Qualified individuals who successfully complete this examination are eligible for licensing as Clinical Histocompatibility Scientists by the State of California under Article 1, section 1031.1(b) of the Emergency Regulations regarding Clinical laboratory Personnel Licensing Standards, R2-99E.
The course requires one year to complete. We provide the scientific background and principles of the HLA tests performed by the laboratory, orientation and individual training for all equipment necessary to perform testing, observation and supervised test performance, interpretation and troubleshooting followed by competency evaluation and documentation. New technologists are encouraged to take and pass the ACHI Clinical Histocompatibility Technologist examination after completion of their training and to obtain their California license.
The scope of training encompasses all functional areas of histocompatibility testing currently performed in the laboratory. In addition to faculty lectures and taped lectures on basic principles of histocompatibility testing and their applications in the laboratory and the clinic, technologists receive intensive in-depth training in specific HLA testing methods and procedures. Trainees are also instructed in compliance with regulatory agencies and policies as well as in the application of quality assurance and quality improvement measures and their role and importance in accurate, high quality test performance. Following each rotation, the trainee must meet competency standards and benchmarks for each procedure. Contact the laboratory for information about the application process.
Resident Training
The 4-week resident training course is designed to provide an overview of immunogenetics and transplantation immunology for pathology residents interested in learning more about immunogenetics testing and its role in organ and tissue transplantation, anthropology and population genetics, autoimmune disease, and cancer. The course features small focused interactive lectures and discussion with Center faculty, case reviews, hands-on laboratory experience and research projects. The curriculum is flexible and can be adapted to fit scheduling constraints. Contact the laboratory for additional information.
Resident HLA Laboratory Director Training
The UCLA Immunogenetics Center Director Trainee Program is an American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ASHI) accredited HLA laboratory director program. This fellowship provides two years of formal training for one candidate funded by the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. During this time, the fellow will work under the direct guidance of four ASHI qualified directors and experienced laboratory staff at the UCLA Immunogenetics Center. The Fellow will gain `hands on’ experience and perform clinical case reviews. The fellow will further conduct research within Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics in collaboration with the directors, research scientists, and laboratory personnel. Completion of this post-doctoral training program will provide the trainee with two years education and experience in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a qualified histocompatibility director under CLIA/CMS, UNOS and ASHI standards.