In the context of the latest developments in the use of information technology in the practice of laboratory medicine in both the local Australian and global contexts, this course aims to firstly introduce and secondly provide more advanced aspects to the student a number of the management aspects of laboratory medicine and medical research including aspects of change management, laboratory information systems, intellectual property, creative thinking, economics of the healthcare system and pathology services, automation, point of care testing, quality systems, accreditation of laboratory services and legal issues affecting the practice of medical scientists in laboratory medicine.

The Advanced medical informatics component of the course includes the recent development of the practice of digitising and manipulating information, in particular for the purposes of image analysis and interpretation. This Advanced course also examines the role of the Internet in healthcare management, the use of information systems in the laboratory and how knowledge/expert systems can assist in decision making processes.