1.Bacteriology
Introduction process of specimen submission to the clinical microbiology laboratory.
Identification of bacteria  key principles in biochemical identification.
Organism categorization  modern diagnostic methods such as MALDI-TOF MS and sequence-based identification.
Comprehensive discus¬sion of bacterial infections with a focus on the laboratory methods required to diagnose them.

2. Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing
Key aspects of antimicrobial suscep¬tibility testing of bacteria, mycobacteria, and yeast.
Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) effect of antimicrobial agents on the growth of an organism, in culture.
Standardization of AST  consis¬tent inoculum concentrations, test media, and incubation conditions.
Surrogate agent testing, detection of resistance mechanisms, use of commercial systems, and molecular methods for susceptibility testing
Additional testing  to detect impor¬tant resistance, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus, β-lactam resis¬tance in the Enterobacteriaceae, key concepts for testing Streptococcus pneumoniae, β-hemolytic Streptococcus spp., Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia.
Common antimicrobials used in clinical practice.

3. Mycobacteriology
Laboratory methods used for the detection and identification of Mycobacterium species.
Traditional microbiologic methods vs. molecular methods of detection and identification acid-fast staining and culture for mycobacteria, molecular technologies (nucleic acid hybridization probes, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), and DNA sequencing)
Nucleic acid amplification methods  detection of the M. tuberculosis complex and MAC within respiratory specimens, prediction of susceptibility to anti-infective therapy.

4. Mycology
Prevalent and emerging fungal infections
Review of nomenclature changes
Preanalytical, analytical, and postanalytical procedures for the laboratory diagnosis of fungal infections  fungal morphology
Common histopathologic and cytologic features related to anatomic pathology
Review of nonphenotypic methods  mass spectrometry, immunological assays, and molecular tests.
Principal fea¬tures of fungal infections  patient populations affected, clinical manifestations, relevant diag¬nostic approaches and tests, and therapeutic issues related to antifungal resistance.

5. Parasitology
Overview of human parasitology and the general laboratory approaches for identifying impor¬tant parasites in various specimens.
Conventional and state-of-the-art diagnostic methods  light microscopy, serology, antigen detection, and nucleic acid amplification.
Testing in blood and stool.
The most important human parasites  fundamental clinical and biologic informa¬tion needed for accurate diagnosis and management of infec¬tion.
Categories of parasites  blood and tissue protozoa, intestinal protozoa, intestinal helminths, tissue helminths, and medically important arthropods.

6. Virology
Use of qualitative and quantitative nucleic acid amplification and detection methods to diagnose and monitor viral infections.
Alternative diagnostic methods
Specific topics  viral infections of the respiratory tract, viral illness in immunocompromised populations, infections of the central nervous system, sexually transmitted viral illness, viral hepatitis, viral hemorrhagic fever, and diagnosis of vaccine-preventable viral infections.
Epidemiology of the key organisms responsible for each of the clinical syndromes
Factors impacting laboratory diagnosis and interpretation of results  optimal specimen type, availability of standardized assays, utility of qualitative versus quantitative results, multiplexed detection strategies, and potential shortcomings of current diagnostic approaches.