Fatimah AlMutawa
Assistant Professor
MBBS
FRCPC
Office: LHSC-UH B10-109
Phone: (519) 685-8500
E-mail: Fatimah.AlMutawa@lhsc.on.ca
Clinical Activities
Keywords: quality improvement in microbiology lab, infectious diseases diagnostics, medical education, infection control
Description of clinical activities:
- Oversee microbiology lab operations, ensuring high standards in testing accuracy, quality control, and compliance, while implementing efficient workflows, safety, and quality assurance protocols.
- Streamline processes to enhance turnaround time and diagnostic accuracy by employing innovative testing methods to improve lab efficiency and reliability.
- Provide expertise in pathogen identification and complex result interpretation, supporting clinical teams in making informed decisions for patient care.
- Educate and mentor medical students, residents, and fellows through practical training to build knowledge in microbiology and infectious diseases.
- Collaborate with infection control teams to reduce healthcare-associated infections by developing and enforcing prevention, surveillance, and outbreak control protocols.
Research Activities
Keywords: blood culture optimization, new test validation, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, clinical research, quality improvement, test utilization
Description of research activities:
- Optimizing Blood Culture Incubation and Diagnosis of Sepsis: Improve blood culture protocols to improve early sepsis diagnosis and management, focusing on optimized incubation times.
- Developing and Implementing New Microbiological Tests: Lead projects that introduce innovative diagnostic tools tailored to clinical needs, providing faster and more accurate results to enhance patient outcomes. Initiate and implement projects aimed at improving infection control strategies within the hospital setting.
- Rapid Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing for Sepsis Management: Develop and validate rapid testing methods to support timely antibiotic initiation for septic patients.
- Optimizing Utilization of Microbiological Tests and ‘Choosing Wisely’ Initiatives: Promote the appropriate use of microbiological tests, educating healthcare providers to select appropriate tests, reducing unnecessary testing and improving resource utilization.
Research Opportunities: In microbiology and infection control, students have numerous opportunities to engage in research or quality improvement projects. Examples include implementing new diagnostic tests, reviewing test utilization to establish local eligibility criteria, exploring innovative microbiology testing methods to improve turnaround time (TAT) and patient care quality, and conducting literature reviews, case reports, or case series on rare findings. Each of these projects allows students to contribute meaningfully to advancing clinical practices and enhancing patient outcomes.
