The Delivery of Pathology Teaching in the Medical Curriculum:

1. The Delivery of Pathology Teaching in the Medical Curriculum: How Often are Medical Students Taught and Examined in ‘Pathology’? Petts, G1. Shukla, C2. Moreman, C3. and Cossins, S2. 1The Royal London Hospital, 2Leeds Teaching Hospitals, 3University Hospitals of Leicester The Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath) response to the 2007 NHS Employers paper ‘The Future of the Medical Workforce’ stated “lack of exposure to modern scientific principles during undergraduate... medical training results in a total workforce that is significantly deficient in a modern comprehension of pathological processes” and that “the low profile of pathology teaching within the undergraduate medical curriculum has become increasingly damaging to the recruitment of quality UK medical students.”1 Leading on from these statements we sought to determine at what stage and how often medical students were taught and examined in pathology. METHOD: An on-line survey was sent to medical students in all years of study from 24 medical schools in England and Wales. Students were asked to provide information regarding the frequency and timing of pathology teaching and examinations at their medical school. • RESULTS: • Responses were received from 1126 medical students from 17 medical schools in England and Wales, distributed between years 1-6 (Figure 1). • Students reported pathology to be predominantly taught in years 1 and 2 (Figure 2). DISCUSSION: This study supports the views expressed by the Royal College of Pathologists in 2007 with almost half (48%) of the medical students expressing the opinion that Pathology teaching is neglected in their curriculum and 37% expressing the concerning view that they do not have a good understanding of pathology. Encouragingly 97% of the medical students feel that Pathology is relevant to their medical training and this survey has highlighted the timing and frequency of Pathology teaching as potential areas for future development within curricula. Figure 1: Year group of respondents Figure 2: Year of medical school in which respondents were taught Pathology • 42% of medical students reported being taught pathology over two years of medical school, predominantly the 2nd year. • Only 4% reported pathology teaching over all years of medical school (Figure 3). • Students were asked if they had access to pathology specific educational tools such as pro-sections (82%), microscopes (53%) and virtual pathology (55%). Of these students, the majority reported the use of these tools on an annual basis and less than 15% on a weekly basis (Figure 4). Figure 3: Number of academic years in which respondents were taught Pathology Figure 4: Frequency of access to Pathology specific educational tools (all) REFERENCES: 1. Foster, CS. and Newland, A. Response by Royal College of Pathologists to Discussion Paper: “The Future of the Medical Workforce”. The Royal College of Pathologists. 22nd Feb 2007. • 50% of the respondents reported being specifically examined in pathology in their end of year/final year examinations. Worryingly, 34% of respondents were unsure.