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Delivering a pathology curriculum in an integrated medical course

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Abstract

Modern integrated medical curricula usually do not include a separate pathology course. Consequently, there is a risk that important pathological principles may be omitted. We aimed to ensure that pathology is properly represented by developing a core pathology curriculum created in consultation with local pathologists. Appropriate information technology to track the delivery of this material within the integrated curriculum structure was developed using a learning content management system in which a metadata schema was constructed. This allows a sophisticated view of where and how pathology appears in the course and can also increase the visibility of the subject by demonstrating the central place of pathology in medicine. In conclusion, a core curriculum in pathology that can be tracked by information technology with sufficient power and flexibility is a solution to the potential loss of pathology from integrated medical courses. We believe the result is superior to a stand-alone pathology course.

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Conflict of Interest Statement

We declare that we have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Medicine, University of Wollongong, New South Wales, 2522, Australia

    Norman J. Carr, Martin Olmos & John Bushnell

Authors
  1. Norman J. Carr
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  2. Martin Olmos
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  3. John Bushnell
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Norman J. Carr.

Electronic supplementary material

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Supplementary Fig. 1.

Top left: A list of the 93 clinical problems around which the curriculum is arranged. Clicking on one of these (47. Chest Pain) displays the Problem Blueprint shown to the right. Right: Blueprint for problem 47. It shows the learning outcomes covered under each of the four themes. It also shows the science specialties (including pathology), clinical specialties, body systems and differential diagnoses to which this problem relates. Students can then move from this ‘micro’ view back to a ‘macro’ view listing other problems on various criteria. Clicking on the icons to the right displays resources and learning activities matching that learning outcome and the problem. Clicking on one of the specialties or body systems shows a list of problems related to it. For example, a list of other problems covering pathology as a specialty can be shown by simply clicking on the ‘Pathology, Anatomical & Clinical’. Below: A list of problems related to pathology (from another blueprint). Students could now click on another problem and move from the macro to the micro view into another blueprint, and so on (GIF 358 MB).

High resolution image file (TIF 127 MB).

Supplementary Fig. 2.

Learning activity search. This screen allows students and staff to navigate through the ‘curriculum web’. The screenshot shows anatomical pathology already selected; the search is further refined by selecting components of the other descriptors. The search will lead to specific learning activities (GIF 605 KB).

High resolution image file (TIF 127 MB).

Supplementary Fig. 3.

Science specialty coverage visualisation. This display shows the coverage of science specialties for the first year in the course. The vertical axis displays the two-weekly body system curriculum blocks. Each fortnight is represented by a box, the brightness of which indicates the number of learning activities mapping to each specialty. For example, pathology (fifth column from the right) is particularly strongly represented in the fortnight designated ‘CVSR 3–4’ (the third and fourth weeks of the Cardiovascular/Respiratory body system block) (GIF 208 KB).

High resolution image file (TIF 275 MB).

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Carr, N.J., Olmos, M. & Bushnell, J. Delivering a pathology curriculum in an integrated medical course. Virchows Arch 453, 369–375 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-008-0666-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-008-0666-x

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