So, I’m curious…how are pathology concepts taught in your program and are these methods effective? We use multiple modalities in my program. We have mandatory core curriculum didactics three mornings each week, 2 days of AP and 1 day of CP. Additionally, we also have either cytology (lecture or multi-headed session) or hematopathology interdisciplinary conference on alternating Fridays. On some Tuesdays, we have invited guest lecturers for grand rounds. During PGY-1 while on our “intro to SP” rotations, we had additional histology, gross organ, and subspecialty didactics.
And even though, we have 4 sites, those who cannot be at the main site for lecture, teleconference in to the core lectures. So, our mornings are pretty full and it almost feels like we’re still in medical school during our clinical years with needing to balance service work with didactics. This year, they’ve tried to make the curriculum more interactive with more pre-assigned virtual slides or reading, occasional pre- and post-didactic quizzes, and a case-based rather than lecture-based structure.
And this is before all the tumor boards, morbidity and mortality, interdisciplinary specialty conferences, journal club, conferences, and CP call conferences that we make presentations that require prior research. So, sometimes, I’m amazed that in the midst of all this, that we can fit in all our service duties. We also make consistent use of our slide scanner – to create virtual re-cut sets for study, prepare presentations, and put together educational modules (at least our attendings do for this last one). And I didn’t realize until I met other residents at conferences, that heavy use of virtual slides isn’t the norm everywhere so I feel fortunate. And of course, there is sign-out (and sometimes, grossing) with the attending and learning from our fellows.
So in terms of the aforementioned, I expect that many programs teach utilizing a similar mix of modalities. But how do you learn on your own personal time? I’ve never been a student who would win an award for lecture attendance but since our “core” is mandatory, I attend most despite the fact that I don’t learn best in this way. I’m not a big textbook reader either – I have a decent number of books but can’t say I’ve finished any entirely. Having been graduate school trained initially, I’m much more of a journal article reader, which for me, as a CP-inclined resident, works well when I’m on CP rotations where I tend to excel more than I do on AP.
But what is the best way to learn on AP rotations? As an artist, I like pictures and there are some good websites (and even textbooks out there). But most days, I come home too tired to retain anything even if I could read more than for the pre-assignment for our “core”. I have to admit…I have not figured out that secret yet and would love to hear your thoughts. How best do we learn and retain pathology concepts?
-Betty Chung
Lablogatory 