Teaching and learning pathology: a critical review of the English literature

There are few publications summarising the main issues concerning pathology teaching and learning within undergraduate medical degrees. This article examines the themes that have emerged from the literature over the last 2 decades.

A literature search was performed using PubMed, which identified 86 relevant papers in the English language.

The themes discussed in the literature included the timing and duration of pathology courses, the appropriate pathology teacher for medical students, the teaching strategies used for pathology, and the methods used to assess learning.

With the gradual increase of integrated medical curricula, it is important for pathology teachers to engage in the change process and help to shape the new-style courses. One of the positive aspects of change is that it can provide an opportunity to rethink current practice. It is hoped that this paper might stimulate discussion about how pathology is taught and learnt, leading to further developments in this area.