Apheresis education in pathology residency

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Pathology
• Apheresis Medicine

Background:

• Physicians in apheresis medicine come from varied training backgrounds.
• Pathology residents' exposure to apheresis varies based on departmental involvement.
• The utilization of established apheresis education milestones in residency curricula is not well-documented.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the current state of apheresis education within pathology residency programs.
• To assess the impact of the performing department on apheresis training requirements for residents.

Main Methods:

• An electronic survey with 15 questions was distributed to 141 pathology programs.
• Data were collected from the American Medical Association Residency and Fellowship Database.

Main Results:

• Of 141 programs, 43 (30.5%) responded. Pathology performed apheresis in 67.4% of responding programs.
• Combined Anatomic and Clinical Pathology (AP/CP) residents were significantly more likely to require apheresis training if pathology performed the procedures (93% vs. 36%, P = 0.0002).
• Only 18.6% of respondents were aware of and utilized the Milestones for Apheresis education in their curriculum development.

Conclusions:

• Apheresis procedures are performed by the pathology department in most surveyed residency programs.
• Pathology performance of apheresis correlates with mandatory training for AP/CP residents.
• Collaboration between apheresis practitioners and program directors is recommended to integrate apheresis education milestones for improved resident training.