Continuing medical education in renal pathology: current practices and needs among nephrologists

To investigate nephrologists' attitudes toward renal pathology continuing medical education (CME), current problems, as well as their demands for CME METHODS: A self-designed questionnaire survey themed "The Value of Renal Pathology in Clinical Diagnosis, Treatment and CME Across Medical Institutions at All Levels" was conducted among 281 nephrologists. Descriptive statistical analysis, chi-square tests and logistic regression analysis were performed on the survey data.

A total of 256 valid questionnaires were included, with the demographic profile as follows: 56.6% females, 29.7% aged over 40 years, 26.6% with senior titles or above, 41% with over 10 years of working experience, and 42.2% working in Class B tertiary hospitals and below. All respondents recognized the clinical value of renal pathology, with female and senior physicians showing more positive attitudes. Physicians in primary institutions faced prominent difficulties in linking pathological findings to clinical manifestations. Only 53.1% of the respondents participated in at least one training session per year, mainly due to time conflicts and lack of targeted content. Most physicians regarded clinico-pathological case analysis as the core training content, while senior/title-holding physicians also needed training on renal pathology advances and new technologies. And primary institutions demanded support for specimen referral and telepathology consultation.

Renal pathology training for nephrologists urgently needs to be strengthened and expanded. The content should cover clinico-pathological case analysis, pathological report interpretation, research advances and new technologies, according to the needs-oriented principle. Besides, practical remote slide-reading training was suggested.