Assessing physicians' training needs in anatomic pathology requests and specimen handling: An FSP grid analysis from...

Incomplete or noncompliant pathology request forms are a major source of pre-analytical errors worldwide, compromising diagnostic accuracy and delaying patient care. Evidence from low-resource settings like North Africa remains scarce. This first study in Morocco systematically assessed physicians' training needs in pathology request completion and specimen handling, using the validated Frequency-Severity-Problems grid to prioritize continuing medical education. A mixed-methods training-needs assessment was conducted with 24 medical interns at a university hospital in northwestern Morocco using individual interviews and a questionnaire. It focused on three domains: pathology request form completion, specimen vial labeling, and formalin fixation. Quantitative prioritization of training needs used the Frequency-Severity-Problems grid. All interns reported unmet training needs. Three critical deficiencies were identified: incomplete pathology request forms (75% lacked key clinical data), inaccurate vial labeling (58% reported errors), and inadequate knowledge of fixation procedures (62%). Mean Frequency-Severity-Problems scores confirmed these as training priorities: 4.95 for form completion, 2.08 for labeling, and 3.41 for fixation. Deficits involved knowledge, technical skills, and attitudes. Significant pre-analytical gaps exist among medical interns. Targeted continuing medical education on standardized pathology requests is urgently needed to reduce diagnostic errors and enhance patient outcomes in low-resource settings.