2008 Summer Meeting - Leeds - The Pathological Society of Great ...

O21Undergraduate exposure to clinical pathology and autopsies:potential effects on junior doctor recruitment intohistopathologyLBrowning 1 ,JLortan 1 , E Soilleux 11 Nuffield Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, Oxford UniversityThere has been a gradual erosion of clinical pathology teaching fromundergraduate medical curricula. Our medical school is the only UK medicalschool that has retained a block laboratory medicine course, which takes placeclose to the beginning of the first year of clinical training. At this medicalschool, which retains a traditional 3-year preclinical and 3-year clinicalstructure, we accept students from 3 different preclinical courses, as well asfrom our own one-year graduate entry preclinical course. These students have,therefore, had varying previous exposure to pathology.Methods: Our 161 first year clinical students were asked to complete ananonymous questionnaire at the beginning and end of the 9-week block coursedetailing their perception of the role of the histopathologist and their attitudestowards a future career in histopathology.Results: Prior to the block laboratory medicine course 142/161 (88.2%)students responded, while 124/161 (77.0%) students responded at the end of thecourse. Prior to the course, 23/142 (16.1%) students had witnessed an autopsy,119/142 (83.8%) students believed pathologists were medically qualified,91/142 (64.1%) students were sure that being a pathologist did not entailpredominantly forensic work, 88/142 (62.0%) students believed thatpathologists had an input into patient management and 87/142 (61.3%) studentsbelieved a pathologist might see live patients (e.g., in a fine needle aspirateclinic). Following the block course, 104/124 (83.9%) students had witnessed anautopsy, 117/124 (94.4%) students believed pathologists were medicallyqualified, 115/124 (92.7%) students were sure that being a pathologist did notentail predominantly forensic work, 112/124 (90.3%) students believed thatpathologists had an input into patient management and 113/124 (91.1%)students believed a pathologist might see live patients. Crucially, prior to thecourse only 6/142 (4.2%) students said they would consider a career inhistopathology, while, following the course, this figure had risen to 29/124(23.4%), p