Evolving Paradigms of Clinical Pathology Resident Education and Consultation

Abstract

In the complex arena of medical resident education, real-time tools have become increasingly valuable for documenting medical knowledge and practice-based learning, as well as providing, in some cases, training exercises in and of themselves (1)(2)(3)(4). For clinical pathology in particular, the myriad of consultative activities of the laboratory medicine resident have always been a difficult area for documentation since these consultations are not routinely included in the patient chart in most institutions. Moreover, this lack of a common venue for documentation of direct patient care activities in clinical pathology limits appropriate dissemination of this information among pathology (and other) house staff and similarly can limit “institutional memory” of important clinical principles and facts, especially those that may be quite specific to the particular institution. Residents in clinical pathology rotations should develop and document the ability to handle laboratory methodology issues while carrying out broader clinical diagnostic consultations (5). Clinical pathology residents participate in, and may even direct, therapeutic decisions based on the combination of laboratory and clinical evidence, furthering their own education and the care of those patients served …