Teaching veterinary clinical pathology to undergraduate students: an integrated European project

Abstract

Veterinary clinical pathology is a relatively new and emerging discipline in Europe that has gained momentum with the recent establishment of a specialty college. In this situation, veterinary faculties may face challenges in understanding and defining what clinical pathology is and how it can best be integrated into existing curricula. In addition, many schools in Europe may not yet have available a critical mass of suitably qualified faculty capable of teaching in all areas of clinical pathology. The main purpose of this report is to describe the goals, procedures adopted, teaching material produced, and proposed future activities of a major European initiative designed to develop a veterinary clinical pathology curriculum. Four working subgroups were formed to establish a list of course objectives and topics and prepare a series of lectures. These contents were reviewed and discussed several times at a series of general meetings. An undergraduate course on veterinary clinical pathology was designed with course objectives, a list of topics and a CD-ROM consisting of 24 lectures. The results of this project could be useful in the establishment or improvement of training programs in veterinary clinical pathology at the undergraduate level in Europe and in other places around the world. The provision of teaching resources for faculty could help to instill in veterinary students a strong understanding of the discipline and promote development of advanced training programs and career opportunities in clinical pathology in Europe.