The Teaching of Pathology in European Undergraduate Programs in Medicine: Quality Assurance: Discussion of the Validity and Reliability of Various Forms of Examination

Abstract

HISTORY At the IX European Congress of Pathology in Hamburg in 1982, the European Society of Pathology set up a working group on the undergraduate teaching of pathology in Europe. New ideas and teaching methods were discussed, and some of the main problems facing pathology teachers were taken up. The group formulated a set of educational objectives for teaching pathology, outlined the subject contents and number of teaching hours necessary to achieve these objectives, and discussed at what point during the medical course the teaching should take place. These proposals were published as an article in Path Res Pract 178, 518-519 (1984). At the X European Congress in Athens in 1985, we considered the teaching of general pathology in European medical education programs for undergraduates. Subject contents, time, place, teaching methods and the construction of a syllabus guide for general pathology were discussed and defined in detail. The results of this discussion were published in Path Res Pract 181, 365-369 (1986). In two symposia at the XII Congress in Porto in 1989 we concentrated on the teaching of organ pathology as a separate subject (apart from general pathology). We discussed teaching methods and the length of time that should be allotted to specific organs. The organs and systems that were discussed in detail were the heart and blood vessels, the respiratory system, the bone marrow, the blood and lymphoreticular tissues, the alimentary tract and pancreas, the liver and biliary tract, and the kidneys and urinary tract, published in Path Res Pract 186, 542-548 (1990). At the XIV Congress in Innsbruck in 1993 we completed our discussion on organ pathology and discussed in detail the endocrine system, the nervous system and the muscles, the male reproductive system, the female reproductive system, the breast, the skin, bones and joints, the eye, and the ear, nose and throat. This was followed by a general discussion and summing up, in which we recommended that the whole course in pathology ought to take 105-115 hours, of which about 115 should be devoted to general pathology and 415 to organ pathology. The results of this discussion were printed in Path Res Pract 190, 636-640 (1994). At the XV Congress in Copenhagen in 1995 we completed the teaching series with a discussion on forms of examination. The results are published below.