Pathology and Cell Biology
USF Health - College of Medicine

PATHOLOGY AND LAB MEDICINE COURSE  

The Pathology and Laboratory Medicine course is a two semester course designed to provide students with an evolving understanding of the structural, pathophysiologic and laboratory aspects of disease processes as a base of lifelong continuing education.
 

Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Course Directors

Donald E. Wheeler, M.D.
Course Director
Jamie Shutter, M.D.
Co-Course Director


MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

On behalf of our entire faculty, I would like to welcome you to Pathology and Lab Medicine!  This course will provide you with an integrated conceptual understanding of the structural, pathophysiological, and clinical correlate of disease processes, hopefully as a base for lifelong continuing education.

What is pathology?  It has been said that, by its very nature, modern pathology is a colorful quilt of all basic sciences. Pathology has also been described as the tree of medicine with the main trunk, General Pathophysiology, drawing its strength from the basic sciences and then dividing into the main branches of Systemic Pathology, each one of these in turn supporting a specialized field of medicine such as internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology and pediatrics. 

Why pathology since most of you will enter clinical medicine? Simply put, the information that you will learn during this course is vital for your future practice and will assist you to navigate from symptoms to differential diagnosis and from laboratory tests to diagnosis and treatment. Indeed, I believe that this course will convince you that nobody can practice medicine in the modern world without a solid background in general and systemic pathology.  Acquisition of such a background will be facilitated by the progressive and targeted integration of pathology data into our disease-oriented longitudinal curriculum. 

It has been my experience over the years that student’s cooperation is fundamental to a successful course and I would thus invite your formal or informal input to make Pathology a most effective component of your medical education. Also, I would be remiss not to mention that any of you is welcome to experience any of our basic research laboratories and our Post-Sophomore Fellowship Program. This is a salaried 3rd year program for those of you who may want to gain a greater insight into the diagnostic or research role of pathology in medicine.  Inquiries for research and fellowship opportunities may be made to my academic office.

Santo V. Nicosia, M.D.

 

THE PATHOLOGY AND LABORATORY MEDICINE (PLM) COURSE

Goal

Provide the students with an integrated approach to medicine and an evolving understanding of the structural, pathophysiologic and laboratory aspects of disease processes as a base of lifelong continuing education.

Structure of the PLM Course:


Fall Schedule (Semester I):

General Pathology (GP):
Aug 2 – Aug 23, 2010
Block 1, Introduction, Cell Injury, Inflammation and Repair, Circulatory Disturbances
Exam 1
Aug 25 – Sep 13, 2010
Block 2: Neoplasia; Immunopathology
Exam 2
Sep 14 – Oct 4, 2010
Block 3: Clinical and Laboratory Hematology
Exam 3
Systemic Pathology
Oct 5 – Oct 25, 2010
Block 4: Dermatology, Musculoskeletal & Pediatrics
Exam 4
Oct 27 – Nov 22, 2010
 Block 5: Autonomics and Cardiovascular
Exam 5
Nov 29 – Dec 17, 2010
 Block 6: Endocrine, Women’s health, Men’s health
Exam 6

 

Spring Schedule (Semester II):

Systemic Pathology
Jan 5 –Jan 24, 2011
Block 7: CNS and Peripheral Neuromuscular
Exam 7
Jan 25 – Feb 21, 2011
Block 8: Pulmonary, Renal
Exam 8
Feb 22 – Mar 21, 2011
Block 9: GI, Lab Medicine Overview, Special Topics
Exam 9

 April 1, 2011

 NBME Pathology Final
Final Exam

 

Lecture Room

Lectures, case studies, and reviews. Objectives and reading lists will be provided for each lecture.  The lecture handouts are on-line, and should be posted by Thursday of the week before the presentation.

Lab Sessions:

These involve study of gross and microscopic pathology and group discussions. In addition, case study presentations with clinical pathological correlations will be used to enable the student to develop a dialectic approach in correlating clinical and laboratory findings with underlying pathological processes. These sessions will help you to (1) appreciate the clinical relevance of gross and microscopic pathology; (2) correlate structural lesions with altered function and clinical presentation; (3) discuss the mechanism of disease processes and their complications; (4) appreciate the limitations of our diagnostic tools; and (5) learn how to piece together clinical and laboratory findings into a coherent story - a task which you will be performing daily as a practicing physician.

Gross and Microscopic Pathology

You will study gross and microscopic pathology in various ways. Preserved specimens will be demonstrated during the laboratory session. Kodachromes of gross specimens and glass slides will be used extensively.

Microscopic Study:

When you begin studying pathologic histology. This year the course will be utilizing virtual microscopy.  However, you are likely to use the high power of the microscope altogether too much and be overly concerned about minor changes in individual cells. For diagnostic purposes, it is more important to understand how one group of cells differs from another, than how one cell is altered. Observation of the structural organization (or disorganization) of the cells is often the most important factor in establishing a diagnosis. It is suggested that you study the virtual slides in a systematic fashion – first using the lowest power magnification. As a rule, the higher power magnifications are only required to study certain areas on the slide in greater detail. The microscope and oil immersion lens should only be used to study blood smear.  You will also be introduced to a few special stains.

Group Discussions:

Require adequate prior preparation by the students in the topics to be discussed.

Case Studies:

Presented in lecture room or in laboratory, using various formats.

Required Reading:

Lecture and Laboratory handouts – Available on-line prior to corresponding lecture and laboratory session.
Robbins’ Pathologic Basis of Disease, Kumar, Abbas & Fausto. This is an outstanding textbook that you should continue to use throughout medical school.

Self-Instruction: Approaches for self-learning include the following:

Reviews of each system: PowerPoint presentations are available on-line.

Interactive Case Study Companion to Robbin’s Pathologic Basis of Disease. These case studies are on-line and hyperlinked from our Intranet course sites. You will be assigned cases for study and test questions will be included in the examinations during the year based on these cases.

LINES OF COMMUNICATION WITH THE PATHOLOGY DEPARTMENT
  • Regular interaction of the Course Directors with the Class President, Liaison Officer and directly with the class in the lecture room.
  • E-Mail (Non-confidential matters)

  • Don E. Wheeler, M.D., Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Course Director
    dwheeler@health.usf.edu
  • Departmental office telephone numbers are 974-0554 (Michelle Lyons) or 974-0536 (Karen Kirchner, Secretary)

  • Direct interaction with lecturers/instructors during lectures, reviews, laboratory sessions, and group discussions.

  • Confidential matters should be discussed directly with the course director. It is recommended that an appointment first be made.
STUDENT/FACULTY MEETINGS
The department instituted the Student/Faculty Luncheon meetings in the academic year 1999-2000. They have proven to be an effective method for communication between the students and faculty. The purpose is to provide a venue for the students to inform the department of what they like and/or dislike about the many components of the course. To obtain effective overall student opinions of the components of the PLM course, the same agenda is used for every meeting.
 
We ask students for feedback on the syllabus, lectures, laboratory presentations, review sessions and group discussions. In addition, we ask students for feedback regarding On-line course material. Using this approach we can act on problems immediately, if possible, or explain to the students that the department will incorporate certain suggestions in the program for the next academic year. Minutes are kept in these meetings and are approved by both the faculty and students. These become part of the departmental records and are submitted as part of the LCME accreditation documents for the department.

ON-LINE RESOURCES

Blackboard

The PLM site on Blackboard will be the principle means of communication between students and faculty outside of lecture (students can, of course, schedule individual meetings with faculty in their offices as necessary) Material that can be downloaded, copies of extra material, revisions of notes, discussion areas for students and faculty, etc., will be provided at that site.

EVALUATIONS

Faculty Evaluations

Over the next nine blocks, we will post an evaluation after each block. This evaluation is to enable the department to receive feedback on the faculty and residents who participate in our teaching program. It is a voluntary evaluation, but ideally we would like to see participation by at least 75% of the class.

OEA Evaluations

The Office of Education Affairs also conducts mandatory evaluations for all year two courses. The information they obtain and report to the departments is general and consistent for all courses.

Student Notetaking

Student note taking/recording of lectures and group discussions is governed by the policies of the University of South Florida as stated below. 

AUTOPSY CONFERENCE

Background:  The post-mortem examination is a powerful educational tool for learning pathology and clinicopathologic correlation. Additionally, autopsies are an important part of a hospital quality assurance programs.

FORENSIC AUTOPSY CONFERENCE (HCME)

Background:  Student groups will go to the office of the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner (HCME) to observe a forensic autopsy. This autopsy may be on a victim of trauma (e.g. homicidal stabbing, self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, blunt impact injuries from a traffic crash) or a person dying of apparent natural disease.  The students will observe the actual autopsy procedure on a non-preserved body.