The course structure has changed a bit since my time, but students still run through a series of clincial rotations whilst also learning clinical pathology. In Cambridge, graduate students have only one year for this, standard medical students have two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is not easy, but don’t forget it has been done many times before, so you can do it, too!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The solution is to start as early as you can to match your pathology revision with the specialities you are rotation through, to make everything relevant. Below is an example of how I matched things for two specialites, the rest of the course has changed too much since: You will problaby use quite a few books for pathology, here are a few suggestions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The course structure has changed a bit since my time, but students still run through a series of clincial rotations whilst also learning clinical pathology. In Cambridge, graduate students have only one year for this, standard medical students have two. Clinical Rotations TOC Pathology TOC How to fit pathology into your rotations – MATCHED APPROACH … Continue reading <\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\nPAEDIATRICS<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n* Histopathology<\/strong> - paediatric (and maternal) pathology, reticulo-endothelial system<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n* Chemical pathology<\/strong> - (pregnancy,) foetus and neonate, inborn errors of metabolism<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n* Haematology<\/strong><\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n* Medical genetics<\/strong><\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\nOBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n* Histopathology<\/strong> - female genital pathology, (paediatric and) maternal pathology<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\nHow to fit pathology learning into your rotations – ALTERNATIVE APPROACH<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Of course, you can just work through each topic one by one - here's an estimate of how long it may take you:<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n*\u00a0Histopathology<\/strong>\u00a0- takes by far the most amount of time, so start early. Plan a few weeks to get through everything.<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n* Chemical pathology<\/strong> - either work through alongside your histopathology or do in one go. I did the latter and it took me about two weeks to get through it.<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n* Medical microbiology<\/strong> - Can be a LOT of work if you want to make your own notes from scratch. It did that and it took about two weeks.<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n* Haematology<\/strong> - Easily fitted into a low-intensity placement such as paeds, but may\/will need revisiting as some diseases can be quite complicated (e.g. the lymphomas).<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n* Clinical immunology<\/strong> - Takes only a few days and there is some overlap with the histopatholgy syllabus.<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n* Medical genetics<\/strong> - Took me a day or two, so easy to tick off.<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\nWhich Books to Use <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Histopathology -<\/strong>\u00a0As a starting point and scaffold for each disease named in the syllabus, I highly recommend the\u00a0Oxford Handbook of Clinical Pathology. If you're the type of person not wanting to make notes, this book can be a substitute. For more detail, I worked mainly with\u00a0Robbins Basic Pathology, switching to\u00a0Robbins and Coltran's Pathologic Basis of Disease\u00a0for the important topics. They are quite wordy textbooks, but I got used to working with them. I also used\u00a0Xiu Pathology Crash Course\u00a0but liked and needed it less and less as the year went on. Useful as always is the\u00a0Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine\u00a0and Kumar and Clark, either as the\u00a0full\u00a0or the\u00a0essentials\u00a0version.<\/code> To fill time during commutes, runs or the gym and still learn some path, make sure to get your hands on Goljan's Pathology lectures in audio format. They are excellent, better than any podcast you find on the medportal.<\/code><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\n
Chemical Pathology -<\/strong>\u00a0Initially, I found it hard to find the right book for this topic. I started with the\u00a0Illustrated Colour Text in Clinical Biochemistry, but that was not detailed enough to tick off every point in the syllabus. I then used\u00a0Marshall Clinical Chemistry\u00a0and\u00a0Beckett Lecture Notes in Clinical Biochemistry\u00a0to expand my knowledge. Even though the overall information is pretty similar in both books, I sometimes found one chapter better in one than the other, so perhaps it's worth getting both out of the library. Towards the end of the year, I bought the\u00a0Oxford Handbook of Clinical and Laboratory Diagnosis, a book that I wished I had bought earlier in the year, because it is less wordy and neatly lists loads of investigations and links it to their clinical application. It also has a section listing investigations for particular presenting symptoms.\u00a0<\/code><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\n
Medical Microbiology -<\/strong>\u00a0MM was by far the hardest topic for which to find the right book. My advice is to start with the podcasts on Medportal and then expand with the following:\u00a0Medical Microbiology at a Glance\u00a0or your pre-clinical pathology notes if you still have them, followed by\u00a0Lecture Notes in Medical Microbiology and Infection. You should also absolutely include the\u00a0BNF, even if you don't use any of the books I just mentioned. Make sure you work through the introduction of chapter 5 for the antibiotics part of MM. The\u00a0Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine\u00a0is of course also in the mix, especially regarding infectious diseases. Finally, use Dr Carmichael's handout from the various symposia and the infectious diseases placement - they are very useful.<\/code><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\n
Clinical Immunology\u00a0-\u00a0<\/strong>For this topic, I had purchased\u00a0Lecture Notes in Immunology, but found that I did not use it very much. Instead, I used the same books as listed under Histopathology.<\/code><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\n
Haematology<\/strong>\u00a0- I started with\u00a0Haematology at a Glance, which I still recommend, but unfortunately it is not detailed enough. Therefore I've supplemented with\u00a0Robbins Basic Pathology, sometimes even\u00a0Robbin and Coltran Pathologic Basis of Disease\u00a0(e.g. for lymphoma). For brief but good overviews, I used\u00a0Oxford Handbook of Clinical Pathology. Finally, don't forget the\u00a0Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine.<\/code><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\n
Medical Genetics -<\/strong>\u00a0This is the only topic where you don't really need a book, just stick to the lectures and revisit some pre-clinical lectures on genetics and biochemistry.<\/code><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\n
Revision -<\/strong>\u00a0For MCQ's, try\u00a0Robbins and Coltran Review of Pathology. For the practical exam, try\u00a0Robbins and Coltran Atlas of Pathology\u00a0in order to become familiar with gross pathological specimen. I think I worked through this entire book and even enjoyed it! There are also useful flashcards with histopathology and cases, again by\u00a0Robbins\u00a0or more case-based by\u00a0Lange. For Clinical Biochemistry revision, I used\u00a0Murphy Case Studies in Clinical Biochemistry, a book that I enjoyed reading and can only recommend, even though it was perhaps (unfortunately!) less relevant to the actual practical exam<\/code>. Finally, try to find someone who got a distinction and ask what they did – they will obviously have done a very good job at revising.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"