Perceptions of the teaching of Pathology amongst Medical Students: A comparison between a Problem-based and Traditional Lecture-based learning Perceptions of the teaching of Pathology amongst Medical Students: A comparison between a Problem-based and Traditional Lecture-based learning Shukla, C. 1 Moreman, C. 2 Petts, G. 3 Cossins, S. 1 1 St James University Hospital, Leeds; 2 University Hospitals of Leicester; 3 The Royal London Hospital Conclusions: Pathology underpins the majority of clinical diagnosis and decisions, and as such we feel that it’s understanding (through effective teaching) is paramount to good medical practice. A study by Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas Medical School 1 suggests 1 st year doctors who have completed a new [integrated] final year had greater confidence with clinical skills, but a clear lack of knowledge in pathology and therapeutics 1. Further compounding factors raised by PBL students were the clear lack of provisions for teaching pathology. This undoubtedly having implications in other disciplines for example, in reply to Weedon’s (Ex-president of the Royal College Pathologists, Austalia) article 2 included two from surgeons, who argued that the PBL curricula leads to doctors untrained in ‘the mechanism of disease and understanding physical findings’ There is a slow shift from TLB teaching to a PBL approach, a understanding of Pathology is paramount in the quality of tomorrow's doctors. Pathology teaching arguably IS capable of being delivered to highest quality through other teaching methods but clearly has not, the direct implications of this being a reduced understanding of pathology, reduced understanding of what a Pathologist does and as we are seeing in the UK, a reduced number a applications into Pathology as a career. The reform of undergraduate medical teaching has led to an integrated problem-based learning (PBL) style replacing the traditional lecture-based (TLB or LBT) learning. The Royal College of Pathologists state “the low profile of pathology teaching in the undergraduate medical curriculum has become increasingly damaging to the recruitment of quality UK medical students.” This study evaluated the perceptions of Pathology teaching amongst medical students from both PBL and TLB medical schools. Methods: An on-line survey was sent to medical students from 24 medical schools. They were asked about the quality of Pathology teaching (including what facilities were provided) at their medical schools and their understanding of Pathology. Results: 1126 students from 17 universities responded, with even representation over years 1-5, the data was analysed using the Mann- Whitney-U test. The TLB courses provided far superior teaching facilities – figure 4, compared to PBL, e.g. 63% providing microscopes compared to 11% of PBL courses. Furthermore, 74% (TLB) practiced cadaver dissection compared to only 24% of PBL courses, 34% (TLB) of which had some formal pathology during these sessions compared to only 6% in PBLs – figure 5.. Approximately 75% of students from PBL courses compared to 38% from TLB courses said Pathology teaching was neglected (p<0.001) on their curriculum - figure 1, and only 20% (PBL) versus 52% (TLB) felt they had a good understanding of Pathology (p<0.001) – figure 2. Approximately 10% (PBL) and 17% (TLB) said they were specifically examined on Pathology during their end-of-year/final exams – figure 3. References 1 (Lempp H, Med Teach May;26(3):276-8). 2 (Weedon D, Med J Aus (5): ). Figure 1: Figure 2: Figure 3: Figure 4:Figure 5: