Academic Pathology Departments and Associated Children's Hospitals: An Overview of the Relationship

Graduate Medical Education in Pathology: A Scoping Review

CONTEXT.—

Pathologists have produced a substantial body of literature on graduate medical education (GME). However, this body of literature is diverse and has not yet been characterized.

OBJECTIVE.—

To chart the concepts, research methods, and publication patterns of studies on GME in pathology.

DATA SOURCES.—

This was a systematic scoping review covering all literature produced since 1980 in the PubMed and Embase databases.

CONCLUSIONS.—

Research on GME in pathology is evenly dispersed across educational topics. This body of literature would benefit from research based on theory, stronger study designs, and studies that can provide evidence to support decisions on educational policies.

The Relationship Between Medical School-Based Pathology Departments and Affiliated Forensic Pathology Training Sites

Medical school–based pathology departments were surveyed in order to evaluate their relationship with sites providing forensic pathology training. Of 59 departments surveyed, 49 (83%) responded. Most (88%) respondents indicated that training occurs at an affiliated medical examiner/coroner office, and 78% indicated that the facility is 10 miles or less from the academic health center. The majority (61%) of respondents require 4 weeks of forensic pathology training for their residents while the others require none (3); 6, 8, or 12 weeks (2 each); and 16 weeks (3, with two having integrated forensic and medical autopsies). The majority (81%) send one resident at a time to the forensic pathology training site, and almost always (92%) the experience is dedicated to forensic pathology without mixing with other training. Two-thirds of respondents send between 1 and 5 residents per year for training. Prior autopsy experience is required by 79% of departments. Medical student rotations in forensic pathology are available to 86% of reporting departments. Almost 3 quarters of respondents indicated that a forensic pathology fellowship is available through the training site with 83% being funded by the training site. About half of departments indicated that they provide some financial support to the site. Of reporting departments, 71% indicated that they give faculty appointments to forensic pathologists at the training site, with 3 quarters being voluntary appointments. Affiliated forensic pathology training sites are a valuable asset although 6 respondents report offering such training either totally or partially within the pathology department itself.

Retaining the Value of Former Department Chairs: The Association of Pathology Chairs Experience

Serving as a clinical department chair in an academic health center is an increasingly complex and difficult position. In 2014, the Association of Pathology Chairs engaged former chairs to assist its members by establishing an ad hoc committee of “Senior Fellows,” which then became a permanent Senior Fellows Group. The Senior Fellows Group currently includes more than 50 former chairs, many of whom subsequently served as deans, medical center executives, and in other leadership roles. The primary mission of the Senior Fellows Group has been to provide advice, consultation, and mentoring to members of the Association of Pathology Chairs, especially new chairs and faculty interested in leadership roles. All new chairs are asked if they wish to select or be assigned a Senior Fellow advisor. Each Senior Fellow is listed on the Association of Pathology Chairs website with the areas of advice they are willing to provide, which include: “on-boarding” issues and opportunities facing a new chair; strategy (eg, departmental priorities, mission balance); administration (eg, financial, operational); institutional reviews of chairs/departments; interaction with institutional leaders (eg, other chairs, deans, hospital leadership); fundraising; faculty management (eg, recruitment, retention, annual evaluations, productivity, dismissal); and personal issues (eg, work–life balance, stepping down, retirement). The Senior Fellows Group also has participated actively in essentially all Association of Pathology Chairs programs, committees, fundraising, and projects. The organized structure and function of the Senior Fellows Group has been of significant value to the membership of the Association of Pathology Chairs, as well as to the participating former chairs, and may provide a model for other academic organizations to utilize this important resource.