Experiential Exposure As the Key to Recruiting Medical Students Into Pathology

Authors

Ashley M Holloman
Mary P Berg
Bronwyn Bryant
Lisa Ross Dixon
Melissa R George
Julie Katz Karp
Barbara Ec Knollmann-Ritschel
Victor Gerardo Prieto
Charles F Timmons
John Michael Childs
Amanda Lofgreen
Kristen Johnson
Cindy B McCloskey

Publication Date

1-1-2023

Journal

Academic Pathology

Abstract

Medical student interest and pursuit of a career in pathology have been steadily declining since 2015. We conducted three separate surveys of medical students to better understand these trends. In our first survey, we focused on assessing U.S. allopathic medical students understanding and perceptions of pathology. We later surveyed U.S. osteopathic medical students as a companion to the allopathic medical student survey, in which many similarities were discovered with some key differences. In our final survey, we specifically looked at curriculum differences between the U.S. allopathic medical schools that graduate the most students who enter pathology training programs (Group 1) versus those schools that graduate the fewest future pathologists (Group 2) to determine if the curriculum had an impact on medical student matriculation into pathology. Together, through these surveys, we were able to identify several remarkable recurring trends, presenting areas of targetable action. Here, we summarize themes from the three studies as well as a review of pertinent literature to offer best practices for exposing and engaging medical students to pathology and possibly recruiting students to consider pathology as a career.

Keywords

Career, Education, Experiential learning, Medical student, Pathology, Specialty choice

Comments

Supplementary Materials

PMID: 37124363