MCW Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Residency Program - Educational Conferences

The core didactic curriculum is organized as daily 7:30 am lectures, Tuesday through Friday, for the majority of the academic year, up to two CP and two AP sessions each week.

Both the AP and CP curricula are designed to provide a comprehensive, biannually repeating exposure to the entire spectrum of AP and CP content areas. CP lectures are organized either as traditional PowerPoint-based didactic lectures or as structured interactive discussion sessions. AP sessions, in most cases, are organized as topical slide reviews with interactive discussion around a multi-headed microscope. The intent of the AP microscope sessions is to ensure resident exposure to essentially the entire range of neoplastic and non-neoplastic surgical pathology cases, including rarely encountered entities.

The first four Mondays of each month at 7:30 a.m. are dedicated to rotating unknown conferences:

• 1 surgical pathology
• 1 hematopathology
• 1 cytopathology
• 1 gross pathology

A pediatric pathology unknown conference occupies 5th Mondays (when they occur) on an ad hoc basis.

Unknown slides are available at least several days in advance, allowing ample time for intensive study. Residents are expected to come to the conference prepared to discuss the following for each case:

1. Pathologic features
2. Differential diagnosis
3. Appropriate ancillary studies for further evaluation
4. Clinical features of the various entities
5. Optimal format for communicating the salient information to the ordering physician

The process of preparing for these conferences, whereby residents identify gaps in knowledge and skills, and locates resources to remediate these gaps, builds habits for lifelong learning and improvement.

Additionally, each Friday afternoon offers a Resident Unknown Case Conference, whereby recently encountered cases, put out in advance by residents on the various services, are discussed by the residents attending the conference. This conference is moderated by the chief resident or a senior resident.

This weekly, one-hour conference is divided into two parts:

The first half of the hour is devoted to reporting of resident CP calls taken in the previous week. These are presented in a PowerPoint format as case vignettes with chronological details of the way events transpired. For complex cases, the residents may append small topical didactic presentations to a given call discussion. The call presentations are used as a springboard for interactive discussion of the salient issues involved in the call and, when appropriate, constructive criticism of the way a call was handled. This portion serves both an educational and quality assurance function.

The second half of the conference is devoted to a resident case presentation. These rotate among residents and between the various CP areas, the latter in proportion to the annual resident-months in each respective area. These PowerPoint presentations typically involve presentation of a recent case with a fairly in-depth, didactic presentation that requires critical review and summary of relevant literature. Laboratory management topics are encouraged. Preparation requires the use of a variety of online resources. This learning experience addresses all of the six core competencies. Residents are expected to develop their topics and PowerPoint presentations in conjunction with a faculty person. A checklist is available for resident guidance to ensure the achievement of the goals of the conference.

AP Journal Club and Heme Journal Club are presented monthly, with Chemistry and Microbiology Journal Clubs taking place within the rotations specifically. Residents rotate presenting at journal clubs. A detailed description of Journal Club structure is provided to the residents. Briefly, the purposes of journal club are to:

1. Provide training and experience for residents and fellows in the critical review of the medical literature (Practice-Based Learning and Improvement).
2. Provide a department-wide, division-focused forum for presenting new and interesting information in the various sub-disciplines of pathology (Medical Knowledge).
3. Provide residents and fellows experience in giving oral presentations in a formal conference setting (Interpersonal and Communication Skills).
4. Provide a forum for cross-disciplinary conversation within the pathology department to help encourage the development of research projects.