The Need for Laboratory Medicine in the Undergraduate Medical Education Curriculum: A White Paper from the Association of Pathology Chairs

R J Christian¹, J Baccon^{2

3}, B Knollmann-Ritschel⁴, K Elliott⁵, M Laposata⁶, R M Conran⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 S.W. Sam Jackson Park Road, L-113 Portland, OR USA.
² Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Akron Children's Hospital, Akron, OH USA.
³ Department of Pathology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, OH USA.
⁴ Department of Pathology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD USA.
⁵ Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Vermont Medical Center, Burlington, VT USA.
⁶ Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX USA.
⁷ Department of Pathology and Anatomy, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA USA.

PMID: 38510385
PMCID: PMC10948729
DOI: 10.1007/s40670-023-01895-9

Editorial

The Need for Laboratory Medicine in the Undergraduate Medical Education Curriculum: A White Paper from the Association of Pathology Chairs

R J Christian et al. Med Sci Educ. 2023.

. 2023 Oct 14;34(1):193-200.

doi: 10.1007/s40670-023-01895-9. eCollection 2024 Feb.

Authors

R J Christian¹, J Baccon^{2

3}, B Knollmann-Ritschel⁴, K Elliott⁵, M Laposata⁶, R M Conran⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 S.W. Sam Jackson Park Road, L-113 Portland, OR USA.
² Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Akron Children's Hospital, Akron, OH USA.
³ Department of Pathology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, OH USA.
⁴ Department of Pathology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD USA.
⁵ Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Vermont Medical Center, Burlington, VT USA.
⁶ Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX USA.
⁷ Department of Pathology and Anatomy, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA USA.

PMID: 38510385
PMCID: PMC10948729
DOI: 10.1007/s40670-023-01895-9

Abstract

Considering laboratory results are used to make medical decisions, a fundamental understanding of laboratory medicine is paramount to enhance patient care, optimize health care cost containment, and prevent legal repercussions. With increasing laboratory testing complexity, this education is needed now more than ever. This article is a call to action to have medical schools adequately incorporate practical laboratory medicine content into their undergraduate medical education (UME) curricula. The authors discuss the definition of laboratory medicine, what it encompasses, who uses it and why it matters, and propose that a core laboratory medicine curriculum is a necessary part of UME.

Keywords: Clinical pathology; Laboratory medicine; Medical student; Undergraduate medical education.

© The Author(s) under exclusive licence to International Association of Medical Science Educators 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of InterestThe authors declare no competing interests.

References

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The Need for Laboratory Medicine in the Undergraduate Medical Education Curriculum: A White Paper from the Association of Pathology Chairs

Affiliations

The Need for Laboratory Medicine in the Undergraduate Medical Education Curriculum: A White Paper from the Association of Pathology Chairs

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

References

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Miscellaneous