J Pathol Transl Med.  2023 Sep;57(5):265-272. 10.4132/jptm.2023.08.26.

Establishing molecular pathology curriculum for pathology trainees and continued medical education: a collaborative work from the Molecular Pathology Study Group of the Korean Society of Pathologists

• Koh J
• Park HY
• Bae JM
• Kang J
• Cho U
• Lee SE
• Kang H
• Hong ME
• Won JK
• Choi YL
• Kim WS
• Lee A
• The Molecular Pathology Study Group of the Korean Society of Pathologists

• KMID: 2545969
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4132/jptm.2023.08.26

Abstract

Background
The importance of molecular pathology tests has increased during the last decade, and there is a great need for efficient training of molecular pathology for pathology trainees and as continued medical education.
Methods
The Molecular Pathology Study Group of the Korean Society of Pathologists appointed a task force composed of experienced molecular pathologists to develop a refined educational curriculum of molecular pathology. A 3-day online educational session was held based on the newly established structure of learning objectives; the audience were asked to score their understanding of 22 selected learning objectives before and after the session to assess the effect of structured education.
Results
The structured objectives and goals of molecular pathology was established and posted as a web-based interface which can serve as a knowledge bank of molecular pathology. A total of 201 pathologists participated in the educational session. For all 22 learning objectives, the scores of self-reported understanding increased after educational session by 9.9 points on average (range, 6.6 to 17.0). The most effectively improved items were objectives from next-generation sequencing (NGS) section: ‘NGS library preparation and quality control’ (score increased from 51.8 to 68.8), ‘NGS interpretation of variants and reference database’ (score increased from 54.1 to 68.0), and ‘whole genome, whole exome, and targeted gene sequencing’ (score increased from 58.2 to 71.2). Qualitative responses regarding the adequacy of refined educational curriculum were collected, where favorable comments dominated.
Conclusions
Approach toward the education of molecular pathology was refined, which would greatly benefit the future trainees.

Keyword

Molecular pathology; Training; Residents

Figure

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  Fig. 1. Snapshot showing the online repository of structured molecular pathology goals and learning objectives. The repository of learning objectives became available online for all the members of Korean Society of Pathologists. Each element is linked with high-quality learning resources as shown in the bottom right panel.

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  Fig. 2. Comparison of subjective understandings on the selected topics between before and after the 3-day structured course. The participants of 3-day structured course were asked to grade their subjective understanding before and after the lecture, and the results for selected topics are depicted.

Reference

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