The educational mission of the Department of Pathology in the College of Medicine includes:
- to provide medical students with the knowledge and skills in pathology and laboratory medicine essential to the practice of medicine and to impart to them a spirit and desire for life-long independent learning and scholarship;
- to provide excellent training programs for undergraduates, graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, pathology residents and clinical fellows in basic and clinical sciences;
- to provide continuing medical education programs for practicing physicians and other health care professionals.
The Department faculty teach pathology in the medical school curriculum; teach a graduate-level pathology course; run a year-long post-sophomore fellowship program for medical students who have completed the first two years of medical school; train Pathology residents through a 4-year program; and direct three fellowship programs.
Medical Education
Members of the Pathology Department play a leading role in the AzMed Medical School curriculum, participating in virtually every block within the first two years. Pathology education utilizes a mixture of teaching modalities including interactive lectures, laboratories (virtual microscopy and gross pathology "wet" labs), team-learning and case-based instruction, thus supporting the integrative nature of the curriculum. Virtual microscopy has revolutionized teaching of histopathology to students, making it more efficient, and interactive, in addition to fostering group learning.
Pathology Residents play an integral role as laboratory instructors in Medical School Education. There are also electives in Pathology for Medical Students in Years III and IV.
Graduate Students
The Department of Pathology does not have an M.S. or Ph.D. academic program.
However, it recognizes the importance of teaching pathology to graduate students earning degrees in the biomedical sciences. To this end, the department offers a graduate-level course called Basic Pathology (Pathology 515). This is a 4-unit course that provides an understanding of the pathogenesis of diseases. The faculty of the Department of Pathology also serve as mentors for graduate students in Interdisciplinary programs in Cancer Biology, Physiology and Neuroscience.