 Resident
Manual
The Goals and Objectives
of the Pathology Residency Program at Penn State Milton
S. Hershey Medical Center
General
The tasks and responsibilities of Anatomic or Clinical
Pathologists fall into three broad categories:
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Contributing to diagnosis
and prognosis in patient care by interpretation of the effects of disease on
patient tissues and other specimens and providing patient care consultation
to other clinicians.
-
Developing new knowledge about disease, either through astute
observation and analysis of data obtained in the course of patient care, or
through the use of controlled experiments.
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Teaching students, residents, physicians and other allied
health personnel about disease and about the use of the laboratory in
patient care.
A career in Pathology is
rarely equally balanced among these three tasks, but it is also rarely limited
to one task or subtask. It is clear that the professional skills of the
pathologist are best learned by doing each specific job of the profession.
Thus, residents in Pathology must have opportunities to gain personal,
participatory experience in the various skills that pathologists use to achieve
their professional expertise. The particular requirements for pathologists in
academic and private practice will continue to change, often in unpredictable
fashions, so the training program must be flexible with respect to content.
However, the use of the scientific method for problem solving will remain
central to this discipline. The general goal of the residency training program
in pathology is to train physicians competent in the practice of anatomic and/or
clinical pathology.
Objectives
To achieve this goal, the
program follows the mandate of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical
Education (ACGME) Outcome Project for competency-based education and training.
The objectives of the program are encompassed by the six core competencies as
defined by the ACGME and residents will be evaluated during their training in
each of these areas. In general terms, the six core competencies are:
-
Patient Care:
residents must be able to provide patient care that is compassionate,
appropriate, and effective; and, is able to work effectively with other
health care professionals.
-
Medical Knowledge:
residents must be able to demonstrate the application of
knowledge to patient care and to pathology, as well as an investigatory and
analytic thinking approach to clinical and pathological situations.
-
Practice-Based Learning and
Improvement: residents must be able to investigate and evaluate their
diagnostic and consulting practices, appraise and assimilate scientific
evidence, and improve their patient care practices; apply knowledge of study
design and statistical methods; use information technology; and, facilitate
the learning of students and other health care professionals.
-
Interpersonal and
Communication Skills:
residents must be able to demonstrate effective interpersonal and
communication skills.
-
Professionalism:
residents must demonstrate a commitment of carrying out professional
responsibilities, adherence to ethical principles, and sensitivity to a
diverse patient population.
-
Systems-Based Practice:
residents must demonstrate an awareness of the larger context and system
of health care, understand how pathology services and professional practices
affect other health care professionals and organizations, and understand
principles underlying cost-effective health care and resource allocation.
The six core competencies form the basis for the objectives
in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology Sections and in each of the specific
rotations. Residents will be evaluated based on these competencies.
Resident Responsibilities
To develop competence in
these areas the resident and attending staff must work together harmoniously
with mutually understood expectations and commitments. In general, the
resident is expected to:
Enthusiastically perform and complete the assigned clinical duties and
services.
Read extensively about the diseases encountered.
Acquire understanding and experience with the technical and mechanical
aspects of the laboratory.
Develop the skills required to communicate information about Pathology.
Gain experience in the skills required for problem solving and for
interpretation of data.
Gain experience in laboratory management, and informatics.
Assume a role in the education of colleagues, medical students, and
allied health professionals.
Faculty Responsibilities
Likewise, members of the faculty of the Department of Pathology are
expected to:
Help each resident develop educational objectives.
Objectively evaluate each resident's progress on a periodic basis, and
to communicate the results of those evaluations to each resident on a timely basis.
Delegate to each resident gradually increasing levels of responsibility,
based on the resident's experience and progress in the training program.
Communicate to residents their enthusiasm for their own area of practice
and research and to provide an opportunity for participation in research by interested
residents.
Participate on a regular basis in conferences that are intended
primarily for the education of Pathology residents.
Nurture an atmosphere of mutual respect, trust, and professionalism.
Program
Responsibilities
Additionally, the program is designed to provide:
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A setting that is conducive to self-study and
learning-by-doing.
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Experience in a variety of skills necessary to obtain
diagnostic and prognostic information from patient samples.
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Guidance in developing the skills of critical and analytic
thinking necessary for proper interpretation of patient or research data.
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Instruction and experience in the interpretation of
laboratory data as part of patient care decision making and patient care
consultation.
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Experience in the management and direction of a pathology
laboratory (including quality assurance, safety, regulations, and the use of
hospital and laboratory information systems).
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Guidance in perfecting the skills of communicating
information about disease, both oral and written.
General Information
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