Teaching anatomical pathology in the undergraduate curriculum in Medicine: The experience of 'C Course', Sapienza University, Rome

Introduction. The aim of the present article is to describe how Anatomical Pathology is taught in 'C Course' undergraduate Curriculum and to outline the benefits of such an organization. Setting Analysis. 'C Course' is one of the six undergraduate curricula in Medicine within Sapienza University of Rome, focused on integrated teaching and medical education activities. Original Experience. In 'C Course', the learning objectives of Anatomical Pathology have been subdivided in four areas: i) an 'early contact' aimed to provide a 'clinical trigger' to students learning basic sciences; ii) a methodological background intended to help students understand the role of pathology in the comprehension of disease mechanisms; iii) the full body of systemic pathology, taught within inter-disciplinary courses devoted to each apparatus; iv) a latest approach, aimed to explain the role of anatomical pathology in diagnosis, grading and staging of tumours, and in the detection of predictive markers. Discussion. Our teaching organization represents a unusual experience in the Italian setting, allowing students to grasp the concept that anatomical pathology can give many contributions to their overall formation: as a trigger for basic sciences, as a central way of understanding etiology, behavior, and diagnostic pathways, and to predict the outcome of any disease, and as a powerful diagnostic and prognostic means to guide therapy. This approach is well perceived by students, whose questionnaires gave the course an above average score, and offers a valuable output in term of students' knowledge, as assessed by their performance in the area of Anatomical Pathology in the National Progress Test.