Re-envisioning the rotating medical student anatomic pathology educational experience: integration of asynchronous histology modular content with clinical service work under a fluid rotation model

Abstract

With the modern paradigm shift toward an integrated, organ-systems-based structure, United States medical students now receive limited formal training in histology. This places additional strain on pathology departments and assigned-resident educators during medical student clinical clerkships, as they must focus more time on basic principles of histology instead of the cases at hand. Schools have explored the use of asynchronous modular learning resources to build and support histology education outside of the traditional didactic settings, but the successful integration of modular content with traditional pathology rotations has not yet been fully explored. This survey-based study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a newly implemented anatomic pathology curriculum that integrates asynchronous modular histology content, created in-house by department residents and faculty, with service-based pathology rotations. Postrotation surveys of medical student learners (n = 31/35, 89%), using a 10-point Likert scale, gathered across the 2024–2025 academic year, revealed high ratings for rotation organization, usefulness, histology education, module experience, and rotation personalization. Free-response feedback themes from learners reinforced the value of the integrated educational experience and helpfulness of the modular content. Postrotation surveys of residents assigned to these students (n = 7/14, 50%) revealed a better balance between management of daily workloads and the educational experience of their learners. Faculty surveys (n = 10) revealed a high perceived usefulness of the new curricular model. In all, implementation of this novel curriculum has been effective and popular with rotating students, residents, and faculty at our institution and could likewise serve as an effective model for others.