Pathology Course

Overview

Welcome to the UMKC School of Medicine’s Pathology course.

This course is worth minimum of 21 credit hours and is offered during two semesters (Path1 and Path2) starting in August and ending in May of each academic year. The Pathology department delivers the course to approximately 110-120 students each year at the Kansas City and Saint Joseph campuses. 

The course is taught by University Health Pathology department faculty, Children’s Mercy Hospital faculty, Medical Examiner’s office staff and guest lecturers. Labs, case studies and radiology lectures are moderated by pathology and radiology residents. We take pride in teaching future physicians.

Teaching modules include in-person teaching, small group digital lab discussions, team-based and problem-based case study discussions, and team-based self-directed learning projects.

Pathology provides the bridge between the basic science of medicine and the art of its application in clinical practice. It examines disease at the molecular, genetic, cellular, tissue, organ system, and multiple organ system level, thereby contributing to substantial advances in medicine. It provides ways in which tissue changes in disease affect organ function and produces clinical symptoms.

The Pathology course is organized to reflect the professional inclination to divide the field into two general arenas — anatomic pathology and laboratory medicine; however, clinical pathology/laboratory medicine concepts are interwoven throughout the course to round out the student’s appreciation of their significance in day-to-day practice.

Student Learning Outcomes

At the end of the course, students will be able to apply basic science education in the clinical practice of medicine and the diagnosis and management of patients. This application includes the areas of gross and microscopic anatomy, biochemistry, genetics, physiology, medical microbiology and immunology. Students will expand their understanding of basic laboratory tests with a focus on interpretation and gain familiarity with more complex and specialized laboratory tests, enhancing their abilities in test selection and interpretation. Additionally, they will be able to explain a multi-system health problem in terms of its pathogenesis, the mechanisms of systemic interactions, and consequent/subsequent potential complications. They will develop competency in clinical diagnosis based on pathologic findings related to anatomic pathology, laboratory medicine and pathophysiology. 

In addition to the above, students will learn to more effectively communicate with colleagues, allied professionals, and patients about the basis of disease processes, clinical application of diseases and disease prevention. They will be provided with a basis for lifelong learning in medicine, basic sciences, social sciences and the humanities through study requirements and appropriate utilization and application of the internet for literature searches as they relate to specific disease processes and patient care problems. From this basis, students will be able to correlate clinico-pathologic processes as they pertain to patients.  Course materials will also cover prevention of disease and disability, global health issues, forensic medicine and pathology, age and gender related issues in pathology and medicine, and the appropriate utilization of pathology and laboratory medicine services.

Course Faculty

Course Director

  • Soheila Hamidpour, M.D., Associate Professor, Director of Anatomic and Clinical Pathology, University Health Truman Medical Center

Pathology General Faculty

  • Atif Ahmed, Director of Bone-Soft Tissue Pathology; Associate Professor of Pediatric Pathology Seattle Children’s Hospital, Atif, email
  • Angela M. Ferguson, Ph.D., Assistant Director, Clinical Chemistry Laboratories; Associate Professor of Pediatric Pathology, email
  • Richard Galbraith, M.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, email
  • Melissa A. Gener, M.D., Director of Neuropathology; Associate Professor of Pediatric Pathology, email
  • Soheila Hamidpour, M.D., Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, email
  • Tiffany Hollenbeck, M.D., Jackson County Medical Examiner’s Office, email
  • Kamani Lankachandra, M.D., Professor, Chair Department of Pathology, email
  • Valerica Mateescu, M.D., Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, email
  • Evanthia Omoscharka, M.D., Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, email

Course Coordinator

  • Sandra Bernard, 816-235-1718, School of Medicine, Ground Floor, Rm. MG-204B, email

Have Questions?

Please reach out to Course Director, Soheila Hamidpour, M.D.