Pathology

1. An Introduction to Pathology

• Familiarise yourself with what pathology is and what a pathologist does.

2. How to Read a Histology Slide

• Use a repeatable wide-to-narrow method to orient a slide, recognise tissue patterns, interpret stains and avoid common artefacts (marks or distortions made during slide preparation, not real disease).

• Understand the causes of cell injury and death, and the mechanisms behind both.
• Understand the microscopic morphology (the shape and appearance of cells and tissues) of cell injury.
• Understand the difference between oncosis (cell death with swelling), necrosis, and apoptosis.
• Understand pathological calcification (abnormal calcium deposits in tissue).
• Understand cellular ageing and the reason behind it.

• Become familiar with epithelial cells, their shapes and layering
• Understand the role of the skin, its structure and some of its pathologies.

5. Acute Inflammation

• Understand the process of acute inflammation, from the stimulus to the resolution (the return of the tissue to normal).

6.  Chronic Inflammation

• Understand what causes chronic inflammation to arise.
• Know which cells are involved in chronic inflammation and their roles.
• Understand some effects of chronic inflammation.

• Understand the processes involved in regeneration and repair of tissues
• Understand factors influencing regeneration and repair
• Understand some conditions affecting collagen synthesis
• Understand some complications of fibrous repair

8.  The Lymphatic System

• Understand the anatomy and general function of the lymphatic system
• Understand some conditions affecting the lymphatic system

• Describe the principles of haemostasis and the critical steps in the clotting cascade (the chain of enzyme steps that forms a clot) including:
  • The role of the vessel wall, platelets and the platelet plug, the coagulation system, the fibrinolytic system (the system that breaks down clots), and plasmin (the enzyme that dissolves fibrin clots)
  • The production of thrombin (the enzyme that turns fibrinogen into fibrin) and fibrin
  • The role of thrombin inhibitors
  • When haemostasis is pathological

• Understand what can increase the likelihood of thrombosis occurring and infer which groups may be most at risk.
• Appreciate the process by which thrombi are formed.
• Familiarise yourself with the different types and methods of embolisation (a clot or other material travelling and blocking a vessel).

• Understand the pathogenesis (how the disease develops) of atherosclerosis
• Understand complications of atherosclerosis
• Understand clinical conditions caused by atherosclerosis
• Understand risk factors for atherosclerosis, and measures taken to prevent it or intervene

• Recall the types of responses tissues can have when exposed to stimuli
• Recall some examples of common stimuli

• Understand some features of neoplasms
• Compare features of benign and malignant neoplasms
• Understand basic nomenclature of neoplasms
• Understand the difference between a carcinoma in-situ (cancer still confined to the tissue layer where it began) and an invasive carcinoma
• Understand the concept of tumour grading (how abnormal the cells look) and staging (how far the tumour has spread)

• Understand the influence of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on carcinogenesis (how cancer develops).
• Understand the actions of tumour suppressor genes (genes that hold back cell growth) and proto-oncogenes (normal genes that can become cancer-causing).
• Understand what is meant by cancer progression.
• Understand the Hallmarks of Cancer, and how they relate to carcinogenesis.

• Understand what is meant by invasion (spread into surrounding tissue) and metastasis
• Know the different routes of metastasis
• Understand systemic and local effects of tumours
• Understand what tumour markers are (substances in the blood or tissue that signal a tumour), and how they aid in monitoring tumour burden (the total amount of tumour in the body)