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How to Study Pathology
Pathology is a challenging course that involves complex cellular processes and multi-step reactions. The goal is to study the progression of pathologic processes on the molecular, cellular, gross structural levels. Try the following study strategies and tips to help you learn how to study Pathology.
Study Tip #1 - Keep it organized.
- Pathology progresses and builds on basic concepts. Try and break down the ideas into their basic pathological steps. Take one general topic like Tissue Necrosis and list all its subtypes underneath it. Keep the diagrams concise so that you may review them for quick reference and comparison as you continuing studying the subject.
Study Tip #2 - Start with the big picture.
- Scan through the assigned chapter or unit in the beginning of your studies and get a rough idea of what you will be covering. While you are skimming through, decide which material must be thoroughly understood versus the minor details that can be memorized closer to the exam date. Things like gene products, chromosome location, and toxin names should be memorized after you are familiar with the terminology and pathologic processes. The detailed facts will only reside in your short-term memory and will only frustrate you if you first attempt to memorize words and diseases you don't understand.
Study Tip #3 - Know the terminology and nomenclature.
- Pay attention to the stem of the word. Take hypertrophy for example, which describes an increase in cell size. The stem -trophy often refers to cellular growth and dimensions. If hyper- is added to any term, it usually means an increase, or greater than normal levels. So it is easy to see how the pathologic process of increased cell size is described by its term hypertrophy. Using this, we can infer that hypotrophy indicates decreased cell size. This study tip becomes very useful when differentiating types of cell changes and progression to cancer. For instance, the term carcinoma indicates that a malignant tumor is derived from epithelium, while sarcoma is derived from mesenchyme. In addition, the suffix -oma usually means a growth is benign, but keep in mind that there are always exceptions; such as, Melanoma and Lymphoma which are malignant tumors.
Study Tip #4 - Compare and contrast the disease processes.
- Every time you are studying something, ask yourself "How is this different from . . . and how is this similar to . . . ?" Pathology is full of dichotomies and many disease processes overlap each other, thus making it easy to confuse them with each other. Some common examples are Benign vs. Malignant, Transudate vs. Exudate, Grade vs. Stage, Reversible Injury vs. Irreversible.
Study Tip #5 - Sketch diagrams and flow charts.
- A great deal of pathology concepts are multi-step disease processes. One of the best methods to keep your mind straight while studying is to follow flow charts and algorithms as you go over the concepts. A good example is the diagram to the right which describes the progression of normal cells to cancerous cells. First, understand the progression and mechanism of the large steps. Then, focus and memorize the small details of each large step. Lastly, learn the mechanisms and cellular changes that are occurring in the transition phases of each large step.
Study Tip #5 - Keep a look out for pathognomonic signs.
- A pathognomonic sign or symptom is a significant and unique characteristic of a particular disease. Therefore, when such a sign is present, it automatically confirms the presence of that disease process. However, be aware that a pathognomonic sign does not always have to be present or expressed in a disease state.
