Anatomic Pathology in Hospital Practice

Code:

OPT5_01

Acronym:

APPH

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Medicine

Instance: 2025/2026 - 1S (of 15-09-2025 to 09-01-2026)

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Medical Teaching
Course/CS Responsible:	Integrated Masters Degree in Medicine

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MIM	0	Official Study Plan	5	-	3	30	81

Teaching language

Suitable for English-speaking students

Objectives

1. Recognize the role of the Pathologist in multidisciplinary teams of the health systems


2. Identify the main procedures and methodologies that support the activity of the Pathologist, acknowledging its advantages and limitations


3. Acknowledge the limitations of pathologic diagnosis due to issues of sampling and representativeness


4. Recognize the mains coding systems and methodologies of quality control in Pathology


5. Increment the use of adequate medical language in the discussion of clinicopathological cases

Learning outcomes and competences

1. Identify the functional content of Anatomic Pathology as a medical specialty, its field of action and intervention in diagnosis and definition of therapeutic strategies


2. Enumerate and describe the main types of diagnostic pathology specimens and its handling


3. Recognize the main lesional patterns at macroscopical and microscopical level, and aplly the adequate procedures for fixation and sampling of pathology specimens


4. Correlate morphologic findings with clinical characteristics of the main types of pathology


5. Elaborate a basic pathology report, using the adequate coding system and identifying the quality control procedures

Working method

Presencial

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

Those corresponding to the curricular units of:

Pathology I

Pathology II

Systemic Anatomic Pathology

Program

6. Coding systems and methodologies for quality control

Mandatory literature

Susan Lester; Manual of Surgical Pathology., Mosby-Elsevier, 2010
Edmund S. Cibas, Barbara S. Ducatman; Cytology: Diagnostic Principles and Clinical Correlates., Elsevier, 2009

Comments from the literature

Additional bibliography

The selected review papers will be available through the E-learning platform of the University of Porto

Teaching methods and learning activities

Theoretical sessions: Exposition and discussion of the main themes of the Curricular Unit, emphasizing the practical relevance of the concepts. The interaction between students and teachers, through active discussion, is stimulated during these sessions.

 

Practical sessions: Direct contact with the practice of Anatomic Pathology, following the routine workflow of clinical samples, since its reception until report writing and validation. The student will participate in the routine activities of the department under the supervision of the professionals in charge of each diagnostic procedure. Moreover, the student will participate in all educational activities of the department that will take place during his stay.

Software

Moodle

keywords

Health sciences > Medical sciences > Medicine > Pathological anatomy

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	50,00
Participação presencial	50,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	1,00
Frequência das aulas	9,00
Trabalho laboratorial	20,00
Total:	30,00

Eligibility for exams

Attendance of, at the least, 75% of the practical sessions.

Exceptional situations according to the law will be, obviously, considered.

Calculation formula of final grade

Components of the evaluation

1. “Continuous evaluation” component (CEC): evaluation of the interest and participation of the student in the educational activities. This will be based on the information provided by all professionals involved in training using a standardized form. Students are approved in the CEC if their classification equals to or exceeds 9.50 / 20.

 

2. “Theoretical-practical evaluation” component (TPEC): based on the presentation and discussion of a selected case. This presentation will take 25min (maximum) and the student must describe the whole diagnostic process as well as its clinical implications. The classification is expressed from 0 to 20, and students are approved in the PEC if their classification equals to or exceeds 9.50 / 20.

 

Calculation of the final classification

Approval in this Curricular Unit implies a classification equal to or exceeding 9.50 / 20 in both components of the evaluation (CEC and TPEC).

A negative result in any of the components will lead to disapproval.

 

The final classification of the curricular unit (FCCU) is calculated according to the formula:

FCCU = 0.5 x CEC + 0.5 x TPEC

Examinations or Special Assignments

No special evaluation events or assignments are foreseen.

Internship work/project

Not applicable

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

It is performed according to the Standards for Evaluation and Pedagogical Orientation of the University of Porto.

Should be performed according to the schedule approved by the Pedagogical Council.

It consists of a case presentation, which will take 25min (maximum), and the student must describe the whole diagnostic process as well as its clinical implications.

Classification improvement

In the appeal or improvement exam, the classification formula is the same as in the regular season.
The improvement of the CATP grade will be carried out on dates to be defined by the Pedagogical Council and consists of the same type of test indicated for the regular season.
The improvement of the CAC grade is not provided for in the rules of the University of Porto.

Observations

The classes take place at the Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto