News
Training in post-mortem pathology
Journal article from Diagnostic Histopathology published May 2023
A degree of post-mortem training is currently a requirement for every histopathology trainee within the United Kingdom. The expectation is that all trainees should be able to eviscerate and perform basic systematic organ examinations in a variety of straightforward cases to identify common causes of death.
Those who are interested in pursuing further training may opt into the Royal College of Pathologists Higher Post-mortem training module. Becoming adept at post-mortem practice is challenging without access to an adequate number of a range of cases, high quality trainers, and a well-structured and supportive learning environment.
The number of post-mortem-practising histopathologists is dwindling and the appetite amongst trainees to pursue a career which involves post-mortems is low. In this article, we will explore the need for quality post-mortem training as well as the structure and assessment processes currently in place for histopathology trainees. We will discuss the barriers to post-mortem training, and recent developments to both post-mortem training and techniques.