Ever since medicine has been in existence, so has pathology. Knowledge of pathology is essential to understand the illness, from the cause and investigation of the disease to diagnosis and treatment. Learning all the terminologies used in pathology lab reports is also important. It will be very difficult to treat patients and prevent disease progression without a complete understanding of the subject.

The whole subject, as far as an undergraduate student is concerned, deals with

1. Etiology: The cause of the disease
2. Pathogenesis: Steps in which certain events occurred that finally led to the disease
3. Histopathological examination, of any disease: Involves dealing with gross appearance and microscopic examination.

Branches of Pathology

Pathology subject has two types of branches:

1. Morphological Branches include:

• Histopathology
  • Surgical pathology
  • Experimental pathology
  • Forensic pathology and autopsy work
• Cytopathology
  • Exfoliating cytology
  • Interventional cytology
  • Hematology

2. Non-morphological Branches include:
   • Clinical pathology
   • Clinical biochemistry
   • Microbiology
   • Immunology
   • Medical genetics
   • Molecular pathology
   • Molecular cytogenetics

Important topics of Pathology for MBBS students

General pathology forms the base for the units that lie ahead.

General pathology will introduce you to terms that will be used time and again, so if you do not understand those terminologies, you will never be able to comprehend systemic pathology. For example, terms like hyperplasia, metaplasia, etc. will be used very commonly, and if you are not aware of what they mean, then it will be very hard to understand diseases.

Hematology is another part of Pathology. You must do your best while studying this unit, because all your basic knowledge about examining the blood test reports, and your skills in investigating a patient of anemia, will come from here.

Other high-yielding pathology topics for NEET PG 2023 include Inflammation, Anemia, Macrocytic Anemia, Acute Leukemias, Chronic Leukemias, Thalassemia, Lymphadenopathy, etc.

From the systemic pathology, units like the Kidney, GIT, Lungs, and Hepatobiliary system are highly important  for NEET PG aspirant. Not just this, Tuberculosis and Diabetes Mellitus are two diseases you cannot skip, because of their increasing prevalence in India.

Watch below video lectures on high-yielding Pathology topics by top Pathology faculty.

Recommended books for Pathology

One of the favorites among students and the highly recommended book is Jaypee publishers’ “Textbook of Pathology” by Prof. Harsh Mohan. The book has a single volume and the language and content are easier to understand. The histopathology diagrams include both microscopic pictures and hand-drawn images, which makes it easier for students to memorize and reproduce those images in the exams. There are appropriate flowcharts and a lot of tables, which take lesser time to read and learn.

Another recommended book for Prof exam preparation is Prof. Ramadas Nayak’s “Pathology Exam Preparatory Manual for Undergraduates”. The book has covered all the topics lucidly with illustrations, tables, flowcharts, etc. The book is highly recommended for notes and revision.

For the practical part of pathology, there is another book by the author, Prof. Harsh Mohan, titled, ‘Practical Pathology’. This book will be very helpful for lab sessions and practical examinations. It has histopathology of most of the slides and specimens that form a part of your practical viva.

Paper Pattern of Prof Exams

After the advent of Competency-Based Medical Education in 2019, the pattern of examination changed. Now, you will have two papers of 100 marks each, unlike earlier, where two papers of 40 marks each were taken. There will be a practical for 100 marks after your university exams. Hence, pathology as a total will carry 300 marks.

How to study Pathology?

You will often hear from your teachers that, Pathology is a very volatile subject, which is true. But does that mean you will never be able to learn it? Well, absolutely not. The key to mastering pathology is revision. Revision, revision, and only, revision.

Studying things once and expecting to remember you entirely in the exam will never work. Rather, regularly reading and revising will help you a lot in the long run.

Here are a few tips that will help you a lot to study Pathology in MBBS:

Stick to one book

Do not refer to multiple books. Doing so will only create confusion. Also, while revising for exams, you do not have a lot of time to revise your syllabus, hence you mustn’t increase your load by referring back to multiple books. Thoroughly read Harsh Mohan’s Textbook of Pathology and practice the diagrams well. You can practice the self-assessment questions from various resources.

Find online Pathology courses

It has been time and again proven that our pictorial and visual memory is very strong and long-lasting. Hence, watching videos, and attempting image or video-based questions related will help you a lot and feed things into your memory for a longer duration.

DigiNerve offers Pathology for UnderGrads online course, developed and mentored by the most renowned authors, Prof. Harsh Mohan, Prof. Ramadas Nayak, and Dr. Debasis Gochhait. The course has been enriched with their knowledge and experience which will help in fulfilling your study needs completely. All the topics are arranged in a sequential hierarchy to avoid confusion. The video lectures along with self-assessment questions and notes help you in concept-building. The lectures follow a case-based approach supported by video demonstrations. The lectures are richly illustrated including clinical, radiological, histological, and gross images along with flowcharts and tables for easy understanding and quick recall.

The course also focuses on practicals in pathology including gross specimens that are highly important for examination.

Make notes

Pathology subject is hefty, hence, keep your notes handy. This will help you to go through the highlights of each chapter in the least time during revision. Make tables and flowcharts while you study in class or watch video lectures. This will help you a lot in last-minute revision.

Practice diagrams

To have an edge over other students, you should practice diagrams frequently. Diagrams and flowcharts will fetch you more marks. You should be extremely well-versed in histopathology diagrams. The pathology book by Prof. Harsh Mohan provides excellent histopathology diagrams, which are easily reproducible in exams.

Pay attention in lab sessions

Do not ignore your practical classes. You can get to learn a lot in those few hours. You will get familiar with gross specimens and histopathology slides of various diseases there. Understand it all there and then, and half of your theory will be prepared in your lab only.

To get conceptual clarity with the help of MBBS courses online, click here.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q 1 – What is Pathology?

Ans : Pathology is referred to as the ‘study of diseases’. It is a branch of science that deals with structural and functional changes in diseases, which present with clinical signs and symptoms.

Q 2 – Why is it important to study Pathology?

Ans : It is important to study Pathology to understand the illness, from the cause and investigation of the disease to diagnosis and treatment. It becomes very difficult to treat patients and prevent disease progression unless you have a good knowledge of pathology subject. Learning all the terminologies used in pathology lab reports is also very crucial.

Q 3 – Which book should I read for Pathology?

Ans : “Textbook of Pathology” by Prof. Harsh Mohan is the most recommended pathology book for in-depth learning and scoring high in exams. Another recommended book for prof exam preparation is Ramadas Nayak’s “Pathology Exam Preparatory Manual for Undergraduates”.

Q4 – Can I refer to online resources for studying Pathology?

Ans : Yes, online resources can be very helpful in concept building and learning. One such affordable and reliable resource is DigiNerve’s Pathology for UnderGrads course. The course is designed as per the new CBME curriculum. It consists of video lectures, notes, and self-assessment questions along with clinical case discussions and practicals in pathology.