The need for a postgraduate training curriculum in anatomic pathology/clinical pathology in Japan--a personal experience

After I graduated from Nagoya University School of Medicine in 1979, I was trained as a resident and physician at Nagoya Ekisaikai Hospital for 4 years. Then, I was trained as an anatomic pathologist by individual discussions of diagnostic problems using a multi-headed microscope at the Division of Pathology, Clinical Laboratory, Nagoya University Hospital for 5 years. When I entered the field of clinical pathology, there were few experienced clinical pathologists in Nagoya, so I needed the support of medical technologists for training in this field. Recently, I have been advancing my career as a clinical pathologist by offering consultations to physicians and holding a reversed clinico-pathological conference for medical technologists. It took me about 20 years to become a fully qualified pathologist. I think that a systematic curriculum for postgraduate training in anatomic pathology/clinical pathology should be indispensable to pathologists.