Relevance and application of histology beyond the preclinical phase: Perception of fourth year medical students in a medical school in Sri Lanka

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the perception of fourth-year medical students regarding the relevance and application of histology knowledge in learning paraclinical sciences and in clinical training.
Material and methods: A cross-sectional, anonymized online survey was carried out among the fourth-year medical students of Faculty of Medicine and Allied Sciences, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka.
Results: Survey of 69 students revealed a mean perceived histology knowledge retention of 46.7% after four years. A majority (89.7%) considered histology moderately to extremely relevant to clinical practice. All respondents applied histology in pathology, with most also using it in clinical training in surgery (71%) and medicine (68.1%). Students found histology of epithelia and glands, bone marrow, bone, and lymphoid tissues most relevant among basic histology topics. Histology of gastrointestinal organs, thyroid, breast, vascular system, uterus, tracheobronchial tree, kidneys, and heart were considered highly relevant among system-based histology topics. Students suggested introduction of basic histopathological features of common diseases into the histology curriculum, and providing self-learning resources for revising histology during later stages of the MBBS course.
Conclusions: This study, conducted as an initial step in histology curriculum revision, found most of the students recognized its relevance to paraclinical and clinical learning. The study provided information on content areas that were perceived to have higher relevance. While the application of histology in pathology and some clinical disciplines is clear, debate exists on the ideal timing and instructors for integrated histology and histopathology curriculum, suggesting a multidisciplinary, stakeholder-inclusive approach for curriculum development in histology.