For Drs. Tom Mullaney and Jon Patterson, professors of anatomic pathology with the Department of Pathology and Diagnostic Investigation, who are also pathologists at the Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health (DCPAH), enthusiasm and passion for their field are infectious. Mullaney, also DCPAH’s associate director, says, “We work in an environment where postmortems are conducted—it doesn’t smell very good. Most people might think it’s a horrible place to work, but there is a lot of excitement about identifying exactly what has happened and about identifying new patterns of disease—or even occasionally identifying new diseases.”

Patterson shares that appreciation for discovery. “We’re never sure what we might find when we do a necropsy. Even if we have a complete history and a diagnosis from the clinician, we might uncover something that wasn’t detected or hasn’t been seen before. Even if it’s not a surprise, it’s always good to get refreshed on things that may not come up very frequently by keeping up with the literature. Pathology is an exciting field to be in for that reason—you always need to keep learning.”

Their enthusiasm extends into the classroom, and has resulted in several teaching awards, including the Carl J. Norden Distinguished Teacher Award and the Student Chapter of the American Veterinary Medical Association (SCAVMA) Award for Excellence in Teaching which recognizes a faculty member for integrating clinically relevant information and communicating well with students. Patterson is committed to teaching in his research and in the classroom. “My area of research interest over the years has become teaching,” says Patterson. “I’ve published on pedagogical techniques as well as on scientific studies about the effectiveness of teaching methods.”

Discovering a passion

Mullaney and Patterson’s interest in anatomic pathology originated in the field—not the classroom. Both men describe classroom experiences with passive instruction, where the straightforward lecture format lacked reference to real diagnostic cases.

Mullaney earned his veterinary degree in his native Ireland and become a large animal country veterinarian. After three years in practice though, he found himself wanting to pursue in-depth analyses of disease. “The more I practiced, the more I thought, ‘I really, really need to do something where I can go to the n^th degree to understand the cause of disease, to understand why animals are dying on the farm…’ And then when I came to MSU, it was in the days after polybrominated biphenyl (PBB), and you had an unbelievably well-equipped toxicology lab and you could pursue things to the n^th degree… That added an extra incentive to staying and working in this laboratory as it evolved and developed.”

With Patterson, the enthusiasm for pathology came from an internship in Texas where he met two pathologists the summer after his first year in vet school. One in particular, Dr. John Shadduck, took Patterson under his wing and got him excited about pathology. “I started to think about how I might pursue that as a career… and I saw that the best teachers had real-world experience out in practice, so I decided to go into private practice and then return to school and train in pathology. I had my eye on an academic career.” In a fortuitous coincidence, when Patterson was deciding whether to move to a different practice or apply for residency, Shadduck left the University of Texas to become the chair of the pathology department at the University of Illinois. Patterson applied for a residency there, and the rest, as they say, is history.

With Variety Comes Relevance

In their work at DCPAH, Mullaney and Patterson have no shortage of cases to teach with, including dogs, cats, zoo animals, sheep, and cattle. They see this as one of the strengths of pathology instruction at DCPAH and both agree that a case-based approach—as opposed to just talking about concepts—makes the lessons more relevant to the students. Mullaney explains, “It makes the whole thing more meaningful if you can describe the history of a dog with neurologic disease, describe the symptoms so that you can locate exactly where the lesion might be, and then—boom—do a necropsy and show them ‘this is where the tumor was.’ It makes it all practical and a lot easier to understand.”

Patterson agrees. “When students see the applicability and the practical nature of what you’re trying to teach them, it sticks. Even teaching basic concepts of how the body responds to injury, if you can draw on real-case examples makes it more interesting. You have their attention, and I think it also leads to deeper understanding and long-term retention.”

In the pathology classroom today, Patterson and Mullaney use technology to communicate learning goals and help to focus on what is most important. Because access to information is no longer a constraint—for pet owners or for clinicians—Mullaney and Patterson teach students to assess information for its credibility and how to filter that information to owners. “There’s no way we can cover all the details about pathology that are available today. We need to emphasize concepts, not trivia, but teach them to be resourceful enough to know where and how the trivia can be found,” explains Patterson.

“We want to train lifelong learners,” says Mullaney. “We’re giving students a start, but it is up to them to continue their education once they graduate, to always keep their minds open on cases so they don’t miss other diagnoses or other possible realities.”

Posted October 2012
Contact: Courtney Chapin