MED CLIN-645-erika.willy-2025-12-30-02-55-37

 

 
 

Clinical Rotation – Topics in Pathology - Forensic 

MED CLIN 551 

AY 2025-2026 

Syllabus 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

Course Information: 

  • Title of course:     Clinical Rotation – Topics in Pathology - Forensic 
  • Number of credits:   2 or 4 
  • Prerequisites:     Successful Completion of MED CLIN 521 - 524  
        (or permission from the Associate Dean of Curriculum) 
  • Current term and year:  2025 - 2026 

Course Description 
Clinical Rotation – Pathology: Forensic, MED CLIN 551, will introduce students to forensic medicine. Through case meetings, autopsy activities, scene visits, and pathologist-led teaching sessions, there will be ample opportunities to refine dissection skills, learn about medicolegal death investigation, and become familiar with the process of certifying cause and manner of death.    

Meeting Schedule 
Clinical and education workdays and times vary according to each student’s specific schedule, referencing a maximum of 80 hours per week and clinical work period not exceeding 24 continuous hours. Policy Number: CU.08.01.170808. (https://medicine.wsu.edu/md/student-affairs/student-handbook/).  

Course instruction will be delivered at the clinical campuses (Everett, Spokane, Tri-Cities, Vancouver), in affiliated clinical learning environments, OR via virtual, online platforms. 

Instructor Information  
Note: All instructors are available for office hours by appointment – students may request office hours via email. Some faculty will post specific office hours periodically throughout the year – students will be informed via E.Flo. 

Course Director Information 

Lisa Koch 
Office hours by appointment only 
lisa.koch1@wsu.edu 

Other Participating Instructors 

  • Faculty in the College of Medicine 
  • Currently or Formerly Licensed Health Care Professionals 

Required and/or Recommended Textbooks and Course Materials  
There are no required textbooks. Students should access any resource necessary to address their learning goals for this course. Resources, such as the ability to conduct Medline searches of current medical journals and eBooks (textbooks), are available via the Medicine Library (https://libguides.libraries.wsu.edu/esfcom). 

Additional course material is available on the curriculum/learning management system E.Flo MD (https://eflo.medicine.wsu.edu). 

 

 

Program Competency Domains and Outcomes  

Medical and Scientific Knowledge 

  • Demonstrate knowledge of established and evolving biomedical, clinical, epidemiological, and social-behavioral concepts in caring for healthy, ill patients and the community.  

Patient Care and Health Promotion 

  • Provide evidence-based care that is compassionate, culturally appropriate, and effective for illness prevention, health promotion, treatment of disease, and improvement in quality of life, including appropriate end-of-life care.  

Professionalism and Self Awareness  

  • Demonstrate commitment to professional services, adherence to ethical principles, and awareness of one’s own interests, personal biases, vulnerabilities, and limitation of knowledge. 

Practice-Based and Life-Long Learning  

  • Demonstrate the ability to appraise, assimilate, innovate, and incorporate scientific  evidence to evaluate and improve patient care practices based on continuous self-evaluation and life-long learning.  

Systems-Based and Inter-Professional Practice 

  • Demonstrate awareness of and responsiveness to the larger context of health care and the ability to call on system resources, including other health care professionals, to provide optimal care.  

Interpersonal Communication Skills 

  • Demonstrate effective information exchange and collaboration with patients, their families, peers, and other health professionals to enhance their care. 

 

Course Learning Objectives and Means of Assessment  

Competency Domain  

Objectives  

Potential Assessment Methods  

Medical and Scientific Knowledge  
  • Identify, analyze, critically appraise, and integrate relevant biomedical, social, and clinical science knowledge when caring for patients and populations, and when educating others 
  • Compare and contrast hospital versus forensic autopsies 
  • Distinguish cause of death from manner of death 
  • Exam – Institutionally Developed, Written/ Computer 
  • Research or Project Assessment 
  • Narrative Assessment 
  • Self – Assessment  
  • Research Performance Rating/Checklist 

Patient Care and Health Promotion 
  • Follow appropriate sterile techniques as required during procedures 
  • Document, organize, and present clear and accurate, relevant information within the appropriate patient and healthcare context  
  • Formulate a differential diagnosis for the cause of death based on the combination of clinical information and other finding(s) 
  • Gather medical history information from multiple sources and perform a problem-focused or complete physical examination relevant to the manner of death 
  • Manage time effectively in completing tasks, including appropriate follow-ups 
  • Recommend and interpret evidence-based diagnostic investigations for patients with conditions related to the rotation 
  • Research or Project Assessment 
  • Research Performance Rating/Checklist 
  • Narrative Assessment 
  • Self – Assessment  

 

Professionalism and Self Awareness  
  • Demonstrate professionalism, self-awareness and ethical practice in all interactions, duties, and obligations 
  • Manage time effectively in completing tasks, including appropriate follow-ups 
  • Demonstrate honesty, integrity, respect and compassion toward all patients, families, and members of the health care team 
  • Portfolio – Based Assessment 
  • Narrative Assessment 
  • Multisource Assessment 
  • Participation 

Practice-based and Life-long Learning  
  • Develop learning opportunities and seek guidance in anticipation of potential knowledge gaps and to independently develop plans for continuous personal improvement 
  • Seek and demonstrate receptivity to feedback from multiple sources 
  • Portfolio - Based Assessment 
  • Narrative Assessment 
  • Multisource Assessment 
  • Participation 

Systems-based and Inter-professional Practice  
  • Demonstrate professional, cohesive, and organized communication adapted to the context  
  • Explain the unique roles of forensic pathologists in relationship to others in the medical examiner’s office, other healthcare team members, and health and legal systems 
  • Follow appropriate sterile techniques as required during procedures 
  • Portfolio-based Assessment 
  • Narrative Assessment 
  • Participation 

Interpersonal and Communication Skills  
  • Demonstrate professional, cohesive, and organized communication adapted to the context 
  • Communicate autopsy findings considering recipient-centered language 
  • Document, organize, and present clear and accurate, relevant information within the appropriate patient and healthcare context 
  • Research or Project Assessment 
  • Narrative Assessment 
  • Self – Assessment 
  • Research Performance Rating/Checklist 

Expectations for Student Effort  

This course requires a minimum of 45 hours per week of curricular work Academic Regulation 27 (https://registrar.wsu.edu/academic-regulations/), which may include clinical learning and associated self-directed or independent learning.  For clinical work hour limitations, see the Clinical and Education Work Policy (Duty Hours) Policy Number: CU.08.01.170808 (https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/3190/2023/07/Student-Clinical-and-Education-Work-Policy.pdf).  

Week-To-Week Course Outline 

Two-Week Schedule  
Week 1   
The student will be oriented to the clinical site(s), roles and responsibilities, and performance expectations. The student will participate in direct care activities of deceased persons specific to Forensic Pathology. Students may be asked to evaluate deceased persons at night or on weekends, but the total number of hours worked will not exceed 80 hours. Students are required to meet with their preceptor for mid-course feedback. 

Week 2  
The student will continue to participate in direct patient care activities described above. Students may be asked to evaluate deceased persons at night or on weekends, but the total number of hours worked will not exceed 80 hours. 

Four-Week Schedule 
Week 1  
The student will be oriented to the clinical site(s), roles and responsibilities, and performance expectations. The student will participate in direct care activities of deceased persons specific to Forensic Pathology. Students may be asked to evaluate deceased persons at night or on weekends, but the total number of hours worked will not exceed 80 hours.  

Week 2 
The student will continue to participate in direct patient care activities described above. Students may be asked to evaluate deceased persons at night or on weekends, but the total number of hours worked will not exceed 80 hours. Students are required to meet with their preceptor for mid-course feedback.  

Week 3 
The student will continue to participate in direct patient care activities described above.  Students may be asked to evaluate deceased persons at night or on weekends, but the total number of hours worked will not exceed 80 hours. at night or on weekends, but the total number of hours worked will not exceed 80 hours.  

Week 4 
The student will continue to participate in direct patient care activities described above and increase the number of patients seen and number of diagnostic evaluations reviewed and interpreted each day. The student will accept increasing responsibility for communicating effectively with patients, families, care team members, and peers regarding studies and interventions relevant to the specialty of Forensic Pathology. Students may be asked to evaluate and care for patients at night or on weekends, but the total number of hours worked will not exceed 80 hours.  

Description of Required Assignments, Assessments, and Grading Policy 
Required assignments, if any, are posted to the corresponding course learning pages on the curriculum/learning management system, E.Flo MD (https://eflo.medicine.wsu.edu). 

Any exams required for this course will either be scheduled directly with the Assessment Unit to accommodate student clinical schedules or be posted in the curriculum/learning management system calendar. E.Flo MD (http://eflo.medicine.wsu.edu). 

Grading criteria, as well as relative weighting of assignments and assessments for determining final grades, are posted to the corresponding course page in the curriculum/learning management system E.Flo MD (http://eflo.medicine.wsu.edu). 

Attendance and Make-up Policy 

Attendance Policy  

The attendance policy is explained in the Student Handbook (https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/3190/2024/08/WSUMED-Medical-Student-Attendance-Policy.pdf). Students will receive incident cards for unexcused absences. Incident cards are reviewed and tracked in the Assessment Unit. Students with recurrent unexcused absences may be referred to the Student Evaluation, Promotion, and Awards Committee (SEPAC).  

 

Make-up Exams 

Make-up exams, if applicable, are granted at the discretion of both the Course Director and the Assistant Dean for Clerkships – Assessment. Students who anticipate or experience an absence on an exam day, whether excused or unexcused, must promptly contact medicine.assessment@wsu.edu to inquire about rescheduling. 

 

Make-up for Laboratory/Clinical Skills  

All students are responsible for learning objectives associated with laboratory/clinical skills learning sessions. For students with unexcused absences from clinical skills learning sessions, makeup sessions are not provided. For approved absences, students will work with their learning community faculty and/or Course Director to ensure that learning goals are met in other ways. 

WSU Use of AI Statement 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use only with prior permission.  

Students are not allowed to use generative artificial intelligence tools (such as ChatGPT, Co-Pilot, Dall-E, etc.) to generate content that will be assessed in this course unless otherwise indicated.     

If the assignment instructions permit the use of generative artificial intelligence tools (such as ChatGPT, Co-Pilot, Dall-E, etc.) and the student chooses to use those tools, it must be properly documented and credited. For example, text generated using ChatGPT-3 should include a citation such as: “Chat-GPT-3. (YYYY, Month DD of query). “Text of your query.” Generated using OpenAI. https://chat.openai.com/” Material generated using other tools should follow a similar citation convention. 

Any AI use related to the clinical environment or protected health information must comply with HIPAA and the policies relevant to your clinical site. 

Academic integrity will be strongly enforced in this course. Students who violate WSU’s Academic Integrity Policy (identified in Washington Administrative Code WAC 504-26-010 (4) will receive a failing grade. Included is the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to produce content without proper attribution, which will be considered plagiarism. 

WSU Academic Integrity Statement 

Academic integrity is the cornerstone of higher education. As such, all members of the university community share responsibility for maintaining and promoting the principles of integrity in all activities, including academic integrity and honest scholarship. Academic integrity will be strongly enforced in this course. You are responsible for reading WSU’s Academic Integrity Policy (https://communitystandards.wsu.edu/policies-and-reporting/academic-integrity-policy/), which is based on Washington State law (https://apps.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=504-26-202). If you cheat in your work in this class, you will: fail the course, will not have the option to withdraw from the course pending an appeal, and will be reported to the Student Evaluation, Promotion, and Awards Committee (SEPAC). 

 

If you wish to appeal an instructor’s decision relating to academic integrity, please contact the Student Evaluation, Promotions, and Awards Committee at medicine.SEPAC@wsu.edu. See policy SE.09.02.170808 (https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/3190/2023/08/WSUMED-Student-Promotion-Dismissal-and-Graduation-Policy.pdf) for more information. 

 

Students are responsible for reading and understanding all university-wide policies and resources pertaining to all courses provided on the University Syllabus webpage (https://syllabus.wsu.edu/university-syllabus/). For course-specific policies and resources, consult the course syllabus provided by your course instructor.