The course imparts to the students an understanding of human diseases: their causative factors; the mechanisms by which these factors lead to the disease; they changes in appearance of affected organs and tissues; and how the affected patient manifests the disease.

The course content is subdivided into General Pathology and Systemic Pathology.
General Pathology looks at the response of cells and tissues to stresses; tissue injury and repair; normal and deranged blood haemodynamics; and the biology of tumours.

Systemic Pathology looks at the disease entities as they affect various organ systems of the human body.
The course is taught through lecture series; student presentations; tutorials; practical sessions and clerkships; and post-mortem sessions.

Pathology is taught in the third year of the undergraduate medical training programme. It is the bridge between preclinical years and clinical years – it enables the student to correlate the basic biological sciences of the preclinical years with the individual patient that will be encountered in the clinical setting.