Pathology Path

Inspiration

When looking at other tools out there, we wanted to create a tool that helps students with their clinical reasoning and provides a way to organize their thoughts, rather than an app that is simply a question bank or a long simulation.

What it does

The platform includes two modes: a Skill Builder Mode, which provides AI-guided support, frameworks, and connection-making features to reinforce understanding, and a Performance Mode, where students complete cases competitively within a class. Built on the study methods medical students already love, the platform strengthens retention, clinical reasoning, and engagement, without the overload.

How we built it

Full-Stack Architecture

React + TypeScript frontend
Tailwind CSS for UI
React Flow for interactive reasoning canvas
Node.js + Express backend
JSON-based editable case storage

Frontend Handles

Rendering clinical cases
Interactive reasoning map construction
Capturing medication selection
Collecting written clinical justification

Backend Handles

Validating reasoning structure
Detecting missing core clinical anchors
Checking medication correctness
Preparing structured evaluation data
Deterministic backend logic ensures structural consistency before AI is involved

Challenges we ran into

One thing that challenged us was when creating a case study for our app from the data set. We recognized our own gap in understanding the content, and we had to do more research to ensure the accuracy of the information.

What's next for Pathology Path

Scalability

Expand case library covering core domains: pathophysiology, presentation, diagnosis, management, etc.
Increase complexity from pre-clerkship to clerkship