Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
Surgical Pathology
Pathologists in private practice and those practicing anatomic pathology in academic centers must have basic skills in Surgical Pathology and often need special expertise in this discipline that may require additional fellowship training. Recognizing this need, our residency program offers considerable opportunity to develop skills as a surgical pathologist.Residents rotate through the Surgical Pathology services at the University Hospital and the Veteran's Administration Hospital. Since the University Hospital functions as both a tertiary referral center and a general hospital, our case load consists of both commonly occurring surgical diseases and a variety of more unusual and challenging disease states. In addition to the usual range of surgical procedures expected at a major university hospital, our Breast Cancer Center, Head and Neck Cancer Surgery, and Transplantation services are particularly active. The V.A. Hospital treats a large amount of pulmonary, genitourinary, and liver disease.
The Division is staffed by five pathologists and a Surgical Pathology fellow. Each faculty member has expertise in one or more subspecialty areas, so that residents have the opportunity to learn the most current approach to the diagnosis of diseases of all of the major organ systems.
One of the major goals of the rotation is to foster the ability to make independent diagnostic decisions. Under the direct guidance of fellows and staff pathologists, residents learn how to examine surgical specimens, choose appropriate samples for microscopic study, make accurate diagnoses, and communicate these diagnoses clearly and rapidly to the patient's surgeon. Residents actively participate in intraoperative consultations, performing both gross examinations and frozen sections. Each resident has primary responsibility for his or her own cases, including the gross description, dissection and microscopic evaluation prior to signing out the case with the staff pathologist. As each resident gains more expertise and experience, they assume increasing responsibility and independence. Residents will learn the use of immunohistochemistry, molecular genetics, and electron microscopy in solving diagnostic problems.
In addition to learning by handling the daily load of diagnostic cases, there are many opportunities for more structured and comprehensive learning. The division office and individual faculty members maintain extensive slide collections, all of which are available to residents wanting to study particular areas in depth. Teaching conferences stress a logical, scientific approach to diagnostic histopathology.
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