Pathologist-Patient Visits—Revisited

Abstract

Direct pathologist-patient encounters are infrequent, but there has been a modest movement toward such interactions in the past 2 decades. The present article places that movement in perspective. It includes a discussion of diverse factors—including congressional laws, the views of department chairs, and progress in artificial intelligence—that could promote pathologist-patient interactions and also reviews factors that might deter such encounters.

Preclinical medical students and pathologists: Departing from the text

“…Upon reflection, however, I was surprised to realize that the book that influenced many of us to become pathologists says little about the work we do on a daily basis in serving patients, that is, practicing pathology. It does not, for example, convey that we arrive at work to face a queue of cases to diagnose; sit (or, increasingly, stand) before a microscope (soon to be a computer screen in the era of digital slides) for much of the day and correlate what we see on slides with clinical information provided by clinicians or accessible in a patient’s electronic medical record (i.e., practice medicine); interact with clinicians (e.g., during frozen sections, during cytologic rapid onsite evaluations, and at tumor boards); and, on occasion, meet to discuss pathologic findings with patients 3 …”

“…It does not, for example, convey that we arrive at work to face a queue of cases to diagnose; sit (or, increasingly, stand) before a microscope (soon to be a computer screen in the era of digital slides) for much of the day and correlate what we see on slides with clinical information provided by clinicians or accessible in a patient's electronic medical record (i.e., practice medicine); interact with clinicians (e.g., during frozen sections, during cytologic rapid onsite evaluations, and at tumor boards); and, on occasion, meet to discuss pathologic findings with patients. 3 Thus, although the book's title and contents signal that pathologists are knowledgeable about diseases, ultimately, the text does not tell or show readers that we care for, or about, patients. Students inclined toward careers in biomedical research might consider a pathology residency upon encountering the early "basic science" chapters in Robbins (e.g., those focusing on "the cell" and "inflammation").…”