Outpatient US Clinical Experience in Pathology in New York

Information about this clinical experience:

This is an outpatient experience under the supervision of a board-certified pathologist who has held academic affiliations with NYU School of Medicine and the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University. You will also have the opportunity to work with the pathologist's colleague.

Learners will have the opportunity to observe the physician as the doctor interacts with patients presenting with lesions of the thyroid gland, breast, and other tissues. Following the patient interview, the affected area is examined by ultrasound, a target site is identified, and then the FNA is performed. Observers will be able to see how the slide is prepared and then participate in sign out. In many cases, a diagnosis is established later that same day. The typical day will be split into three parts:

Fine Needle Aspiration

Rotators will observe how the pathologist performs fine needle aspiration procedures. The steps involved include taking the patient history, explaining the process of the FNA procedure to patients, using ultrasound to measure the lesion, performing the procedure, staining the specimens, and reading it using the microscope.

Slide Preview/Diagnosis

After the spcimen is obtained, you will have the chance to preview all slides with the pathologist. You will learn how to make diagnoses and order and interpret special stains, genetic tests, and flow cytometry when needed.

Final Review

You will perform a final review of the slides with both pathologists at the end of the day. Following this, the pathologist will call patients to inform them of the diagnosis and discuss next steps. The referring clinicians will also be called.

There may also be opportunities to spend time in the lab observing lab technicians as they work with gross specimens (thyroid, breast, lymph nodes, skin, GI), fixing, dehydration, paraffin, embedding, and cutting.