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House Officers:
Pathology Residency Training Program
Cytopathology Rotation |
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Rotation Details:
A two-month rotation in cytopathology is required during the five-year program; however, most house officers elect to take additional time in this laboratory.
The major responsibilities and educational opportunities on this rotation are twofold: There is a daily on-on-one signout of current clinical material with the attending pathologists. In addition, the department provides on-the-spot procurement and/or interpretation of the majority of aspirations done in this institution. In many cases, the pathology house officer actually performs the fine-needle aspiration biopsy and then attempts to render an immediate, preliminary interpretation. Later that day or the following morning, a final diagnosis is made with the attending pathologist. The house officer thus has direct patient contact in this rotation, as well as extremely close interactions with the clinicians and radiologists who also procure fine-needle aspirates. In many situations, the attending pathologist and a cytotechnologist are also at the aspiration procedure. |
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The department processes a large, diverse spectrum of clinical specimens from all body sites in both exfoliative and aspiration specimen types. The lab is not overburdened with numerous "routine" cervical-vaginal smears; many of the Pap smears processed are from patients with a history of preinvasive cervical disease.
The house officers have access on this rotation to a large teaching collection of both Kodachrome slides and actual clinical glass slides in study sets. Hundreds of such sets are available for review. The resident also has the opportunity to observe and participate in specimen preparation and the initial screening of smears. Ancillary diagnostic procedures, including electron microscopy, immunocytochemistry, image analysis, and flow cytometry are used frequently with cytologic specimens.
The department offers a one-year cytopathology fellowship; click here for more information.
Objectives:
By the end of the initial cytopathology rotation, a resident should be able to:
- Screen cervical-vaginal smears and properly differentiate among normal, inflammatory, and abnormal patterns;
- Interpret non-gynecologic smears, including cerebrospinal fluids, urines, bronchial washes and brushes, and peritoneal/pleural fluids; and
- Perform and interpret superficial fine-needle aspirations (breast, thyroid, salivary gland, lymph nodes), and interpret aspirations from deep sites (radiology-guided).
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