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Dear AAPA Members,
In the last few posts of the “It Pays to Know” campaign, we have highlighted the expertise of certified pathologists’ assistants (PAs) in gross pathology, including differentiating between normal and abnormal, and how that benefits our patients. PAs and these valuable skillsets are often found in surgical pathology laboratories. Today, we are featuring PAs that can be found in the autopsy suite and highlighting the roles of certified PAs in autopsy pathology.
Most of the pathology profession is aware of the decline of medical students selecting pathology as a residency. In forensic pathology, this situation is dire, as only a small percentage of pathology residents choose a forensics fellowship. PAs have been able to step in to forensics and work alongside over-burdened medical examiners by using our unique skill set in the autopsy setting. Our meticulous attention to detail and dexterity serves well in the external examination, evisceration, internal examination, and prosection during an autopsy. Like a gross description, we can prepare a majority of the autopsy report, leaving the microscopy and final interpretation to the pathologist.
In the hospital setting, all of these skills still apply, but often accompanied by the training of residents. The autopsy serves as an exceptional resource for the teaching of anatomy. The training we undergo to become a PA prepares us as an educator. We can help residents review the anatomy of the human body, help visualize and understand both normal and diseased organs, and teach them dissection and sectioning techniques. Furthermore, the skills they learn in autopsy can greatly benefit residents as they enter training in surgical pathology.
Although in the morgue these patients are deceased, the autopsy is a valuable procedure that can provide answers to important questions, provide new knowledge, enforce justice, and the list goes on. The autopsy is often forgotten as a great resource for the living, but through it we can provide information regarding possible health implications for family members, contribute to research, influence health policies, and more. We have witnessed the detrimental result of having a non-certified and non-qualified person deeming them self a pathologists’ assistant in the autopsy setting. All these reasons and more are why having certified PAs working together with pathologists is in itself a gold-standard for a quality autopsy service.
For those attending the NAME Annual Meeting in West Palm Beach, October 15-19, be sure to view the poster presentation by AAPA Forensic Task Force Chair and Wayne State University Pathologists’ Assistant Program Director VeraLucia “Lou” Mendes-Kramer, MA, PA(ASCP)CM, titled, “A Partnership to Consider: How Pathologists’ Assistant Training Can be Utilized to Decrease the Forensic Pathologist Workload” and also be sure to stop by to see the new AAPA exhibit booth!
In the meantime, we encourage you to keep an eye out for the new “More than forensics” posts on the AAPA’s social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn), and share them on your own pages! Continue promoting the value of certified pathologists’ assistants by using the hashtags #grossinggenius and #savinglives. By getting you, our members, involved, we can help the AAPA reach a much wider audience outside of our membership.
Sincerely,
Alexis Snyder, MHS, PA(ASCP)CM
Advocacy Subcommittee member
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