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| Pathology: A Career in Medicine |
| The Pathologist in Patient Care |
| Anatomic Pathology |
| A Case Study: Lung Cancer |
| Role of the Autopsy |
| Clinical Pathology |
| Molecular Pathology |
| The Pathologist as a Consultant |
| The Pathologist in Research |
| Case Study: Thyroid Cancer |
| Graduate Medical Education in Pathology |
| Career Options |
| The Pathologist as a Teacher |
| Undergraduate Study in Pathology |
| About ICPI |
| The Directory of Pathology Training Programs |
| The Road to Becoming a Biomedical Physician Scientist in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine |
| Certification in the US and Canada |
| Pathology: A Career in Medicine Brochure - Ordering Information |
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| Case Study: Thyroid Cancer | |
 The attending pathologist and resident examine the patient and, under the pathologist's guidance, a resident obtains the specimen. |
A 35-year-old woman felt a lump in her neck.
Her surgeon found the lump to be located in her thyroid gland. When she was
given a tracer dose of radioactive iodine, none of it appeared in the lump -
called a "cold" nodule. The referring physician asked the pathologist to do
a fine-needle aspiration - "FNA" to determine whether the lump was
malignant. They demonstrate the diagnosis at the tumor board meeting and
discuss prognosis and cancer management with the surgeons, oncologists,
social workers, nurses, and radiation oncologists present. At surgery, the
mass was removed and no spread of the tumor was found. The early diagnosis
afforded by FNA helps achieve an excellent prognosis in thyroid cancers.
The fine needle aspirate
of the patient |
 A pathologist and resident immediately analyze the cells microscopically while the patient is still in the examining room. |
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