6/17/2019
Pathology Research Day at the University of Rochester Medical Center was held on Monday, June 10, 2019.
The day included 51 poster presentations in addition to 13 oral presentations given by Pathology & Laboratory Medicine residents and fellows and graduate students in the Cell Biology of Disease Ph.D. Program.
This year’s keynote speaker was Thomas Wynn, Ph.D., Vice President of the Discovery Inflammation and Immunology Group for Pfizer Corp., in Cambridge, Mass.
View Event Photos
Graduate Program Awards
- Outstanding Academic Excellence by a First Year Student – Cooper Sailer, MS
- Outstanding Program Contribution – Katherine Best, MS, and Brianna Shares, MS
- Robert Mooney Thesis Award – Richard Bell, Ph.D.
Best Oral Presentation
Poster Presentation Travel Awards
- Madison Doolittle, MS
- Felicia Gilels, MS
- John Bachman, MS
- Jerry Saunders III, MS
Resident Awards
Oral Presentation Awards
- Mushal Noor, M.B.B.S.
- Phoenix Bell, M.D.
- Anna Israel, M.D.
5/20/2019
In an effort to combat a statewide shortage of licensed laboratory technologists, the School of Medicine and Dentistry began offering the clinical/medical technology advanced certificate – or “med tech” program two years ago as a way to “grow our own” medical technologists.
The strategy is paying off. The one-year advanced certificate program first received approval from the State Education Department in 2017 and since then, 20 of its graduates (including those from the most recent class) have passed their certification exams and gone directly to work for UR Medicine Labs.
“It’s so important for us at URMC to be able to have this program,” said Kathy Parrinello, executive vice president and COO of Strong Memorial Hospital. “We’ve learned the best way to fill the pipeline of medical technology professionals is to train our own.”
The 2018 cohort yielded 11 new employees and nine of the 12 students who graduated this year will be following suit. This year, the program also received national board (NAACLS) accreditation through 2024.
This year’s cohort graduated on May 17. Parrinello noted the success of the program and offered encouragement to the graduates as they take the next step in their careers.
“You are well trained and very well equipped as you go out into the world,” she said.
All students who participate in the yearlong program receive intensive training from Pathology & Laboratory Medicine instructors. Bruce Smoller, M.D., chairman of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine praised the longtime efforts of faculty and staff, led by education coordinator Vicki Roberts, program director, together with Medical Center leadership to help get the program up and running.
“It’s wonderful when you can watch a long term plan come to fruition, especially when we have a shortage of technologists across New York State,” said Smoller. “Your futures in healthcare are bright and stable.”
The training program has already filled each of its 12 spots for the 2020-21 academic year. Check out this video to learn more.
See photos from the graduation ceremony.
3/26/2019
The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at URMC was well represented at the 2019 meeting of the U.S. and Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP) in National Harbor, MD.
We collectively presented 31 abstract presentations at the annual meeting from faculty, residents, fellows and some staff. A full list of URMC's contributions is available here. In addition to poster and oral presentations, the department again hosted a very successful alumni reception on March 18 for the fourth consecutive year.
View a photo gallery of USCAP 2019
3/7/2019
About Jaclyn
Currently: Staff pathologist based out of Williamsport Regional Medical Center, Williamsport, PA
Specialty: Anatomic and Clinical Pathology, and Hematopathology
Medical School: Medical University of South Carolina (Charleston, SC)
Time at URMC: She was a Pathology resident from 2009-2013, then did a one-year hematopathology fellowship from 2013-2014
Where are you from originally?
I was born in Canton, OH, but grew up in Myrtle Beach, SC.
How did you become interested in pathology?
I became interested in pathology during my second year of medical school. At that time, we still had a dedicated Pathology course and the pathology faculty were by far some of the most enthusiastic professors I had. I decided to take a forensics elective early on during my third year, but ended up spending a lot of time in surgical pathology. This lead to additional pathology electives which confirmed that this was the career for me!
In 1 or 2 sentences, describe what you do every day.
Eighty percent of my time is spent reading surgical cases with bone marrows and lymph nodes mixed in there. Cytology and a mix of clinical responsibilities (mostly SPEPs, reading fluids, and phone calls) round out the rest of time.
What do you enjoy about your job?
I enjoy the medium-sized community setting. I know almost all of the clinicians, which is helpful. We are also the main medical center for much of central PA, so we see a lot of interesting cases.
Tell us about your family.
I have a fantastic husband named Nick and four delightful children; Ben (12), Teddy (9), Charlotte (7) and Julian (5). We have 2 dogs, a hamster, and a fish. We enjoy hiking the myriad trails here in the mountains of PA and trying out new board games when it’s too cold to be outside.
When you look back on your time as a resident/fellow in Rochester, what’s something you remember most or miss about UR?
I miss the camaraderie of my fellow residents and the faculty. I found the atmosphere at U of R while I was there to be very positive. There is something to be said about the way the different pathology specialties and even the different departments throughout the hospital work together to not only provide a very beneficial educational experience but also great patient care. I still often draw upon my experiences at U of R to try and improve protocols or other situations at my job.
How do you like to spend your free time?
Most of my free time is spent doing activities with my family (scouts, soccer, band, chorus, etc.). I’m also a singer, musician and Sunday school teacher at my church.
In your opinion, what is one way to help promote pathology to medical students?
Half the battle is just making the students aware that we exist. Being involved in any way in medical student education helps. It’s up to us to show interest in medical students and provide contact information etc. for anyone who may be interested in learning more. Enthusiasm helps.
What career advice can you give students or trainees interested in your chosen field?
My advice would be to see as much as you possibly can in those few precious years of training! There’s always room to learn/see more – particularly in the gross room, but really in any area of pathology. Unless you end up at a big academic center, you will never have so many knowledgeable PA’s, attendings, fellows, and other staff at your disposal to ask questions and learn from.
One day it will be you that the staff are coming to with all the questions and you need to be able to draw on as much experience as you can (at least that’s the case in my practice). Obviously there are continuing medical education opportunities, but nothing compares to those residency and fellowship years. Cherish them!
1/16/2019
Dr. Tara Mahar (pictured at right) is the chief medical examiner for the Erie County Department of Health, in Buffalo. She attended medical school at the University and graduated from Pathology residency in 2011.
In addition to her role as the M.E. she is a clinical assistant professor of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences at the University of Buffalo’s Jacobs School of Medicine.
We caught up with her to hear more about her career path, her interests, and to see what advice she has to offer anyone interested in pursuing pathology.
Where are you from originally?
I’m from Rochester! I grew up in East Irondequoit and attended Eastridge High School. My parents and one of my sisters still reside in the Rochester area.
How did you become interested in pathology? Was there a specific person or moment when you knew it was the career for you?
I’m a visual learner, and I find working with my hands very gratifying. I really enjoyed anatomy and histology in medical school, but also loved my surgery rotations. I did a surgical internship after graduation, and quickly discovered that I was very interested in the surgical specimens and the intraoperative consultations.
I ultimately found that pathology – and specifically forensic pathology – played to some of my strengths as a learner, and best integrated my desire for hands-on work with my thirst for additional medical knowledge. Forensic pathology enjoys relative freedom from some of the limitations placed on the practice of medicine by our system of health care, and that also helped with my career decision-making.
In 1 or 2 sentences, describe what you do every day.
I work with an awesome group of people to investigate non-natural deaths in Erie and surrounding counties. A large part of my job involves doing autopsies.
What do you enjoy about your job?
I love being able to provide answers for people – whether it be a grieving family, a treating physician, the police, a district attorney, etc. I also enjoy educating others, such as medical trainees, families of the deceased and members of a jury. Medical examiners have an important role in public health, as well.
I love that every day at work is different, and that there are always new things for me to learn. I’m also fortunate to enjoy the people that I work with.
Are you working on any research – now or in the near future? What special research interests do you have?
Not really. I hope to have the time to do so once my office has a full physician staff. In the meantime, the docs at my office have tried to share the new things we’ve learned by presenting at national meetings.
I have a number of interests, many of them with an eye towards public health. I would love to research effective ways to further decrease unsafe sleep-related deaths in infancy. I also have an interest in sudden unexplained death in the young, and would love to see genetic testing become more widely available.
Tell us about your family. Do you have a spouse, kids, pets?
Yes, my significant other and I have an 18 month old son and a cat. My significant other is a retired detective and a stay-at-home dad. He’d probably tell you that the dad gig is harder!
I’m close with my parents and my two sisters, even though I don’t get to see them as often as I would like.
When you look back on your time as both a medical student and resident in Rochester, what’s something you remember most or miss about UR?
The people! I made some lifelong friends at the UR, particularly during residency. Although we live in different parts of the country now, we still keep in touch. I also miss and fondly remember some of the faculty. Although there were many great faculty, Drs. Hicks and Johnson immediately come to mind.
How do you like to spend your free time? Do you have any hobbies or interests?
Free time? What’s that? In all seriousness, what I enjoy most is spending any free time with my family. Other interests include cooking, gardening, travel and small home improvement projects.
In your opinion, what is one way to help promote pathology to medical students?
The first, second and third ways are all exposure. There’s very little exposure to what pathologists actually do during medical school, largely because there are no required rotations. This results in, I believe, a lot of confusion and misconceptions about pathology on the part of students.
What career advice can you give students or trainees interested in your chosen field?
The trend in pathology education seems to be the completion of at least one (and often more than one!) fellowship. Do your research early. Many of the best fellowships fill quickly and/or require an “audition” rotation of sorts.
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