WHAT MANY OF US ARE DOING OR SHOULD BE DOING IN CLINICAL PATHOLOGY - A LIST OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE PATHOLOGIST IN THE CLINICAL LABORATORY

Mr. Paul Mango, Chief Operating Officer of a hospital-based clinical l aboratory network in Pittsburgh, recently performed a survey of patien ts presenting for phlebotomy, The survey included the question, ''What does a pathologist do?'' The results were that 50% of the patients ha d no idea what a pathologist did, and 30% of the patients stated that pathologists examined dead bodies. It is not surprising that there is a limited understanding by patients of the activities of pathologists because patients do not usually see pathologists. However, beyond auto psy and surgical pathology, the activities of pathologists are also no t well known to nonpathologist physicians and hospital administrators. A poor understanding of activities in clinical pathology have placed these clinical responsibilities of the pathologist under particular sc rutiny for cost reduction. The quantitation of output from anatomic pa thology, in number of slides reviewed or number of autopsies performed , is objective and easily understood, As noted in the list of clinical pathology acitivities that follows, the responsibilities within the c linical laboratory are highly diverse and, if the pathologist handles them successfully, highly contributory to patient care, Thus, it is ti mely that a compilation of activities in clinical pathology be issued for review by the pathologist community, I would hope that this list w ill serve as a starting point for a universally accepted group of acti vities that describes clinical pathology today and that it will be use ful for pathologists to make their significant contributions in the cl inical laboratory apparent to administrators, fellow physicians, and p atients, The clinical laboratory responsibilities should also be valua ble to directors of residency training programs to focus training in c linical pathology toward the development of currently desirable expert ise.