As members of the Johns Hopkins Department of Pathology, it takes an early fall picnic to identify the depth and scope of our Department. At that outing we suddenly realize that we are an organization of 1300 talented employees located at three campuses or at one of our eight major outreach settings. Our efforts touch the lives of inpatients, outpatients, outreach patients, and distant patients. Still each day we present at our respective campus to do what we do best: Clinical Care, Research, and Education. We are not always aware of our stature as an Institution and a Department.
Laboratory Professionals Week is a time to stop and reflect on who we are as a Department. We employ cutting edge technologies in conjunction with effective Quality Assurance programs which set the national standard for clinical care. Our Department is the leading Pathology recipient of NIH funding in the country, creating some of the most innovative research worldwide. We instruct Medical Technologists, Histologists, Medical Students, Residents, Fellows, and Pathobiology Graduates. This scope of effort is often lost by individual members of the team.
It is time to explore a media which can highlight these achievements. Blogs are one avenue to communicate the accomplishments of the Divisions. The new Pathology Blog is a weekly forum designed to be used by all contributors to update Department members on achievements that make the Johns Hopkins Department of Pathology one of the most prestigious Pathology Departments in the U.S. We welcome not only your comments and feedback, but topics and authors to participate. We are hopeful that you enjoy the upcoming blog posts and gain knowledge of the sciences and the services that are provided across the Department.
Thank you,
Allen Valentine
Good idea, Allen
Education of clinician as to what is going on in pathology is a bridge that needs to frequently crossed.
There are many surveys that show that the clinician is unaware of limits of test, or unaware of nuances of diagnostic interpretation of a performed test.
In 2008 CAP news letter this was mentioned Blue Ocean thinking
One way to approach this is to invite discussion on same topic by clinician and by lab specialist.
This is one communication achievement that everyone in the department should be proud and take advantage of for better sharing and gathering thoughts/information.
As a member of the core lab diversity committee, using this avenue is going to be one of the better ways to disseminate information and gather feedback from everybody.
In line with this, I will then use this blog to inform all supervisors and leads regarding our forthcoming diversity sessions stated for June 8 and 16. Information about this sessions have been e-mailed to core lab supervisors.