Internal Review 360°

The Department of Pathology is dedicated to excellence in education, clinical service, and in basic and translational research. Our department is uniquely positioned in the School of Medicine as both a hospital-based clinical department and as a basic science department and our missions are focussed on both undergraduate and graduate education, anatomic pathology and laboratory medicine, and on both basic and translational research.

Education
Core Values: To provide the highest standards of education to current and future health care providers, physician scientists,  and basic scientists.  This is being accomplished by providing a balanced curriculum and research laboratory-based opportunities that embraces both state of the art and emerging technologies in anatomic and labora tory diagnostics and in basic and translational research.

Clinical
Core Values: To provide the highest quality diagnostic services in all major areas of anatomic and clinical pathology, to seek out and implement emerging and innovative approaches to enhance the accuracy of surgical pathology and cytopathology, and to provide for the application of advanced technologies to enable enhanced diagnostic capabilities in laboratory medicine.

Research
Core Value: To promote an environment that encourages and enables all members of the faculty to engage in scholarly activity, to advance the fields of diagnostic and experimental pathology.  This is being accomplished by promoting a culture that embraces the values of academic excellence and provides time and resources to enable participation and leadership in basic and translational research.

Relationships and Collaborations
Clinical faculty in the department have close collaborations with other clinical departments such as surgery, internal medicine, pediatrics, in the form of tumor board conferences. Pathologists are integral members of these multidisciplinary teams. Many faculty members teach the residents from other departments such as neurology (Dr. Seidman) for example. There is a close collaboration with the Cancer Center. Dr. Singh serves on the Cancer committee and the Cancer quality service group. Dr. Eric Spitzer is a member of the hospital QA committee.

Research faculty collaborate regularly with other clinical and basic science departments such as biochemistry, pharmacology and microbiology to name a few.  Many faculty from other departments within the university hold secondary and voluntary academic appointments in pathology. This has resulted in various interdepartmental collaborations throughout the years and has contributed to greater external and internal funding opportunities.  Graduate students from the microbiology program are working within Pathology research labs and participating in a multitude of research projects with the ultimate goal of being part of national funded research endeavor.

The department also collaborates closely with the Suffolk County Medical Examiners Office.  Chief medical examiner Yvonne Milewski is a faculty member and participates closely in the training of pathology residents.  The medical examiners office provides residents with additional training in forensic pathology including the ability to participate in the autopsy service.