LMP2203H: Practicum in Surgical Pathology III

For Pathologists' Assistant students in the MHsc in Laboratory Medicine program.

A 0.5 FCE practical hands-on training course taking place at St. Michael's Hospital and St Joseph’s Hospital.

You will spend 4 full days a week (7 hours per day) at the hospital.

You will initially be shadowing certified pathologist’s assistants (PAs) at workstations throughout the day. You will then have the opportunity to handle surgical specimens under supervision.

This course offers an approach to orientation, inking, cutting, handling, macroscopic description, and processing of:

  • Gynecological specimens and placentas
  • Gastrointestinal (GI) specimens (esophagus, stomach and colon) including benign and malignant, biopsies, endoscopic mucosal resections and segmental resections
  • Breast specimens, including breast reductions, benign, malignant, axillary dissection, and sentinel lymph nodes.
  • Genitourinary specimens
  • An introduction to lung resection (wedge and lobectomies)
  • Hepatobiliary resections (liver resections and Whipple resection).

This course will provide an emphasis on the importance of gross examination and section submission and how this provides the pathologist with important information pertinent to generating a complete pathology report that will subsequently affect the management plan.

Course instructors

Course co-coordinator (practicum)

Dr. Hala Faragalla

hala.faragalla@unityhealth.to

The course coordinator:

  • develops the curriculum
  • provides lectures that supplement the applied practicum work
  • monitors quality assurance for the course
  • receives teaching assistance from hospital faculty members and from PAs in the applied parts of the curriculum.

Site lead pathologists’ assistant

Farhana Harji

farhana.harji@unityhealth.to

Course co-coordinator (academic half day)

Dr. Christopher Sherman

christopher.sherman@sunnybrook.ca