2008 Summer Meeting - Leeds - The Pathological Society of Great ...

P155How Do Histopathology Trainees Choose their TrainingSchool?SD Preston 1 ,SCossins 1 , RD Liebmann 1 , AH McGregor 11 Histopathology Training Schools BoardThere is a national appointment process for applicants for histopathologytraining schemes in England and Wales. A combination of applicant choice,interview ranking and special circumstances is used to match appointees totraining schools. This increases the best candidates’ chances of gaining atraining post, but decreases their control over where they work. Thegeographies offered were related to the Deaneries co-ordinating trainingprogrammes at Yr 2 – 5 level.We surveyed all 1st year Histopathology run-through trainees in England andWales to enquire about the information they used to choose a training school,the factors they considered and their opinions of the process.The response rate was 78%, most gaining their information from theHistopathology Training Schools’ website. The commonest factors in choosinga training school were the location of a partner (75%), and the HistopathologyTraining School’s reputation (59%). Children were a factor for 18%, and 24%expressed an interest in research. For 52%, the location of their family was themost important factor. Encouragingly, 84% felt that the matching process usedwas fair.Our survey has shown an acceptable matching scheme with a website(histopathsho.34sp.com) which is a valuable resource for applicants. Whilegeography is an important factor, almost a quarter of trainees chose theirtraining school, at least in part, because of the research opportunities available.This is encouraging for a potential resurgence in histopathology research andunderline the importance of the newly created academic pathology trainingposts in many training programmes.P157Intrathyroid lymph node tissue in multinodular goiter, casereport in Egyptian female.AAbdou 1 ,HAiad 11 Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Menofiya UniversityWe report a case of intrathyroid lymph node tissue in 40 years old Egyptianfemale. Collections of lymphoid follicles surrounded by mature fat cells wereintimately associated with normal thyroid follicles. The presence of thisheterotopic tissue could arise by the process of heteroplasia or it could be justdeviation of the normal anatomy of cervical lymph node groups.P156The Value of One Stop Head and Neck ClinicsV Willis 1 ,VForia 11 Department of Cellular Pathology, Southampton General HospitalBackground: One stop head and neck clinics were introduced in response toNICE guidelines 2004 with the aim to provide rapid assessment and provisionaldiagnosis of suspected cancer patients. They comprise clinical review followedby ultrasound-guided fine needle aspirate with immediate cytological reportingby the pathologist. At our centre this clinic was established two years ago. Theaim of this audit was to study the impact of the ‘One Stop’ method byinvestigating the correlation between clinical impression, radiological findings,cytology and histology reports, and subsequently comparing this data withcases prior to the set up. Methods: FNA and histology reports were collectedfrom approximately 100 patients who had attended the clinic between 2005 and2007. We combined this data with the clinical details and radiology reportsprovided by the surgical team. This information was then analysed andcompared to a similar cohort prior to this set up. Discussion: Our data shows agood overall correlation between FNA cytology and histology reports.Furthermore the number of inadequate samples has significantly reduced overthe past two years. In this centre the introduction of the one stop head and neckclinic has had a significant impact on management of cancer cases by allowingrapid accurate diagnosis and thereby permitting early treatment. In addition, ithas benefited patients through fewer hospital visits, prompt reassurance andreduced anxiety overall.P158Engaging Histopathologists in Pharmaceutical Research andDevelopmentCWomack 1 , SR Morgan 1 , A Hughes 11 AstraZeneca, Alderley Park, Macclesfield, CheshireA major part of the practice of most histopathologists is to continue to providethe “gold standard” for cancer diagnosis. Their trained observations alsocontribute significantly to information that is linked to prognosis and are usedin cancer therapy planning. Histopathologists can also play an important role inpharmaceutical research and clinical trials though very few are employed fulltimein industry.In our practice we have identified the following areas where application ofhistopathologists’ expertise adds value to the drug discovery process:· Provision of the general and specialist, diagnostic and research skills, in basicand molecular pathology used in hospital practice and university laboratories, topharma as “key opinion leaders” and as consultants for individual projects. Thisarea has the greatest potential for public/industry collaborative research.· Histopathologists are custodians of tissue that is surplus to diagnosticrequirements that would normally be archived or discarded.· Histopathologists are key to the laboratory collection, processing and reviewof samples taken as part of clinical trials as well as allowing access to archivalhuman tissue and pathology data for patient inclusion.· Provision of histopathology services to a pharma company as externalconsultants or as employees for histopathological and biomarker analysesincluding the evaluation of new technology platforms.In clinical research histopathologists are integral to translational science, forproof of mechanism and/or principle, and also play an important role in drugdevelopment in Phase III trials.Summer Meeting (194 th ) 1–4 July 2008 Scientific Programme71