ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To obtain descriptive information regarding the practice characteristics and utilization of US pathologists' assistants. DESIGN: A self-administered, mailed, voluntary, anonymous questionnaire was distributed to a cross-sectional sample of 515 US pathologists' assistants registered as members of the American Association of Pathologists' Assistants. The questionnaire contained items relating to subject demographics, practice characteristics, specific task performance, and amount of time spent per day on the performance of specific tasks. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the data in terms of measures of central tendency and dispersion. RESULTS: The response rate was 66.8%. The majority of questionnaires sent and received were from East Coast regions. Of all respondents, 46.6% were women, 57.6% were less than 40 years old, and 60.0% had been practicing 10 years or less. Over half (54.0%) had a master's degree. Almost the entire sample reported working 30 or more hours per week, with 43.4% reporting working more than 40 hours per week. The majority reported earning annual salaries between $56 000 and $75 000. Although task analysis of responses revealed a wide range of responses, the majority of the sample reported spending most of their daily time performing surgical specimen gross examinations (median 300 min/d). Approximately half of respondents also reported spending up to 90 minutes per day on nonspecific tasks such as logging specimens and answering the phone. Most respondents reported spending more daily time on such nonspecific tasks than on autopsy prosection or research. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this national survey provides the first description of pathologists' assistants across the United States. These data provide a useful tool for tracking changes in the profession.
Subject(s)
Pathology , Physician Assistants/statistics & numerical data , Practice Patterns, Physicians' , Cross-Sectional Studies , Demography , Educational Status , Insurance Benefits , Job Satisfaction , Physician Assistants/education , Salaries and Fringe Benefits , Surveys and Questionnaires , Task Performance and Analysis , United States , WorkforceABSTRACT
Papillary fibroelastomas are rare and benign cardiac tumors that typically affect the cardiac valves. To the best of our knowledge, the English literature contains only 1 case report of pulmonary valve fibroelastoma diagnosed by echocardiogram and confirmed by surgical resection. There is a paucity of pathology literature on this subject. We describe an additional case of pulmonary valve fibroelastoma diagnosed by transesophageal echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging confirmed by pathologic examination in a patient who also had a thymoma.
Subject(s)
Heart Neoplasms/pathology , Pulmonary Valve , Echocardiography, Transesophageal , Female , Heart Neoplasms/diagnosis , Heart Valve Diseases/diagnosis , Heart Valve Diseases/pathology , Humans , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Middle AgedABSTRACT
Despite their widespread utilization, little is known about the quality of pathologists' assistants' services. Pathologists' assistants' performance was compared with pathology residents' performance using the metrics of lymph node retrieval and tissue resubmission rates. Lymph node retrieval was calculated by retrospective review of surgical pathology reports from a sample of axillary dissection, mastectomy, and colorectal specimens. Tissue resubmission rates were calculated by retrospective review of a sample of general surgical pathology reports. Pathologists' assistants retrieved a significantly greater total number of lymph nodes compared with pathology residents; however, there was no difference in the total number of positive lymph nodes retrieved. Cases for which pathologists' assistants performed the gross examination had a significantly decreased resubmission rate compared with those performed by residents. In this setting, the gross examination performance of pathologists' assistants was equivalent to or superior to that of pathology residents. These results provide the first information available relating to pathologists' assistants' performance in surgical pathology.
Subject(s)
Employee Performance Appraisal , Pathology, Clinical/standards , Physician Assistants/standards , Professional Competence/standards , Specimen Handling/standards , Breast Neoplasms/pathology , Breast Neoplasms/surgery , Colorectal Neoplasms/pathology , Colorectal Neoplasms/surgery , Hospitals, Teaching , Hospitals, Urban , Humans , Internship and Residency , Reproducibility of Results , Retrospective Studies , Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy/standardsABSTRACT
The usefulness of pathologists' assistants (PAs) has not been assessed rigorously. Data from a time-motion self-report log generated by an Allegheny General Hospital (Pittsburgh, PA) PA and from the corresponding surgical specimen logs were reviewed to determine the daily distribution of PA time and multiple parameters of practice for gross examination of specimens. Using these data in specific scenarios, PA and non-PA practices were compared. The majority of the PA's time (56.5%) was spent performing gross examination of surgical biopsy specimens. The average cost of gross examination per specimen for a PA and a pathologist was $4.37 and $15.19, respectively. In this practice setting, $91,970.00 is saved per year by the use of a PA. The use of PAs instead of pathologists results in considerable practice cost savings ($560,000 in a practice of 50,000 specimens) or saves pathologists time to perform other necessary functions. PAs are highly useful in an era of cost containment.
