The Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology held its second annual pathology conference Sept. 26 at UNMC. “Advances in Diagnostic Pathology and Laboratory Medicine,” an all-day conference, attracted nearly 50 attendees seeking to integrate current advances into contemporary practice.
The event at the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center provided a comprehensive update on diagnostic challenges and evolving practices across major pathology subspecialties. Subodh Lele, MD, professor and the department’s associate vice chair of faculty affairs and development, was conference director. He said the challenges facing pathologists are many.
“In a busy pathology practice where pathologists are signing out large numbers of cases daily and simultaneously getting bombarded by new information, it’s hard to keep up and sets them up for diagnostic pitfalls,” he said. “This is why we started this conference, to describe diagnostic mimics of entities that are common in everyday practice so as to avoid a misdiagnosis. Updated terminology is also presented based on the latest classification schemes. This year, we have also introduced clinical pathology topics in addition to diagnostic challenges in anatomic pathology.”
“Ours being an academic practice, we encounter a wide variety of cases with some being especially challenging. This conference also provides a vehicle for our department faculty to share their insights in working up such cases with others,” Dr. Lele said.
Joseph Khoury, MD, department chairman, welcomed conference attendees. “We are happy to have you here,” he said. “We are looking forward to a day of learning, discussions, and dialogue. We welcome our friends, alumni, colleagues who have come, especially from outside Omaha.”
“This meeting certainly has been well-received,” he said, “and is something we want to continue to offer in years to come.”
Department faculty members presented at the conference, which included time for informal discussions and networking opportunities. Those networking opportunities continued after the meeting, at a reception and dinner for attendees.