Pathologist Assistant

Position Summary

Responsible for the organization and efficient and effective operation of the surgical pathology suite and the anatomic pathology service. This may comprise personnel management including supervising accessioners, lab aides, grossing technicians, and transcriptionists in the surgical pathology suite and autopsy technicians/morgue assistants in the autopsy room; writing and reviewing surgical pathology and autopsy procedures; inventory control; laboratory operations such as quality assurance, quality control, accreditation inspection preparation, and budgeting; and in the academic setting, supervision of learners.

Responsibilities

• Surgical Pathology Preanalytical Tasks:
  • Assure proper specimen collection and submission prior to accessioning.
  • Assist clinicians with specimen collection questions, triage of limited samples, and esoteric testing.
  • Assure appropriate specimen accessioning and/or verification of unique patient identifiers.
  • Assure proper specimen handling and fixation prior to processing.
  • Obtain and review pertinent clinical information and history, including imaging studies, laboratory results, and operative records.
  • Discuss cases and history with surgeons, clinicians, and pathologists.
• Macroscopic Description and Dissection:
  • Perform the macroscopic description and dissection of all surgical specimens ranging from simple to complex cases including pertinent macroscopic information for the staging of complex cancer cases.
• Tissue Sampling:
  • Prepare and submit tissue sections for light microscopy.
  • Obtain samples for ancillary studies including, but not limited to:
  • Tumor triage
  • Lymphoma protocol
  • Flow cytometric analysis
  • Immunofluorescence
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Microbial cultivation
  • Molecular microbiology
  • Cytogenetic analysis
  • Electron microscopy
  • Tissue banking and clinical trials
  • Research
  • Microarray
  • Institutional tumor registries
• Other Related Functions:
  • Perform Surgical Pathology Special Procedures including, but not limited to:
  • Decalcification
  • Frozen section (tissue selection, dissection, embedding, mounting, cutting/staining, coverslipping)
  • Intraoperative consultation for evaluation of macroscopic specimen adequacy and margins
  • Muscle biopsy preparation
  • Assessment of renal biopsy specimens for adequacy by evaluation of the presence of glomeruli
  • Nerve biopsy orientation and preparation
  • Heart and other transplant biopsy preparation
  • Bone marrow aspirate and biopsy preparation
  • Touch preparations/imprints/squash preparations
  • Tumor mapping
  • Bone saw operation
  • Imaging Specimen:
    • Specimen photomacrography
    • Photomicrography
    • Specimen radiography
    • Slide scanning
  • Postanalytical Tasks:
    • Review of macroscopic description transcription.
    • Microscopic triage of surgical pathology cases for quality control and quality assurance purposes.
    • Coding
    • Verify the accuracy and editing of CPT codes.
    • Assign, review, and edit SNOMED codes.
    • Store and properly dispose of specimens.
    • Assist in the organization and coordination of surgical pathology conferences.
    • Assure proper maintenance of equipment and provision of adequate supplies.

  Qualifications

  • Education/Training:
    • Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery MBBS
    • NAACLS accredited Pathologists’ Assistant
    • Certification as a Pathologists’ Assistant from the American Society for Clinical Pathology Board of Certification (ASCP BOC)
  • Licensure/Certification:
    • ASCP BOC Pathologists’ Assistant Certified
  • Experience:
    • 5 years’ experience in anatomic pathology under the direction and supervision of a licensed, Board Certified or Board Eligible Anatomic Pathologist.

  Benefits

  • Four (4) weeks paid parental leave
  • Debt-free degrees through our Preferred Education Program
  • Tuition reimbursement and loan repayment programs
  • Back-up childcare and elder care
  • Fertility benefits and adoption assistance
  • NCLEX reimbursement
  • Free NCPDs for RN license
  • Free Kaplan review courses
  • Dedicated RN career counselor and GN Coordinators to develop you
  • Specialty certifications reimbursement