Thoracic specimens are commonly encountered in clinical practice derived from biopsy and surgical procedures on pulmonary, cardiovascular and mediastinal tissue. The panorama includes neoplasms and non-neoplastic entities. The fact that many of these require evaluation for medical diseases of the thorax provokes anxiety among pathologists, particularly where subspecialty pathologists are not readily available. The last five years contributed a dizzying array of updates in classification, nomenclature and reporting guidelines. Therefore, it’s time for pathologists to update their knowledge and skills in the diagnosis of thoracic pathology in an intimate mentoring environment that unites experienced experts with pathologists desiring a contemporary review of modern thoracic pathology.

Course Location: Palm Springs, CA
Course Director: Joseph J. Maleszewski, M.D.

This inaugural co-branded interactive microscopy course presents the synergistic union of expert surgical pathologists from the prestigious Arthur Purdy Stout Society and from USCAP, collaborating (through education of pathologists) to eliminate a variety of practice gaps in diagnostic surgical pathology. For example, there is a misdiagnosis rate of about 10% in breast biopsies, but for some notoriously problematic lesions, the rate is even higher.

A review of the literature and the collective clinical experience of this faculty as consultant surgical pathologists have clearly documented areas in diagnostic surgical pathology that remain problematic even for experienced pathologists. Examples include the categorization of proliferative breast lesions, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, small glandular proliferations in the prostate, and soft tissue lesions. With the frequent use of core needle biopsy, pathologists are often faced with the challenge of distinguishing these entities on small specimen samples.

The value of this course is its intent to eliminate diagnostic errors by highlighting pitfalls and approaches to resolve them using routine microscopic examination of H&E-stained sections and immuno-stains. The role of newer adjunctive molecular tests will also be discussed where appropriate. Thus, this course addresses medical knowledge and competence with the goal of improving clinical practice.

Course Location: Palm Springs, CA
Course Director: Laura C. Collins, M.D.

Pathologists are generally unfamiliar with a variety of entities in lung, pleural and mediastinal pathology, leading to diagnostic errors. Furthermore, issues related to heart/lung transplantation require specialized knowledge and experience. Interactive microscopy at the USCAP Learning Center provides a unique and intimate mentoring opportunity to discuss interstitial lung disease, pleuro-pulmonary malignancies, transplant rejection, and the cytomorphologic representation of specimens from these sites, including best practices for optimal triage of lung cancer specimens for molecular testing.

Course Location: Palm Springs, CA
Course Directors: Henry D. Tazelaar, M.D. and Andrew Churg, M.D., Ph.D.