Frequently Asked Questions
Last revised 15 August 2008
Q. How do I use the website?
A. This website is designed to find pathology information fast. From the Home Page, you can click on the buttons on the left hand side, click on the chapters in the middle section, use the website search engines at the top or bottom of the page, or click on the banner ads. Each chapter has a table of contents at the beginning composed of links. To get to a topic, you can click on the appropriate Table of Contents link, or you can scroll through the document. To get back to the top of the document, click on one of the top links. To find a particular word or phase on the page, use Control F in your browser. To go back to a prior page, click on the "Back" button on your browser. Some clicks open a new window/page. To go back to the prior page, you should close this new window/page.
Q. What type of information is available at PathologyOutlines.com?
A. Our mission is to provide text and images that helps practicing pathologists and laboratory personnel, and we limit our website to information that supports this mission. Thus, there is very little information on our website about medications, surgery or types of treatment. There are also many medical conditions that we do not encounter as pathologists / laboratory personnel, and these are not discussed at our website.
Q. Is a user ID / password required?
A. No. Our website is free, with no registration. There are no user IDs or passwords. We believe that one should not charge to access medical knowledge. We provide numerous links to references, and we prefer links to journals that are free full text, no registration, which are highlighted in green.
Q. Can I use information from your site for lectures?
A. You can use the content of our website for non-commercial and educational use, but cannot redistribute it over the Internet. This means you can use it for preparing lectures or for your own studying. You cannot copy it to your own website (even if free), although you can link to our website. Most images from our website are links to other websites. Thus, technically any questions about use of images should be directed to the hosts of these websites. However, the general copyright rule is similar to that stated above - you can use them for educational purposes, but not commercial purposes, and you cannot copy the images.
Q. Can I link to your website?
A. Yes - you can link to any page of our website, as long as you do not make any misrepresentations, such as stating that the page is part of your website. You cannot copy the text for your own website, which is a violation of US and international copyright laws. If you do, we will take legal action against you, and you may be subject to civil and criminal penalties, even if you are a nonprofit or an individual.
Q. A link is broken - what should I do?
A. There are two causes of broken links (a broken link means that an image or page does not load). First, the website being linked to may have disappeared. Second, some websites have temporary glitches, and will resume working later that day or in a few days. If you cannot get a link to work after trying a few times, please let us know. We check the links for our website regularly, and remove all broken links.
Q. What is the best way to print out a copy of an outline/chapter?
A. We offer printer friendly versions of almost all pages. There is a link to the printer friendly page at the top of each outline / chapter. The printer friendly page has no margins and has no image links, which reduces the number of pages needed to print the text.
Q. Where do I send suggestions for improvements to the site?
A. Please send any suggestions to Dr. Nat Pernick at NatPernick@Hotmail.com. We respond to all suggestions.
Q. Is there a PDA version of the website?
A. Yes. Please visit http://www.surgicalpathologyatlas.com/db/index.php?template=ebk for the latest version of various chapters and for other instructions.
Q. How can you offer all these services for free?
A. Our website is based on the Google business model - provide a free website that people really want to use, and generate revenue based on advertising. We are entirely supported by advertising, including banner ads and advertising for jobs, conferences and fellowships. We also receive a percentage of the price paid for products from our affiliates, including Amazon.com and Lippincott, after clicking their banners or links at our website. If you like our website, please tell your vendors about our website and suggest that they advertise with us.
Q. Can you answer questions about my own medical problems?
A. Sorry, but this website does not answer personal questions, for several reasons. First, most pathologists don't provide treatment. We examine tissue specimens, usually under the microscope, and report our findings to the surgeon, radiologist or other physician who obtained the tissue. We also supervise the laboratory, do autopsies and may do research. Although we are aware of treatment options, we don't actually provide treatment, so it would be inappropriate for us to answer questions about treatment. Second, we don't know anything about your medical history. There is a good reason that physicians review your medical chart, take a medical history and perform a physical exam. Doing these things, which takes a lot of time, enables the physician to give you the best medical care possible. A stranger could not give you this level of care. Third, we cannot put any information you provide us into the proper context. Most patients are not 100% accurate. Some understate and others overstate the seriousness of their problems. A good physician knows this, and based on knowledge of the patient, is able to ask other relevant questions. However, we are not in a position to understand how you act as a patient.
Q. Are there any ways to find a topic other than looking in the Table of Contents?
A. There are three ways to search for a topic. First, the Home Page has search boxes at the top and bottom that you can use to search all pages on the website. The search box at the bottom of the page has the Google “cache” function. Second, once you are at a specific chapter, you can use the search feature of your browser. For Internet Explorer or Firefox, click Ctrl + F (hold down the control button then press F), and type in the topic to search on that page. Third, you can use the Table of Contents at the top of the page.
Q. How do I use the virtual slides?
A. To use the virtual slides, click on the part of the big image you want to see at higher power. Then use the pull down menu for the smaller image in the upper right corner to choose the "objective". You can move around on the virtual slide by clicking different parts of the image. Some computer systems have firewalls that prevent the virtual slides from working.
Q. How do you guard against computer viruses?
A. We use antivirus software on all of our computers, but any computer can get infected. If you find a possible problem with our website, please contact us immediately at NatPernick@hotmail.com. We almost never send attachments, and if we do, there will be a detailed message about it. However, today's virus makers are very clever, and can make an email message appear to come from anyone. If you are uncertain about an email attachment from us or anyone else, we suggest you contact the purported sender by telephone or separate email to verify that it is not malicious. We recommend that you use TrendMicro’s free HouseCall program to scan your computers once a week for viruses, malware, spyware, etc.
Q. How can I contribute to the website?
A. There are several ways to contribute. You can improve the quality of our free online textbook by (a) telling us about any possible errors or unclear text, (b) becoming a reviewer (click here for more information), (c) contributing gross, microscopic or other images (click here for more information), (d) contributing your manuscripts or second best images for papers published in journals that are not free full text, (e) sending us any pathology related videos or (f) providing links to your virtual slides. You can contribute financially by posting your pathologist / laboratory jobs, conferences or fellowships with us, by purchasing books or other products through the Amazon.com links on our Home page or in our Books pages, or by asking the companies that you do business with to advertise with us. You can complete our survey (click here), which helps us improve our website. Finally, we are always looking for feedback on how the website can be more useful to the pathology community. Click on the Contribute button on the left hand side of our Home Page for more details.
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