The University of Maryland, Baltimore Pathologists’ Assistant Program is accredited by: Program affiliates include, but are not limited to, the University of Maryland Medical Center, Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Maryland’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. During the second year of the program, Pathologists’ assistant students learn essential technical skills through affiliate clinical laboratory rotations. The first year of the program is largely concentrated on didactic coursework.
The program calendar begins in July and ends in May.
PATHOLOGY ASSISTANT PROGRAMS FULL
The Pathologists’ Assistant Program track is full time no part-time option is available. Respect for the patient and confidentiality of the patient’s records and/or diagnoses must be maintained.
PATHOLOGY ASSISTANT PROGRAMS PROFESSIONAL
They must demonstrate ethical and moral attitudes and principles that are essential for gaining and maintaining the trust of professional associates, the support of the community, and the confidence of the patient and family. The ability to relate to people, a capacity for calm and reasoned judgment, and a demonstration of commitment to quality patient care are essential for Pathologists’ assistants. Pathologists’ assistants are employed in a variety of settings, which include community and regional hospitals, university medical centers, private pathology laboratories, and medical examiner offices. The Pathologists’ assistant also may be assigned to teaching, administrative, supervisory, and budgetary functions in anatomic pathology, depending on how the position is structured. The Pathologists’ assistant may further select tissue for histologic processing and special studies, obtain specimens for biological and toxicologic analysis, assist in photography of gross specimens, and communicate with clinicians regarding autopsy findings. The Pathologists’ assistant may perform evisceration, organ- block dissection per the departmental protocol, and triage autopsy specimens for special procedures and techniques as required. Autopsy Pathology: The Pathologists’ assistant may be involved in the performance of postmortem examination, including the assessment of death certificates and obtaining proper legal authorization, and the reviewing of the patient’s medical record and pertinent clinical data.The Pathologists’ assistant also submits specimens for additional analytic procedures, such as immunohistochemical staining, flow cytometry, image analysis, microbiological cultures, genetic analysis, chemical analysis, and toxicology, and assists in the photography of pathological specimens as indicated or requested. The Pathologists’ assistant also assures appropriate specimen accessioning, obtains and assesses pertinent clinical information and ancillary studies, describes the gross anatomic pathology, and selects tissue to be submitted for further histologic processing and microscopic examination by the Pathologists’. Surgical Pathology: The Pathologists’ assistant performs surgical specimen dissection by identifying the anatomical structures within the specimen and assessing the nature and extent of the pathological process.The high degree of responsibility assumed by the Pathologists’ assistant requires skills and abilities including, but not limited to, the following: The Pathologists’ assistant is an allied health professional, qualified by academic and practical training to provide service in anatomic pathology under the direction and supervision of an anatomic Pathologists’. The entire curriculum prepares students for the practice of the profession. The program aims to prepare students for a career as a Pathologists’ assistant in a clinical laboratory environment.