RCPath members up and down the country took part in this year’s National Pathology Week (NPW) at the end of June, highlighting the vital work done by pathology teams in diagnosis, prevention and treatment of disease. To celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the NHS, we’re featuring both College and member-led NPW events below. We would be keen to hear from others who took part, as we’d like to capture as much as possible in our evaluation of NPW 2023. Get in touch on [email protected] or via Twitter. 

College-led events

The College Public Engagement Team supported members with their NPW activities and delivered an online event programme aimed at a range of public audiences. The RCPath Book Club was the first of the College-led events. A lively panel chaired by consultant histopathologist, Dr Stephanie Edwards discussed the book, ‘Quackery: A brief history of the worst ways to cure everything’ by Lydia Kang and Nate Pederson. Lydia was part of the panel, and was joined by Dr Alex Lawson, a consultant clinical biochemist and toxicologist, and Dr Alex Haragan, a senior histopathology trainee who holds a PhD in the field of immuno-oncology and pulmonary pathology. The online audience asked the panel some great questions and the discussions could have continued well beyond the hour of the event. 

Engaging student audiences

On Wednesday 21 June, we ran our Virtual Pathology ‘Pub Quiz’ for undergraduates studying medicine, biomedical science, and related courses. Around 30 teams of students from around the world joined the Zoom-based quiz, which was energetically hosted by Haematology Registrar, Dr Mahesh Sharma and Specialty Registrar in Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology, Dr Isobel Ramsay. Question rounds included ‘Pathology Goes to the Movies’, a music round and some more technical question rounds on a diverse range of pathology specialties. The winning team, ‘Getting-A-Lung’ were based in India and were thrilled to win their £100 voucher. Feedback from participants was very positive – a comment received in the follow-up survey was ‘I enjoyed learning about pathology in a fun way’.

On the Friday of NPW, we ran an undergraduate pathology quiz for those studying veterinary pathology on the College’s Instagram channel, which led to huge amounts of engagement and new followers for our channel. And during July, as an extension to NPW, we're running a number of secondary school workshops including one on cells and microscopy at The Oxford Academy, and an online workshop on the journey of a patient with a heart condition in collaboration with the Social Mobility Foundation.

Art of Pathology Exhibition

We were excited to exhibit winning entries from our Art of Pathology Competition at this the RCPath's Annual Dinner. Thanks to the generous sponsorship of Sonic Healthcare UK, who also sponsor the competition prizes, we were able to display twelve pieces of artwork at the drinks reception on the College's 6th-floor Terrace. The exhibition featured art by competition entrants who were selected as winners, runners-up or were highly commended by the judges in the 2022 Art of Pathology Competition. A more detailed report about the event will be featured in The Bulletin in October. Here are a few photographs of the dinner guests enjoying the art, which had been created by members and others in response to the 2022 theme, ‘Pathology: Past, Present and Future’. 

We rounded the week off with an online art-science workshop led by Dr Lizzie Burns. Lizzie led attendees through some of our Discovering Cells activities, while chatting with histopathology consultant, Dr Stephanie Edwards about cells, cancer and DNA. Attendees were able to ask Steph questions about her work in pathology while they folded a cell and a DNA double helix. We were delighted to see some of their origami creations shared on Twitter afterwards. 

Member-led events

We’re grateful to Dr Kathryn Clarke and Lucien Bonfante for sending us short write-ups of their NPW events. Also featured are events in Northampton and Cardiff that were highlighted on Twitter. 

Lab Open Day at Belfast City Hospital’s Haematology and Blood Bank Laboratory

In honour of National Pathology Week 2023, the Haematology and Blood Bank laboratory at the Belfast City Hospital held a “Lab Open Day” for our nursing colleagues. Biomedical and Clinical Scientists had the opportunity to showcase how the laboratory contributes to patient care. Our nurses had the chance to delve into routine haematology, blood bank, and our specialist coagulation, specialist red cells and haemato-oncology sections gaining an understanding of the importance of the pre-analytical aspect of laboratory science and that effective communication between the multi-disciplinary haematology departments is paramount.

The event was highly successful with one attendee stating they “found it particularly interesting to follow the path of a sample from reception to destination, and the importance of precise and comprehensive clinical information in determining the correct reporting of samples”.

Dr Kathryn Clarke, Clinical Scientist, haemato-oncology.

Interactive stand at Great Ormond Street Hospital

The laboratory staff and registrars at Great Ormond Street Hospital wanted to contribute to National Pathology Week and so devised an interactive stand in the main hospital for patients, visitors and staff to participate. The stand comprised of a microscope and a range of slides from different organs around the body. There were also colouring activities for children and leaflets on the work we do in the laboratory and how a diagnosis is made. 
We received a great interest from a variety of service users, patients and students. Our scientists on the stand were able to explain disease processes and technical procedures that are undertaken on site. The event gave our scientists direct contact with patients so was a great opportunity to raise awareness. We were even able to give lab tours for those who were really intrigued and wanted to ask more questions. 

 

The feedback we received was very positive. There were staff members that had not known what work was undertaken and students asking for careers advice. Being a children’s hospital, several visitors to our stand were very young and these enjoyed the multiple colours of the slides viewed under the microscope and the colouring/origami activities, not to mention the free badges and stickers we provided. 
Overall, a great day was had by staff and patients. The stand helped raise awareness and give confidence to patients receiving healthcare. We would definitely participate in future events. 

Lucien Bonfante, Biomedical Scientist specialising in histology.

Social posts from member-led NPW events around the UK

 

We’d like to thank the many RCPath members and others who ran inspiring events around the UK and beyond to celebrate National Pathology Week. The College’s social media channels were buzzing with fantastic photos, videos and posts of support. We’ll soon be announcing the winners of our #PathologistsAndPatients Twitter competition so watch this space.