Pathologist Assistant

Working at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton
We are one of Canada's leading academic hospitals and largest healthcare organizations known locally and globally for our committed and compassionate delivery of quality patient care. St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton is proud to provide exciting and rewarding career opportunities. Our people are the heart of our organization. At St. Joe's our determination to attract and retain the best and the brightest talent is reflected in our investment in the people who work here. Patient and staff safety, professional growth, leadership development, and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion are top priorities.

The Hamilton Regional Laboratory Medicine Program (HRLMP) is a collaborative program funded and operated jointly by the Hamilton Health Sciences and St. Joseph's Healthcare. The program is committed to change and innovation, through education, service and research, to bring the highest quality science into health care.

Pathology is a central referral hub as a result of the Academic nature of our program supported by the relationship with McMaster University (Pathology and Molecular Medicine Program within the Faculty of Health Sciences). As a result of this relationship each of our Pathologists are identified as sub-specialization specialists (specific disease site trained) as well we are responsible for training of Residents and Fellows. The HRLMP is a center of choice for multiple referrals from our partner hospitals and beyond.

Position Summary
Pathologist Assistants are integral to the Pathology team, they drive quality and change, are active participants in disease diagnosis and provide educational value and expertise that informs the practice of specimen/tissue grossing and autopsy.

In Surgical Pathology you will be performing Macroscopic examination (gross examination) and clinical description of surgically resected tissues, sampling of that tissue in a manner to best characterize the pathological feature(s) of the specimen, with the goal of providing information of diagnostic and prognostic value. You will review, analyze, and synthesize all clinical information on a patient including radiology, ultrasound, and MRI, to best select tissues for microscopic analysis, special staining, and immunohistochemistry. Your work plays a key role in directing the treatment, management and prognosis for every patient whose tissue is resected.

You will also participate in postmortem examinations, in the manner described above, contributing to the work of determining cause of death and disease course.

What We are Looking For
• Master of Clinical Science, Pathologists’ Assistant
• Minimum 5 years' experience in specimen dissection skills/technique and autopsy procedures/techniques
• Experience with Lab Equipment and LIS
• Extensive knowledge and understanding of Anatomy and Physiology, augmenting dissection techniques and skills
• Members of subsection of Pathology – Canadian Association of Pathologists
• Working in the HRLMP, you will require expert knowledge and skill to manage complex cases as we are a referral centre for others
• Recognition of normal and abnormal gross findings and their relationship to pathologic states
• Understanding CAP cancer staging objectives and their impact on patient treatments
• Utilizing CAP cancer staging objectives to create standard procedures for sampling and dictation of gross surgical findings
• Understanding of clinical findings such as diagnostic imaging reports, and reports from other medical disciplines, in order to apply and correlate this information with the pathological findings
• Computer skills – Meditech, EPIC, Clinical Connect, Nuance Communications – Dragon Naturally Speaking, Word, Excel
• Utilizes, programs and troubleshoots Dragon Naturally Speaking, voice recognition system for dictation specimens
• Understanding the principles of Quality Management/Quality Systems and more specifically of the IQMH Lab Accreditation process and requirements
• Excellent oral and written communication skills to convey findings in Gross Pathology Report, including collaborating with related Surgeons, Oncologists, Radiologists, Pathologists

What Will Grab Our Attention
In fulfilling the mandate of this role, the Pathologist Assistant will work independently, with guidance from the supervising Pathologist:
• Preparing and performing complex and/or simple surgical specimen dissection
• Describing gross anatomic features
• Obtaining pertinent clinical information and studies and applying the acquired information to judgments made during the dissection
• Preparing and submitting tissues for histologic processing in a manner reflecting knowledge of how sampling and processing affect patient outcome (for example surgical margins, immunohistochemical diagnostic and prognostic markers)
• Identify and recognize normal and abnormal features of gross specimens
• Perform assessments on referred in complex cases from other centers in our regional catchment area that require advanced knowledge and skill
• Collaborate with Pathologist in the performance of postmortem examination
• Generate quality research opportunities in the field of grossing and autopsy procedures
• Provision of Direct supervision and instruction of Pathology Residents/Fellows in the performance of gross surgical and autopsy dissection
• Actively participates in Quality Assurance and Quality Improvement activities to meet HRLMP (Hamilton Regional Laboratory Medicine Program) objectives
• Participate in Quality Management Expert Panel for Pathology (CCO initiative)
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