Message from the President ...
Martha Bishop Pitman, M.D. The 17 th annual PSC meeting was held in Boston , MA during the 79 th annual meeting of the USCAP meeting. On behalf of the current PSC leadership and all members, I would like to thank the officers and committee chairs and members for their 2007-2009 term of service to the PSC, especially the immediate past President, Dr. Steven Raab. The officers for the 2009-2011 term include myself as President, Dr. Lester Layfield as President-elect, Dr. Eric Suba as treasurer, and Dr. David Chhieng as secretary. The Board of Directors is listed in Table 1 and Committees with charges are listed in Table 2.
The 2009 scientific program began in the afternoon with the Cells without Borders session moderated by Dr. Eric Suba. Dr. Rana Ramazanoglu gave a presentation on the Cytopathology in Turkey , and Dr. Bin Yang spoke on Cytopathology in China
Following the business meeting, the PSC hosted a reception at the Harvard Club on Commonwealth Avenue . An open bar and bountiful spread of delicious food prepared participants for the scientific program that immediately followed. As the Chair of the Scientific Program Committee, I moderated the session. The topic of the session was Where Small Biopsies Go Wrong - Mistakes Made and Lessons Learned: Pathway to Patient Safety. The speakers included: Dr. Bruce Wenig who spoke on the Pitfalls in the Biopsy Diagnosis of Select Head and Neck Lesion;, Dr. Scott Kilpatrick who spoke on The Usefulness and Limitations of FNA and Core Biopsy in the Diagnosis of Soft Tissue Tumors; Dr. Andrea Dawson who covered Breast Lesion Diagnosis with FNA and Core Biopsy: Challenges and Opportunities, and Dr. Stephen Raab who finished up the session with a global overview entitled The Future of Quality Improvement in Small Biopsy and Cytopathology Tissues. To access the PDF of these presentations go to the USCAP web site, Education Materials tab, 2009 meeting, Companion society handouts, Papanicolaou Society.
The PSC Awards were handed out during the evening session. The L.C. Tao Educator of the Year Award went to Dr. Andrea Abati, and the Yolanda Oertel Interventional Cytopathologist of the Year Award went to Dr. Jerry Waisman. Resident Research Awards went to Dr. Fredilyn M. Lipata (1 st place) and Xy Liu (2 nd place).
The PSC will sponsor a panel luncheon at the ASC meeting in Denver, CO on Sunday the 15 th of November entitled “Making the Case for Cytopathologist Performed Ultrasound-Guided Thyroid FNA” moderated by Dr. David Chheing with faculty Dr. Britt-Marie Ljung and Dr. Susan Rollins.
The 2010 program for the meeting in Washington , D.C. (March 2010) is already taking shape. Our afternoon session Cells without Borders organized by Drs. Matt Zarka and Eric Suba will have 2-3 presentations about volunteer opportunities for cytotechnologists and pathologists in developing countries. Under the leadership of Dr. Zubair Baloch, chair of the scientific program committee, the PSC will be offering a joint session with the ASC entitled “ Fine-needle aspiration of Thyroid Lesions: Beyond NCI State of the Art Thyroid FNA Conference ". This special two night session will provide expanded, multidisciplinary, in-depth coverage of this very important topic that emphasizes the role of cytology, molecular analysis and small tissue biopsy in the diagnosis and management of patients with thyroid nodules.
The future of the PSC looks bright. Our financial infrastructure is sound and our global outreach expanding. As President, I want to continue to develop our relationship with the American Society of Cytopathology, our international colleagues and expand our presence at international meetings (see sidebar on European Congress of Cytology Meeting in Lisbon , Portugal ). A particular goal is to organize and formalize our support for the FNA tutorials in Africa instituted by Dr. Andrew Field from Australia . The success of the organization depends on active involvement of its members, and I invite you all to become active in the organization, attend the annual meetings and get your voice heard. I look forward to working with you all to ensure that the PSC remains a leader in the field of cytopathology, bridging the gap with surgical pathology.
