PATHOLOGY OUTLINES.COM - A FREE, UPDATED SET OF COMPRENHENSIVE OUTLINES OF SURGICAL
PATHOLOGY TOPICS
http://www.PathologyOutlines.com
Nat L. Pernick, MD (natpernick@hotmail.com)
PathologyOutlines.com, LLC
Bingham Farms, Michigan
Background: Pathology textbooks often become dated soon after publication, have less than optimal detail due to excessive publishing costs, are expensive to purchase and may be less accessible than the Internet.
Design: We have developed www.PathologyOutlines.com, a free, web-based set of comprehensive outlines of surgical pathology topics that is regularly updated, and has links to references, gross photos and microscopic images. We have also added extensive listings of pathology related jobs, fellowships and conferences.
Results: As of July 2002, the website averages 200 visits per day, which is increasing 10% to 20% monthly. The most visited outlines are Lymphoma, Pancreas, Thyroid gland and CD Markers. Other topics outlined thru July 2002 are Ampulla of Vater, Bladder, Chromosomes, Kidney, Leukemia, Parathyroid gland, Prostate gland, Stains and Molecular Markers and Testis/Epididymis/Penis. Additional outlines are added every 1-2 months. Existing outlines are updated with new references and images every 3-4 months. Images are displayed by clicking on links to pre-selected photos from other websites including on-line journals. The largest expense is pathologist labor, currently donated, for development and maintenance of the outlines (30-40 hours/week). The website also has listings of pathology related jobs (~140) updated weekly. We recently added listings of pathology fellowships (~385) sorted by state and type, containing the status of each fellowship (open, filled, unexpected vacancy) for various years.
Conclusion: A free, pathology on-line textbook in outline form is possible, but development and maintenance are very labor intensive and require dedicated funding or donation of time. In addition, updates to text and images require an ongoing commitment of participating pathologists.