Page 10 - Clinical Connections - Summer 2022

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Page 10 - Clinical Connections - Summer 2022
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RVC RESEARCH    STUDY    VETERINARY SERVICES       RVC.AC.UK
         Anatomic Pathology

        BEING AN RVC ANATOMIC PATHOLOGY
        RESIDENT


        At this end of his residency and before heading back to the USA, Kevin O’Brien spoke to Clinical
        Connections about his experience at the RVC.


        What made you choose anatomic       working with the canine and porcine   (this accelerates in larger animals and
        pathology as a specialty and what made   gastrointestinal microbiomes and   on especially hot days), which makes it
        you choose the RVC for your residency?  inflammatory bowel disease as part   significantly more difficult for us to diagnose
                                            of a collaboration with University of   most  lesions  due  to  the  tissue  artefacts
        One of the best aspects of anatomic   Pennsylvania and Children's Hospital of   autolysis induces.
        pathology is the versatility! We get to work   Philadelphia (PennCHOP) Microbiome
        with (just about) every species, and can   Programme. After graduation, I sought out   How would you like your career to
        work in academia, government regulatory   an anatomic pathology residency at the   progress after your specialist training?
        agencies, pharmaceutical companies,   RVC with a focus on comparative pathology
        diagnostic laboratories or zoos. Anatomic   using animal models.        I get a rush from teaching the intramural
        pathology also offers a great work-life                                 rotations students, so I would love to stay
        balance.                            What are some of the most interesting   in academia for now. But who knows,
          From no on-call or weekend duties to   things you have encountered during   anatomic pathology is a such a broad field
        ample opportunities for remote work, it is   your residency?            and my training at the RVC will allow me to
        a pretty enticing offer. Now that we have                               pursue any number of sectors if I change
        a slide scanner, all we need is a wi-fi   Jaffa Cakes. I still don’t quite understand   my mind.
        connection to report our biopsy cases. One   them, but I’m intrigued. But equally   I hope to return to Penn with a comparative
        company told me during an interview that if   seriously, at the RVC I get to work with   pathology position, so wish me luck!
        I wanted to report cases from the beaches   fantastic people from all over the world.
        in Thailand, go for it, and that’s all I really   Even within my own department, I work with
        needed to hear. Though obviously remote   people from Denmark, Greece, Slovenia,
        work doesn’t lend itself to postmortems –   Germany, Canada, Ireland, Spain, the list
        I’m not sure I want to bring that work home   goes on. Coming from the US, I am not
        with me!                            used to this much geographic diversity!
                                              In terms of interesting cases, I have had
        Why the RVC?                        the opportunity to help out at the London and
                                            Whipsnade Zoos with one of their silverback
        It is the top veterinary school in the world   gorillas and white rhinos. I have also had the
        and its anatomic pathology department has   opportunity to work with pathologists at King’s
        a strong reputation with an excellent pass   College London to observe postmortems
        rate for the specialty ACVP exams. Also, I   in people and really hone the comparative
        was itching to return to the UK.    anatomy elements of pathology.

        What was your background prior to your   What are the key challenges in the
        residency?                          work?

        I’m originally from New York and completed   The pandemic. This affected everyone,
        my bachelor’s degree in biology and   naturally, but our department (and the RVC
        chemistry at New York University in 2013.   as a whole) had to circumnavigate plenty   Kevin during his RVC residency
        Then I deferred my veterinary school place   of obstacles to get back into working order.
        at University of Pennsylvania for two years   However, for my department, it allowed   RVC Pathology Residencies
        to pursue a biology fellowship in the United   us to take full advantage of our in-house   The residency in anatomic pathology
        Arab Emirates. I graduated from Penn   slide scanner, which let us conduct didactic   provides advanced instruction in the areas
        in May 2019 and I joined the RVC as an   rounds from our homes, share digital slides   of post mortem examination, surgical
        resident two months later.          to colleagues abroad, and allowed for a   pathology, immunohistochemistry and
          During veterinary school, I developed   better work-life balance.     molecular pathology. The residency
        a strong interest in the parallels between   In general, though, autolysis can be   programme in clinical pathology has
        animal and human health. I became   the  biggest  obstacle  we  face  on  a  day-to-  a structured programme of study in
        involved with various research projects   day basis. When an animal dies, the body   haematology, cytology, clinical chemistry,
        highlighting this relationship, such as   starts to break down on a cellular level   urinalysis and quality assurance.

                                                                                        For the Diagnostic Pathology Service,
                                                                                       please call:01707 666 208
                                                                                        Email:
                                                                                       diagnosticlabs@rvc.ac.uk
        10   Summer 2022
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