- Communicate with surgeons and others who request autopsies on evenings and weekends.
- Review the clinical findings, check the autopsy permit, and prosect the cases as previously described.
- Collect tissue for special studies, toxicology, and cultures as necessary.
- Assist the faculty in reaching an accurate PAD, formulating their own prior to faculty review whenever possible.
- Communicate preliminary results to the clinical staff and answer questions.
During this rotation the residents will on average have at least one out of every seven days free of hospital duties. Due to the at-home nature of call and the limited number of emergencies, the call duties are constructed in the following fashion. The residents are on at-home/pager call every other week. The on-call periods last from 7:00 a.m. on Monday morning through the following weekend, ending at 7:00 a.m. on the subsequent Monday. While on-call, residents are supervised by a West Virginia University Teaching Faculty Member, who is available at all times, either via their office phone, pager, or home phone. On-call activities are reviewed with the residents on an on-going basis as evening and weekend calls are received. A faculty member is always present when a final diagnosis is established and at any time before, as necessary.
During the on-call period, the resident is responsible for handling clinical requests that arise during off hours, including emergent operating room consultations, weekend rush biopsies, emergency off-hour autopsies with the approval of the on-call staff pathologist, and autopsies, which present before 2:00 P.M. on the weekends.
Charleston Area Medical Center
Same as WVUH except that there is no weekend on-call rotation.
Communication with On-duty Faculty
During general working hours, the on service teaching faculty is available in person; other faculty members are available by scheduled appointment, by phone, by pager, and most of the time residents may just feel free to walk into their offices. During the on call hours, the teaching faculty is continuously available, either by telephone at home or by pager.
Structured Education and Management of the Autopsy Division
The residents attend scheduled quality assurance, laboratory safety, and other appropriate staff meetings, as they relate to autopsy pathology. As opportunity presents, residents will be allowed to participate in CAP laboratory accreditation activities, including self-inspections and inspections of other institutions. Residents are urged to attend an Inspector Training Course provided by the CAP.