http://www.archivesofpathology.org/doi/pdf/10.5858/arpa.2012-0219-LE

Rodolfo Montironi, Marina Scarpelli, Antonio Lopez-Beltran, and Liang Cheng, (2012) “No Pay, No Play” or From “Defensive or Passive Pathology” to “Active, Clinically Oriented Pathology”. Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine: December 2012, Vol. 136, No. 12, pp. 1474-1475.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

“No Pay, No Play” or From “Defensive or Passive Pathology” to “Active, Clinically Oriented Pathology”

Rodolfo Montironi , MD, IFCAP, FRCPath; Marina Scarpelli , MD

Section of Pathological Anatomy Polytechnic University of the Marche Region, School of Medicine, United Hospitals, 1-60020 Torrette di Ancona, Italy

Antonio Lopez-Beltran , MD, PhD

Department of Pathology, Reina Sofia University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, 14004 Cordoba, Spain

Liang Cheng , MD

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202

"In conclusion, for many of us, it is not a burden, but a joy, to consult with colleagues in other specialties, such as the urologists and uro-oncologists, and speak with the patient, sharing our in-depth knowledge and understanding of the pathophysiology of disease. All this requires a profound knowledge of clinical medicine as well as anatomic and clinical pathology. This means that it is time for us to move from defensive or passive uropathology to active, clinically oriented uropathology. The former, that is, defensive or passive pathology, could have been one of the reasons why, in recent years, fewer and fewer medical doctors have embraced a career in pathology, fearing that a lack of personal contact with a patient would not be fulfilling the true nature of the medical practice."