Coolest Pathologist you have met thread...

[LADoc00]

Chatting with some high level admin folks, docs etc. and the topic of the "Coolest Pathologist they ever met came" up. Rare topic for sure.

Naturally I was at the top of the list, but the runner up discussion was interesting.

I thought long and hard about my list today and I'll always remember one Pathologist from my youth that sticks out like beacon of glorious light from the otherwise depressing academic lab scenery in St. Louis: Bianca. Total stunner, huge personality and the looks of Elisha Cuthbert.

But I quickly google-stalked her only to find out she changed fields and is now a Psychiatrist! ...sad Panda face.

I always thought Ramzi Cotran was an incredible lab leader. Stylin, nice, down to Earth etc. I was chillaxing once on a couch in the resident room and he actually stopped to "bro down" with me even though I wasn't even one of his residents.

Also always thought Stanford-UCSF had a monopoly on the "cool kids" of Pathology but not sure if that is even true anymore. But the Bianca-Ramzi Cotran interaction nexus sealed the deal for me to enter Pathology vs. Rads.

Curious if others had a similar decision making life moment with a cool Pathologist interaction of some type.

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[Dral]

I went to UVA for med school...Mark Wick is a really cool guy. He was one of my mentors and did much to influence how I ended up where I am.

 

[stickyshift]

Chatting with some high level admin folks, docs etc. and the topic of the "Coolest Pathologist they ever met came" up. Rare topic for sure.

Naturally I was at the top of the list, but the runner up discussion was interesting.

I thought long and hard about my list today and I'll always remember one Pathologist from my youth that sticks out like beacon of glorious light from the otherwise depressing academic lab scenery in St. Louis: Bianca. Total stunner, huge personality and the looks of Elisha Cuthbert.

But I quickly google-stalked her only to find out she changed fields and is now a Psychiatrist! ...sad Panda face.

I always thought Ramzi Cotran was an incredible lab leader. Stylin, nice, down to Earth etc. I was chillaxing once on a couch in the resident room and he actually stopped to "bro down" with me even though I wasn't even one of his residents.

Also always thought Stanford-UCSF had a monopoly on the "cool kids" of Pathology but not sure if that is even true anymore. But the Bianca-Ramzi Cotran interaction nexus sealed the deal for me to enter Pathology vs. Rads.

Curious if others had a similar decision making life moment with a cool Pathologist interaction of some type.

Dehner at Wash U: outrageously competent, outrageously opinionated, but generous on the (rare) occasion when you get to a diagnosis before he does. A real prince among men, intimidating to the uninitiated, but truly conscientious and concerned about the welfare of his trainees, colleagues, and department.

 

[deleted314957]

Dr. Vince Hyams ( ent path at afip )

 

[Ziehl-Neelsen]

Dehner at Wash U: outrageously competent, outrageously opinionated, but generous on the (rare) occasion when you get to a diagnosis before he does. A real prince among men, intimidating to the uninitiated, but truly conscientious and concerned about the welfare of his trainees, colleagues, and department.

Agreed. Pepper is a thoroughly good dude. I had the privilege of sitting with Pepper and J.T. Stocker when they were working on the 3rd edition of their text. Together they were uproarious. They used to remind me of the walrus and the carpenter.

If we're talking about who had the most influence on us choosing pathology though, it's Stanley Robbins. After reading the first chapter of Pathologic Basis of Disease, I knew that this was what I was after--a GUT of human disease.

 

[LADoc00]

Ugh, I sat staring at white walls for a few years in STL and only had passing interactions with Pepper. I will blame that on my crush on one of the residents and otherwise lack of motivation towards Pathology at the time.

I will throw Ron Dorfman onto the list. South African native, gentleman and a scholar. Reminded me of guy from a super fancy Archaeology Society in London from another era completely. How many pathologists can say they were an allied battlefield surgeon in North Africa in WW2? That is like the next level of cool, unattainable to mere mortals.

 

[sohsie]

Phillip McKee. Besides writing my go to dermpath book, he is one cool guy. He has a gazillion colorful stories, some so un-PC that telling them would probably get someone fired if told by someone else, and used to be a serious amateur race car driver to boot.

 

[gbwillner]

Dehner at Wash U: outrageously competent, outrageously opinionated, but generous on the (rare) occasion when you get to a diagnosis before he does. A real prince among men, intimidating to the uninitiated, but truly conscientious and concerned about the welfare of his trainees, colleagues, and department.

Dehner is remarkable and the field (and WashU) will suffer when he retires.
Typically, when reviewing a case, attendings tend to ask residents about the medical history of the patient, to guide their diagnosis. Dehner would stop you- saying he didn't want to know any history- then look at the slide and tell YOU the patient's medical history. He was always right.
With consult cases he could never be wrong- difficult cases were given his diagnosis because he is Dehner- whatever he says IS the standard.

 

[yaah]

Probably Greenson. Find his videos on youtube.

 

[jp123ok]

I went to UVA for med school...Mark Wick is a really cool guy.

I trained at UVA too and agree that Mark Wick is very cool. His sign-outs are lightning fast and always entertaining.

 

[stickyshift]

I trained at UVA too and agree that Mark Wick is very cool. His sign-outs are lightning fast and always entertaining.

Interacted with him when he was at Wash U: very cool, and interested in all of his residents--even the ones that had no interest in academic medicine (like me!).

 

[stickyshift]

Dehner is remarkable and the field (and WashU) will suffer when he retires.
Typically, when reviewing a case, attendings tend to ask residents about the medical history of the patient, to guide their diagnosis. Dehner would stop you- saying he didn't want to know any history- then look at the slide and tell YOU the patient's medical history. He was always right.
With consult cases he could never be wrong- difficult cases were given his diagnosis because he is Dehner- whatever he says IS the standard.

The fellows would joke that it didn't matter what the lesion really was when Dehner diagnosed it: the morphology would change overnight to fit whatever diagnosis he gave it.

 

[stickyshift]

Ugh, I sat staring at white walls for a few years in STL and only had passing interactions with Pepper. I will blame that on my crush on one of the residents and otherwise lack of motivation towards Pathology at the time.

I will throw Ron Dorfman onto the list. South African native, gentleman and a scholar. Reminded me of guy from a super fancy Archaeology Society in London from another era completely. How many pathologists can say they were an allied battlefield surgeon in North Africa in WW2? That is like the next level of cool, unattainable to mere mortals.

Wash U pathology has had its share of comely residents that could ruin many a pathologist's career . . .

 

[ReedSternburg]

Agree with the un-PC, old-school coolness of Philip McKee. Chris Fletcher is also quite skilled with his NSFW witticisms, and has that geeky yet cool English scholar thing going for him.