About Us
Last revised 23 May 2024

Introduction

Purpose

The purpose of this website is to provide useful professional information to practicing Pathologists and laboratory personnel in 15 seconds or less.


General features

• Access to the website is free. The website is entirely supported by advertising.
• The website pages are full text searchable, either by using the search features of your browser or the Search box in our Header.
• PathologyOutlines.com does not require registration and does not ask for personal information to gain access to the features of the website. Furthermore, PathologyOutlines.com does not make any personal information available to advertisers, unless visitors ask for contact from specific companies.
• Special attention to text formatting makes the website easy to navigate, using a minimal number of clicks.
• Information about using our logo is available here.

Specific features for the Pathology community

• A regularly updated, comprehensive online textbook of surgical and clinical pathology, with extensive links to images (gross, microscopic, clinical and others), virtual slides and references. Chapters include clinical and surgical pathology topics as well as separate listings for immunohistochemical and other Stains, including almost all CD Markers. We link only to images that do not require registration to view and to virtual slides that do not require plug-ins. We also prefer references with free full text with no registration / login. Our goal is to update each topic every 3 years. Newly updated topics are written by the named Author and reviewed by our Editor-in-Chief or a Deputy Editor-in-Chief and a member of our Editorial Board.
• A Worldwide Directory of Pathologists, started in summer 2021, with filters by location, subspecialty and institution.
• A list of Pathologist / Ph.D. and other laboratory Job ads, organized by location and subspecialty, with separate lists of recently posted jobs, part-time or locum tenens jobs, Ph.D. jobs and open Pathology residency slots. There are also graphs of active job ads and jobs by State and region.
• A regularly updated and extensive list of Pathology related Conferences, organized by date, subspecialty, location and organization, with links for further information. We also have a graph of conferences by State and region and have listings for Webinars and online CME.
• A regularly updated and extensive list of Pathology related Fellowships, organized by date (for new openings), subspecialty and location, with links for further information.
• A regularly updated and extensive list of Pathology related Books, organized by date posted, publisher, book series and subspecialty, with an author / title search. Some books are also posted on the main page of appropriate textbook chapters. Our biweekly image quiz is also posted here.
• Case of the Month emails include a clinical history, images and a short discussion with references, now contributed by our Editorial Board. All cases are listed by case number (with and without diagnosis) and by subspecialty (with and without diagnosis).
• Click here for information about our email blasts (newsletters).
• The opportunity to advertise Jobs, Fellowships and Conferences / webinars for a one time, reasonable fee. Rapid postings and excellent customer service are part of the package.
• We also post informative advertisements from companies providing products and services to the Pathology community.

Service commitment
As a PathologyOutlines.com customer, you should expect nothing less than the best possible service every time you deal with us, whether in person, on the telephone, via email or if you are simply a frequent visitor to our website. Our aim is to build a long term relationship with you. The foundation of this relationship is our Service commitment - to anticipate and exceed your expectations.


Ownership
This website, which began in August 2001, is owned and managed by Nat Pernick, M.D., an AP/CP board certified Pathologist. Click here for more information on Dr. Pernick.


Our story
Click here to read the story of how Dr. Pernick started PathologyOutlines.com.


History
PathologyOutlines.com was founded in August 2001 by Nat Pernick, M.D., an AP/CP board certified pathologist who has worked with computers since 1974. Dr. Pernick has both medical and law degrees from the University of Michigan and completed graduate studies in mathematics at Wayne State University. His medical publications are listed at: PubMed, Google Scholar, ResearchGate, CV.

Dr. Pernick created PathologyOutlines.com based on his belief that medical information should be free and easily accessible. In 2001, PathologyOutlines.com initially consisted of 5 chapters (Ampulla of Vater, lymphomas/plasma cell neoplasms, pancreas, parathyroid gland and thyroid gland) (Wayback Machine: PathologyOutlines.com [Accessed 29 November 2001]). Each chapter included several topics on a single webpage, with brief information about each disease (Wayback Machine: PathologyOutlines.com - Ampulla of Vater [Accessed 29 November 2001]). By the end of 2005, there were over 50 chapters written by Dr. Pernick and chapters had begun to be formally reviewed and updated by outside pathologists (Wayback Machine: PathologyOutlines.com [Accessed 23 December 2005]).

In November 2011, the website began to update its format so that each topic in the 80 chapters would be on a single webpage, rather than including the whole chapter on one page (Wayback Machine: PathologyOutlines.com [Accessed 1 November 2011]). This format made it easier for topics to be written in greater detail and updated regularly. All 6,700+ topics were converted to the new format in February 2014. In 2020, redundant and rare topics were deleted and many chapters and topics were merged to improve website navigation. As of March 2023, there are 60 chapters and ~4,800 topics.

In November 2012, in an effort to further improve the quality of the content, an Editorial Review Board was created, consisting of section editors to peer review the content of a specific chapter. In September 2014, the Editorial Review Board evolved into a formal Editorial Board, consisting of members with subspecialty expertise. Members must have worked satisfactorily as an author at PathologyOutlines.com, with preference given to those with fellowship training/certification. As of March 2023, the Editorial Board has 56 members.

In December 2014, the website was transferred to a content management system to allow for more uniform pages, better formatting for mobile devices and a robust topic search capability (Wayback Machine: PathologyOutlines.com [Accessed 20 December 2014]). This initially started with changes to the home page; the entire site was converted in July 2018.

In February 2018, Debra Zynger, M.D., became the Deputy Editor-in-Chief, then became PathologyOutlines.com's first Editor-in-Chief in August 2018. Since February 2018, each newly updated topic has been reviewed by the Author, Deputy Editor or Editor-in-Chief, and an Editorial Board member. This has elevated the standard of each topic to ensure accurate, up-to-date content, thorough research and a uniform site format. The current Editor-in-Chief is Raul S. Gonzalez, M.D., who was appointed to the position in July 2021.

To date, we have more than 1500 Authors, who are typically academic faculty who have published at least five non-case report journal articles about their subspecialty in the past 15 years and meet other qualifications. Fellows, senior residents and others may write for us if their work is overseen by a qualified author. PathologyOutlines.com continually adds authors with a goal of reviewing each topic every 2-3 years.


Staff
Currently, PathologyOutlines.com has 24 employees who operate the website in Bingham Farms, MI and remotely in 7 other states.

Nat - CEO
Rosie - Chief Operating Officer
Kelli - Office manager
Kristi - Managing editor
Jessica - Director of corporate sales

Alyssa - HTML staff / editorial assistant
Amal - HTML staff / Directory / Ambassador liaison
Amy - Directory
Ann - Marketing assistant
Brady - Administrative assistant
Dennis - Media specialist / advertising
Donna - Sales & digital communications specialist
Erin - Author coordinator
Kelly - Sales / account executive
Kenna - Editorial coordinator
Latonia - HTML staff / editorial assistant, blog
Leah - HTML staff / editorial assistant
Margaret - Author coordinator
Monica - Directory
Nicole - Medical Copy Editor
Pam - Medical Copy Editor
Roxanne - Media specialist / advertising
Sreela - HTML staff / editorial assistant, case of the month
Stef - HTML supervisor / editorial assistant, blog

We also use various consultants for bookkeeping, finance, IT, management, marketing, software and legal support.


Pathology Information that is fast, free and easy to access
At PathologyOutlines.com, our mission is to provide useful professional information to pathologists worldwide.
We believe that knowledge should be free and accessible to everyone, regardless of political, economic or geographical circumstances.
We recognize that a diversity of perspectives and experiences is essential to achieving this goal, so we recruit and maintain a multinational team of authors, editors and staff with a wide range of identities and backgrounds. This, together with feedback from website users, helps us ensure that our resources are relevant and valuable to a global audience.
We are committed to fostering a culture of equity and inclusion that respects all individuals, regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion or age, both in our organization and among our visitors. By doing this, we can better serve the global pathology community and contribute to a more just and equitable world.


A Business Pledge
I, Nat Pernick, M.D., am the founder and owner of PathologyOutlines.com, Inc., a small business in Southeast Michigan since 2001. We provide a free online textbook to pathologists worldwide that helps them “Find Pathology Information Fast”. As a business owner for 40+ years, I believe that democratic values and institutions are indispensable to business success and to the well being of my employees. For that reason, I pledge to do what I can to promote free and fair elections in the United States. This includes encouraging voting by all eligible citizens, which is not only necessary for representative government to thrive but helps people understand society better and lead more fulfilling lives. I challenge other business owners to similarly pledge to support these democratic ideals.

September 2024