Conexiant
Login
  • The Analytical Scientist
  • The Cannabis Scientist
  • The Medicine Maker
  • The Ophthalmologist
  • The Pathologist
  • The Traditional Scientist
The Pathologist
  • Explore Pathology

    Explore

    • Latest
    • Insights
    • Case Studies
    • Opinion & Personal Narratives
    • Research & Innovations
    • Product Profiles

    Featured Topics

    • Molecular Pathology
    • Infectious Disease
    • Digital Pathology

    Issues

    • Latest Issue
    • Archive
  • Subspecialties
    • Oncology
    • Histology
    • Cytology
    • Hematology
    • Endocrinology
    • Neurology
    • Microbiology & Immunology
    • Forensics
    • Pathologists' Assistants
  • Training & Education

    Career Development

    • Professional Development
    • Career Pathways
    • Workforce Trends

    Educational Resources

    • Guidelines & Recommendations
    • App Notes

    Events

    • Webinars
    • Live Events
  • Events
    • Live Events
    • Webinars
  • Profiles & Community

    People & Profiles

    • Power List
    • Voices in the Community
    • Authors & Contributors
  • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
Subscribe
Subscribe

False

The Pathologist / Issues / 2018 / Aug / A Natural Gift for Pathology
Profession Training and education Digital and computational pathology Digital Pathology

A Natural Gift for Pathology

Sitting Down With… John Goldblum, Chairman, Department of Pathology, Cleveland Clinic; Professor of Pathology, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland, USA.

08/17/2018 1 min read

Share

When I was a medical student, there was a second-year course in pathology. The teachers were the best I’d had, so they strongly influenced my choice. As part of the course, we each had a microscope and a pile of old, dingy slides on which we were supposed to identify disease entities. Somehow, I ended up as one of the students who went around explaining to everyone else what they were supposed to be seeing. Whatever wiring is required to look at a microscope slide and understand it, I seemed to have it – and liked doing it!

Within a week of starting my residency at the University of Michigan, I decided that the smartest people on the faculty were Henry Appelman, a world-famous gastrointestinal pathologist, and Sharon Weiss, a world-famous soft tissue pathologist. I said, “Whatever they do, that’s what I’m going to do.” I didn’t know a thing about GI or soft tissue pathology, but I did know I wanted to learn from them.

When I first began to speak publicly, I was terrible at it. I was always nervous; I couldn’t catch my breath; I think I might even have taken a beta blocker the first time I had to get up in front of an audience! Eventually, though, I learned to like it, and now I really enjoy it. I get a great deal of satisfaction from lecturing – even if the listeners only take away a small amount of useful information. I try not to include too much, and I don’t expect people to remember all of it. When I’m sitting in the audience, I’m happy to take away one or two valuable points; that’s what I would like others to be able to do when I teach.

With respect to textbooks, in 1997, Franz Enzinger decided he was not up to working on the fourth edition of the Enzinger and Weiss soft tissue pathology book. Sharon Weiss asked me, as one of her former fellows, if I would be willing to take his place. I didn’t think I was in a position to do it, but she said, “You can do it. I trust you.” And so I also wasn’t in a position to say no! It was the first time I had ever written a textbook, so it took me about three years to finish. It was good practice, though, because my friend Rob Odze had the idea of working on a GI textbook with me. Eventually, the powers that be at Elsevier asked me to take over the 11th edition of the Rosai and Ackerman textbook on surgical pathology. You can imagine the scale of that task! I gathered three other world-class people to help me and it took us about five years, but we did it.

When I started at the Cleveland Clinic, it was extremely busy – but I was a young parent who didn’t want to stay at work all day and night and never see my wife and children. My father was a hardworking dermatologist who rarely had time to spend at home, and although I admired his dedication, I didn’t want to replicate it – so I tried to become exceedingly efficient at multitasking. When I’m at work, I run around like a maniac to get everything done. I keep breaks and socializing to a minimum so that I can accomplish what I need and then go home to my family.

I am hoping it’s not going to be that long before I can sign out my cases from anywhere, which I expect will really help those who struggle with work/life balance. I already do a number of consults from China and other parts of the world digitally, and they’re only a little more challenging than using the microscope, so I think we’re inching closer. I hope that, in my lifetime, we get to that point – it’s my goal to sign out cases from the beach!

My biggest accomplishment is taking my department from 15 people and a limited reputation to a very large subspecialty department with an international reputation and about 70 pathologists. It’s a job I only reluctantly accepted, but I ended up really liking it and building what I think is a tremendous department.

I’m also very engaged with organizational pathology. I got involved with USCAP early in my career and ended up running their education committee for six years and serving on the committee for 14 years. Eventually, I joined the board and became President of USCAP – and I’m still involved with them now. That’s the other thing that makes me proud, because I believe that I not only derived tremendous personal and professional benefit from USCAP, but I feel I actually contributed to the organization’s progress at a critical time.

The most important thing is to remember is to be a good colleague and team player. That’s how you’re going to end up loving your job – by working with people whose company you enjoy. The people who are most successful in pathology are those who really like both the profession and the people they work with.

Newsletters

Receive the latest pathology news, personalities, education, and career development – weekly to your inbox.

Newsletter Signup Image

Explore More in Pathology

Dive deeper into the world of pathology. Explore the latest articles, case studies, expert insights, and groundbreaking research.

False

Advertisement

Recommended

False

Related Content

Real-Life Forensic Pathology Is Not CSI
Profession
Real-Life Forensic Pathology Is Not CSI

January 30, 2024

5 min read

Sitting Down With… Ken Obenson, Forensic Pathologist at The Saint John Regional Hospital, New Brunswick, Canada

Byte the Bias
Profession
Byte the Bias

January 11, 2024

1 min read

How does artificial intelligence view a pathologist?

Life Balance
Profession
Life Balance

January 5, 2024

9 min read

Sitting Down With… Kamran Mirza, Professor of Pathology and Director of the Division of Education Programs, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

Oldie, But a Goldie
Profession
Oldie, But a Goldie

January 2, 2024

1 min read

A shining specimen of microscopy in this Image of the Month

False

The Pathologist
Subscribe

About

  • About Us
  • Work at Conexiant Europe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise With Us
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2025 Texere Publishing Limited (trading as Conexiant), with registered number 08113419 whose registered office is at Booths No. 1, Booths Park, Chelford Road, Knutsford, England, WA16 8GS.