Michele Mitchell

About Michele Mitchell

Most patients never meet the doctor who actually diagnoses their disease. As a patient, I believe pathologists should understand that they are the first person to truly see a patient’s disease. That moment is life-altering and should never be taken for granted. Most patients don’t realize the pathologist—not the ordering clinician—is the physician who makes the diagnosis, a distinction that matters.

This has become even more critical with the 21st Century Cures Act, which requires pathology and lab reports to be released directly to patient portals—often before clinicians can provide context. Patients may view a serious diagnosis in isolation, without support. Pathologists can no longer remain invisible. Their role must evolve to include educating and empowering the patients they serve.

Years after my breast cancer diagnosis, a pathologist showed me a digital image of my tumor slide. That brief, compassionate meeting changed how I understood my diagnosis—and my future. I left feeling more informed, more empowered, and deeply motivated to ensure that all patients have the opportunity to connect directly with the pathologists who help shape their care. Over the past 14 years, I have worked to move pathology from “doctor’s doctor” to patient’s doctor—and to humanize the field along the way.

American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) – Dr. Lija Joseph—often called the “godmother” of pathology clinics—and I began discussing the idea of creating a formal educational certificate program to support pathologist-led clinics. I pitched the idea to ASCP, and was incredibly grateful when they embraced and funded the concept. They assembled the expert team we recommended, and the education branch is now developing a companion workshop, currently in review. I also recorded my story as an audio segment to personalize the training with lived experience.

Digital Pathology Association (DPA) – After presenting at PathVisions 2024 on the impact of digital pathology and seeing my cancer with a pathologist, I was invited to join the DPA Patient Engagement Advisory Committee. I’ve helped shape PathVisions 2025 and its theme, From Pixels to Patients, including the first patient-centered poster category and video testimonials.

Art & Advocacy – My watercolors Renewal and The Patient Behind the Lens have been featured in The Pathologist and Lilly Oncology on Canvas. Renewal (2021), submitted to The Pathologist’s Picture Perfect Pathology feature, shows me in an Adirondack chair overlooking Lake Michigan—symbolizing reflection after cancer. It was also selected for the Lilly Oncology on Canvas Hope Murals Project and traveled across the U.S. and Puerto Rico before returning home to Michigan, where it now hangs in Henry Ford Hospital. The Patient Behind the Lens (2023), submitted to The Pathologist’s Art of the Laboratory feature, depicts a microscope with cancer cells in one eyepiece and my face in the other—highlighting the person behind the diagnosis. Each piece tells a part of my story and reminds us that behind every diagnosis is a life full of complexity, creativity, and hope.

Michigan Medicine – As co-chair of the Department of Pathology’s PFAC, we recommended establishing a pathology clinic for breast cancer patients. Launched in 2023, it has helped over 120 patients.

Statewide Advocacy – I serve on the Michigan Cancer Consortium’s clinical trials project, the MHA Patient Engagement Council, and the ACS Reach to Recovery program to support newly diagnosed breast cancer patients.

I hold no formal power—but I have a voice. And I will keep using it until every patient sees, and every pathologist remembers, the life behind the slide.