I like when some of the guest lecturers we have for Suter Science Seminars take a more reflective approach about their journey throughout science and medicine. Dr. Alden Hostetter did a great job of discussing the importance of his role as a community pathologist, as well as discussing how life experiences can often play a role in guiding your life purpose. Enjoy the summary!

Dr. Alden Hostetter was the guest speaker at today’s (3/22) Suter Science Seminar. He is a community pathologist working at Sentara Memorial Hospital here in Harrisonburg, Virginia. In terms of his background, Dr. Hostetter graduated from Eastern Mennonite University in 1970 and later attended Eastern Virginia Medical School. Dr. Hostetter later furthered his studies by specializing in both clinical lab medicine and anatomic pathology at the Cleveland Clinic. Additional credentials include: active member on the College of American Pathologists, CAP laboratory inspection team leader and medical director at Sentara Hospital.

During this seminar, Dr. Hostetter provided us with some reflections about some of the experiences he has encountered as a pathologist. He begins his lecture by providing us with some background about the role of a pathologist. Pathology is a subset of medicine that focuses on the examination of body tissue samples to use for diagnostic and forensic purposes. According to Dr. Hostetter, it is important for those who choose a path in the medical field to always maintain integrity and keep the patient’s best interest in mind. This starts with honoring the Hippocratic Oath, carefully obtaining a patient’s history and chief complaint, rendering a diagnosis based on scientific principles and deductive reasoning and finally, remembering to “do no harm”. Next, he differentiates between the roles that anatomical pathology and clinical pathology play. Anatomical pathology involves the examination and diagnosis of surgical, medical and forensic specimens. Clinical pathology concerns the examination and testing of body fluids to observe for and detect disease. In addition, clinical pathologists are also responsible for evaluating and approving the testing platforms that hospitals will use. Further, the testing equipment must be effective in terms of precision, accuracy and timely reporting.

One of the cases that Dr. Hostetter shared involved a girl who was born with a heart murmur, cyanotic lower extremities and cyanosis upon exertion. Her differential diagnosis consisted of congenital heart defects, anemia and pulmonary disease. Through a series of tests and studies, the little girl was eventually diagnosed with tetralogy of fallot. Those with this heart disease have a ventricular septal defect, an overriding aorta with right to left shunting resulting in cyanosis, pulmonary artery stenosis and right ventricular outflow obstruction. Although this heart disease can now be repaired with surgery, the option was not available in the 1950s and unfortunately, the girl passed away at the age of 7. This girl also happened to be Dr. Hostetter’s sister and it was her untimely passing which led him on his journey to eventually becoming a pathologist.

The role of a pathologist is extremely beneficial in the medial field because these individuals are able to study the human body on a microscopic level. By doing so, they are able to observe how certain diseases affect the body. Further, they are able to study the pathology behind many diseases, which helps enable scientists and other individuals in the science and medical fields to find cures and treatments for many diseases. Not only did I appreciate Dr. Hostetter’s lecture about the responsibilities of pathologists, I also value how his perspective on the way that life experiences often dictates one’s career goal(s) and life purpose(s).