The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine of the University of Ottawa and the Eastern Ontario Regional Laboratory Association (EORLA) have been supporting the Pathology Club of the University of the West Indies (PCOUWI) though an innovative initiative, the Caribbean Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Student Initiative (CPLAMSI), which was launched on August 6, 2020. The CPALMSI initiative aims to exposure Caribbean medical students to all specialties/subspecialties of pathology and laboratory medicine, thereby increasing interest in pursuing careers in these disciplines and provide guidance on the training pathways needed.
In the past inaugural year, Dr John Woulfe (Neuropathology) Mr Edwin Nkengla (Histotechnology) and Dr Alfredo Walker (Forensic Pathology) of the Dept of PALM/EORLA have all given presentations as part of an international cohort of speakers who have delivered presentations on the career pathways needed to be followed for selected subspecialty disciplines of PALM. The sessions were all videorecorded and the individual talks which were delivered in the 2020/21 academic year can be viewed at - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKOuv-47N7apeC-2r2FL88xu47a8ofVgC
For the 2021/22 academic year, Drs Nadia Sant (Microbiology) and Dr Dina el Demellawy (Pediatric Pathology) with be speaking and more PALM/EORLA staff will be approached in due course.
The membership of the PCOUWI has been extremely grateful of the support provided by the Dept of PALM/EORLA and a commemorative video was made by the to celebrate the achievements of this past year - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi0jTYRrW2k&feature=youtu.be
The success of the initiative for medical students has propelled expansion to involve the undergraduate medical students of the uOttawa and in this regard, the medical student-run Pathology Interest Group has been approached as the contact point.
The schedule for the 2021/22 CPALMSI sessions is below:
CAPLMSI SCHEDULE 2021-2022
| DATE | PRESENTATION | SPEAKERS | AVAILABILITY |
| September 9th, 2021 | Forensic Pathology: Death investigation: death scenes, death certification | Dr. Gary Collins: (Chief Medical Examiner, Delaware) |
CONFIRMED 6-7 PM (AST) |
| October 14th, 2021 | Road map: A Career in Hematopathology | Dr. Rajendra Persad (Genpath/Bioreference Laboratories) |
CONFIRMED 6-7 PM (AST) |
| November 11th, 2021 | Road Map: A Career in Paediatric and Perinatal Pathology | Dr. Dina El Demellawy (uOttawa, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario) |
CONFIRMED 6-8 PM (AST) |
| December 2021 | *NO Sessions due to EXAMINATIONS | ||
| January 13th, 2022 | Road Map: A Career in Microbiology | Dr. Nadia Sant (EORLA) | TBC |
| January 27th, 2022 | Road Map: A Career in Pulmonary Pathology |
Dr. Raghavendra Pillappa (Virginia Commonwealth University) |
CONFIRMED 6-7 PM (AST) |
| February 10th, 2022 | Road Map: A Career in Anatomical/Surgical Pathology | Dr. Melanie Johncilla (POSGH) |
CONFIRMED 6-7 PM (AST) |
| March 10th, 2022 | Road Map: A Career in Breast Pathology | Dr. Kerry Nagee (Stony Brook Medicine) |
TBC |
| April 14th, 2022 | Road Map: A Career in Chemical Pathology |
Dr. Steve Morley (University Hospital Leicester) Dr. Donovan McGrowder (UWI Mona) |
CONFIRMED 2-3 PM (AST) |
| May 2022 | *NO Sessions due to EXAMINATIONS | ||