David G. Hicks, MD Professor, Senior Pathologist and Director of IHC-ISH Laboratory and Breast Subspecialty Service at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) (USA)

Please briefly describe who you are and your role.

I am David G. Hicks, MD Professor, Senior Pathologist, and Director of IHC-ISH Laboratory and Breast Subspecialty Service at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) and co-author of “Diagnostic Pathology: Breast” published in 2021.

What problems were you attempting to solve when you started using ExpertPath?

As a published author and someone that has contributed to Elsevier texts, for several years, I have watched the ExpertPath solution grow. ExpertPath now sits on every computer during clinical service, used to support in the diagnosis of complex cases, to discover new findings and differentials. Previously we would use textbooks to support our knowledge and sign out cases, which could be time-consuming and with the rate at which medicine is advancing, sometimes outdated content.

From your point of view, what are the biggest benefits you found in using ExpertPath in your day-to-day routine?

ExpertPath enables me, my colleagues and trainees, to distill down critical pathological information into an efficient ‘quick read’. Specialty Breast textbooks traditionally contain large sets of content, with ExpertPath, I can easily and quickly check the differentials and include the appropriate markers in the workup to get an answer, it’s incredibly helpful.

What’s the primary reason you would recommend ExpertPath?

Concise, up-to-date information. The formatting in ExpertPath is helpful for me making clinical decisions in real-time. In addition, as a mentor for Junior Faculty working with residents and fellows, I recommend they use ExpertPath in their day-to-day practice as it provides relevant, up-to-date information for pathology to enable them to support their initial findings by utilizing the differential diagnosis feature and identifying what tests to action. It’s a helpful tool to teach residents when signing out cases.

Is it important in your daily clinical activity to have diagnostic support tools?

So important…before ExpertPath, colleagues relied on textbooks and other pathology resources. With ExpertPath, we now have authoritative peer-reviewed information. Textbooks are incredible, however between editions, which may take 4 or 5 years, a lot changes in the world of medicine with the rate at which it is growing; guidelines, entities, and treatments. Having the latest information is very helpful.

ExpertPath enables me, my colleagues and trainees, to distill down critical pathological information into an efficient ‘quick read’.