Pathology is literally the study of disease. Pathology is divided into two broad subspecialties, anatomic pathology and clinical pathology. In anatomic pathology, tissues are examined to render a diagnosis; in clinical pathology, blood and fluid specimens are evaluated. Surgical pathology is a large part of our practice at Pathology Associates; if you have a biopsy or excision of an abnormal area, polyp, lump, or tumor, the specimen is sent to us for examination. We carefully scrutinize the gross specimen and weigh, measure, and describe the specimen and findings, and tissue samples are submitted for histologic examination. After special processing of the tissue to preserve and stabilize it, our histotechnologists cut extremely thin sections of the tissue, which are then stained and mounted a glass slides so that the tissue can be looked at under a microscope by a pathologist. The pathologist then uses the information from the gross examination and what he or she sees under the microscope to arrive at a diagnosis, using additional special stains if needed, and formulates a report that contains the diagnosis and other information which your doctor will use in your treatment. Another branch of anatomic pathology is autopsy pathology (post mortem examination). The broad areas of clinical pathology entails pathologist oversight of clinical laboratories, encompassing such disciplines as clinical chemistry, hematology, microbiology, serology, and blood banking. Hematopathology is a subspecialty area of pathology which includes elements of both anatomic and clinical pathology, for diagnosis of tumors and abnormalities of lymph nodes, blood, and bone marrow.