Behind-the-Scenes Work to Help Save Lives
Pathologist Dr. Karen Melville is Medical Director of PRHC Lab
When Dr. Karen Melville called people in Peterborough last year as part of a “Thank-a-Thon” to personally thank donors to the regional hospital, she admits, with a good-natured laugh, that none of them knew who she was or what she did for a profession. She’s definitely not on the frontlines of patient care in her role as a pathologist and medical director of the laboratory at Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC). Yet, behind the scenes, laboratory staff and pathologists work diligently every day to help save lives by investigating tissue samples taken during a biopsy or operation, and making a diagnosis. If you, or someone you love, has been diagnosed with cancer in Peterborough, it is likely this team that identified the cancer, described it to help guide treatment, and determined if the tumour had been completely removed. “It’s a very interesting job as no two cases are exactly the same,” Melville says, adding pathologists often have to investigate a patient’s medical history to help make a diagnosis. Melville, 44, is a mother of three who comes from a small town in New Brunswick and studied medicine at Dalhousie University. She got her first job as an anatomical pathologist at PRHC in 2005, and moved here with her husband, who got a job teaching at Lakefield College School, and her then two-year-old twin boys. “We really liked Peterborough - the town and the fact there’s lots to do for children,” she says. They also like that Peterborough offers a robust community that enjoys Ultimate Frisbee, an activity they enjoy doing together as a couple. After moving here, they welcomed a daughter. Working in pathology at PRHC has always been very busy, Melville explains. Last year alone, the lab looked at more than 22,000 surgical pathology specimens with 1.65 million tests performed overall. These are from Peterborough as well as from nearby hospitals that don’t have their own pathologists, such as Campbellford Memorial, Ross Memorial in Lindsay, and Northumberland Hills in Cobourg. The lab is held to rigorous standards, she adds, through laboratory accreditation as well as the Quality Management Partnership led by Cancer Care Ontario and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. Technology, of course, is invaluable. Donations to the PRHC Foundation help immensely, she says, as the Foundation has supported the purchase of high-tech equipment for the busy lab that is the envy of other similar-sized hospitals. “When I became medical director of the lab in 2016 I learned exactly how supported we are with state-of-the-art equipment for the size of our hospital,” Melville says. Some cancers - such as breast and lung – can look very similar, she says, so a machine called an automated immunohistochemical stainer allows pathologists to stain the tumour and distinguish what part of the body it’s from. Donors to the Foundation helped the lab purchase two of these machines in 2016/17, and Melville says they’ve improved efficiency and helped save lives. “With these machines, in many cases we can get answers in the same day,” she says. “And with cancer a faster diagnosis can make a difference.” Other valuable technology recently funded by donors includes microscopes with a digital camera so a pathologist can take a photo of a tissue sample and share it to get a further opinion, or share images with other medical colleagues. These microscopes also calculate measurements quickly, to efficiently determine the size of tumours, such as melanoma of the skin. The microscopes have two sets of lenses, she adds, so that two pathologists can look at the tissue at the same time and discuss the findings. Other technology includes a high-tech pathology tracking system, which allows the lab to monitor the tissue specimen during each stage of the testing process. It is expected to be fully running by the fall. Dr. Melville explains that if there’s a case that is suddenly requested as urgent, the system allows doctors to locate the sample immediately and triage. With all of this wonderful technology, Melville says it was a no-brainer to volunteer with the PRHC Foundation to call donors and speak with them for 5 to 10 minutes about how their donations help her department and PRHC’s patients. She often tells people that when pathologists from outside the area visit PRHC, the level of technology in the lab often surprises them. “We are very, very lucky,” Melville says.