Cytotechnology Update

UT Cytotechnology Program Welcomes New Medical Director David Robins and Expresses Appreciation to Former Medical Director Shamim Moinuddin
Dr. Shamim Moinuddin has steadfastly served the cytotechnology program as Medical Director for eleven years. She has motivated and challenged students during case presentations, lectured on histology and cytology of the gynecologic tract and body sites such as the kidneys, adrenal glands and bone and soft tissue. She has graciously volunteered her time in enriching the development of our students during clinical rotations at Trumbull Pathology Laboratory. Additionally, she has fulfilled the administrative responsibilities to ensure the viability of the only cytotechnology program in the state of Tennessee. Our college and faculty surely appreciate the dedication and spirited diagnostic acumen of such an accomplished pathologist. Although Dr. Moinuddin has decided to step down as medical director, she continues to serve the cytotechnology program as teacher, mentor and friend to faculty and students.

Dr. David Robins has graciously agreed to serve as Medical Director for the longstanding cytotechnology program. Dr. Robins received his Medical Degree from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. He completed his Fellowship in Surgical Pathology at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center of Penn State University in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Dr. Robins attended a Fellowship Program in Cytology at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. He is Board Certified in Anatomic Pathology with added qualification in Cytopathology by the American Board of Pathology. Prior to his move to Tennessee, Dr. Robins served as medical director for a school of cytotechnology in Houston. He received a Faculty Teaching Award in 1992 and 1993 for dedication to resident education and excellent teaching at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston. The UT Cytotechnology Program is thrilled to have added such a formidable diagnostician and educator to its faculty.

Thanks to Generous Alumni Gifts, Acquisition of Digital Microscopic Equipment Proves to be a Valuable Asset to Cytotechnology Program

Digital Microscopy is vital to the education of cytotechnology students and has clinical and research applications. Digital imagery is useful for visual thinking, enhanced interpretive skills, curtailed lectures notes, sharpened visual acuity and, most importantly, impressionable entertainment for a “new” generation of students. Via the acquisition of a new Spot Camera attached to an Olympus Microscope, cytotechnology faculty can import images into lecture material and interesting case presentations. The ability to see the diagnostic entities during didactics, as well as, during the microscope evaluation period enhances the ability of students to master the art and science of cyto-pathology.

Leonard Bloom, (Cyto Faculty) was invited to participate in a campus exhibit entitled, “Showcasing Education Excellence.” He chose to share the knowledge and expertise the cytotechnology faculty gained in the area of digital microscopy. Recent articles in pathology newsletters have highlighted the reach of digital imagery to the practice of pathology. Pathology reports, in some instances, are being sent to clinicians with an accompanied display of the diagnostic cells or tissue architecture. Research grants can be enhanced with these digital images to add supportive evidence to tabulated data. The acquisition of such key equipment was made possible through alumni contributions as well as the operating budget. Alumni support enables us to acquire the technological infrastructure to train the next generation of cytotechnologists and assist existing cytology professionals.

Leonard Bloom (Cyto Faculty) next to display entitled Digital Microscopy: Clinical and Research Applications, created for campus exhibit entitled "Showcasing Educational Excellence." Alumni gifts provided funds for digital microscopy

Faculty & Alumni Contacts
Leonard Bloom lbloom@utmem.edu

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