UVA Pathologist Captivates 9th and 10th Grade Science Students

As our 9th and 10th grade Integrated Science students puzzle over the question 'what is life?,' they have had some great guest speakers help them uncover many facts, including diseases that can end life. Last week, Dr. Kristi Ward, a radiation oncologist at UVA, came to speak about cancer and radiation treatments.

This week, students were spellbound by Dr. Brett Kurpiel, a Department of Pathology 1st-year resident at UVA Hospital (also the spouse of music teacher/medical coordinator Cam Pampus), who talked about the field of medical pathology. Dr. Kurpiel outlined his educational background and his life as a resident in the Department of Pathology, where one of his duties is performing autopsies to both determine medical cause of death and perform research. He talked about major causes of death, and then walked the students through a typical autopsy (including some very cool photos of internal organs). He explained the process and the reasons for performing autopsies in a straightforward way, emphasizing the peace of mind the results can bring grieving family members. Students asked some great questions throughout.

At the end of his talk, Dr. Kurpiel showed some carefully preserved human organ samples that were especially fascinating, as they provided a sense of organ size and some showed clear examples of disease (lung cancer, arteriosclerosis, etc.). The size of an adult uterus (so small!) was of particular interest. Students who wanted a closeup look put on gloves and bravely examined his samples themselves at the end of the class. Dr. Kurpiel plans to stay in the field and become a pediatric pathologist, and you can be sure he will be asked back as a speaker again.