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Pathology chair determined to bridge gap


by Cindy A. Abole
Public Relations
 It was a warm spring day in Washington, D.C., when College of Medicine dean Layton McCurdy and job candidate Janice Lage sat down to talk at Georgetown University Hospital. 

McCurdy opened with a question used in most of his meetings involving high-level academic recruiting. “Are you where you want to be in your career?” he asked. 

Lage calmly focused herself, her bright eyes dancing, “No,” she answered. “I was hoping to be in your shoes, that is, dean of a medical school.”

Several months later, Lage can be found working alongside her colleagues as chair of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.

“Dr. Lage offers an exciting vision for what a pathology department like ours should and could be,” McCurdy said. “With her wide professional experience, Dr. Lage bridges the gap that often exists between the disciplines of clinical pathology and laboratory medicine.”

Lage embodies the typical 90s woman—delicately balancing the life of a career professional with the role of wife and mother.

On weekdays, she’s like most carpool moms and dads lining up the family car at Porter Gaud School to drop off her 13-year old daughter. Like her science work, raising three children and balancing the demands of her husband’s career, has presented some challenges and a chance at many golden opportunities at home and on the bench throughout the past 20 years. 

A California native, Lage attended California State University and Washington University’s School of Medicine in St. Louis. It was there that she met fellow medical student, Steven Mark, who became her husband.

 “I’ve always had my eye on becoming a doctor and taking care of patients,”  Lage said. “In medical school, I soon discovered that the long hours associated with clinical medicine and a dual-career family don’t mix.”

When it came time to declare a medical specialty, Lage chose pathology over her first love, obstetrics and gynecology. Realizing the difficulties of a resident’s schedule, Lage knew it was the best choice following the birth of her eldest daughter during her senior year. Her initial residency work began at Stanford, where Lage attended a one-year pathology internship, while Mark completed his clinical work. The family returned to St. Louis and Washington University, continuing her pathology and OB/GYN residencies at Barnes Hospital. 

Her first staff appointment was in OB/GYN clinical pathology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Harvard Medical School) in Boston. working specifically with obstetric and perinatal diseases, including gestational trophoblastic disease, a condition which affects the growth of fetal cells within the placenta. 

In 1991, Lage joined the pathology department at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington D.C., where she interpreted pathology specimens, handled management responsibilities and assisted in the department’s medical school and residency teaching programs. Throughout her career, Lage has earned a solid reputation for clinical excellence and research productivity. She has consistently been recognized and applauded by faculty and students for her teaching abilities.

Throughout this period, Mark’s career was also moving along. At Boston, he earned his additional doctorate at Harvard’s School of Public Health. Later, he joined the NIH conducting cancer research specializing in epidemiology and esophageal diseases.

Lage’s goals at MUSC are high. She hopes to open more doors for research concerning cancer and maternal, fetal and placenta issues. Her expertise in placental pathology will be helpful in collaborating with colleagues within MUSC’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology by exploring continued work in fetal medicine research and gynecologic oncology. 

Her concern for the Palmetto state’s high ratings in infant mortality has sparked her own  interests in establishing a referral network in obstetrics outcomes with MUSC. The program would provide ongoing obstetrics, gynecology and pathology research relating to fetal deaths and other South Carolina birth issues.

“Within my field of science and research, the glass ceiling between men and women is still very present,” said Lage, who happens to be one of a handful of female pathology chairs across the country working within academic hospitals. The Association of Pathology Chairs  estimates that of today’s graduating medical class, 60 percent are women. With a majority of women entering clinical medicine, only 20 percent choose careers in academic pathology. 

Traditionally, female physicians who’ve planned to tackle both medical career and family, chose schedule-friendly medical tracts in pediatrics, radiology and pathology. Today, that list has expanded to include psychology, dermatology and anesthesia medicine.

 In a more nurturing role, Lage wants to take care of her own. Using her experience and academic and research connections, Lage plans to spend more quality time identifying and developing goals with her pathology team. She wants to apply successful techniques and experiences honed at Georgetown and work alongside residents and younger faculty to help them build and establish careers.

Lage’s own career has been balanced by her effectiveness as a parent. She and her husband have both played integral roles in guiding their children by handling family responsibilities equally. Proving that career and family can co-exist has prompted a natural question regarding the couple’s support for steering their children towards a medical career.

“Twenty years ago, I would’ve encouraged my children to consider medicine as a career,” said Lage, “The profession has changed so much that it’s difficult working within today’s political constraints when we need to focus on practicing good medicine. Issues like managed care squeeze people into an impossible situation where decisions are compromised and patients receive the cheapest product.”

At Georgetown, Lage and her pathology staff had the difficulty of managing routine lab work with more than 43 Health Maintenance Organizations or HMOs. “For a time, our lab staff wasn’t sure if could accept specimens to conduct routine tests or if another business or private lab was contracted to do the work,” said Lage. “It was too confusing.”