The Pap smear has experienced a rapid evolution in the last several years. Although use of technology and thus the costs of the Pap test will undoubtedly increase in the coming years, public health paradigms for screening will place limitations on the latter, and in order to optimally utilize technology, a sophisticated understanding of this simple and common test will be necessary. This course will focus on the use of new technologies including the use of monolayer preparations, automated cervical screening for either primary screening of quality assurance, and human papillomavirus testing. The basic premises of screening will be reviewed, the concepts behind each technology examined, and the literature for each of these techniques, including the cost-effectiveness, will be extensively reviewed. A practical approach for evaluating these new techniques will be discussed.

In addition, the cytologic features of common and uncommon benign, neoplastic, and malignant lesions of squamous and glandular cells on thin layer cytology will be reviewed along with common pitfalls. A combination of didactic and case-study presentations will be used for this course. This course is suitable for general pathologists and pathology residents with interest in gynecologic cytopathology. All registrants will be mailed a set of transparencies after the meeting. A detailed syllabus will be distributed at the course.