Is there a need for gastrointestinal pathologists? Gruppo Italiano di Patologi dell'Apparato Digerente.

The interdisciplinary approach to medical practice is a cultural and operational prerequisite for proper diagnostic and therapeutic activity. Its constant application contributes to the improvement of medical performances with beneficial effects on their costs. Anatomic pathology interacts with clinical and instrumental diagnostics and makes a fundamental contribution to the conclusive diagnosis of disease. Furthermore, morphological data are often crucial in the monitoring of therapeutic effects and a mandatory prerequisite for evaluating the efficacy of treatment in clinical trials both on neoplastic and non-neoplastic diseases. Such deep involvement in clinical practice and the need to keep diagnostic practice up to date with the explosive advances in scientific knowledge justify the demand for pathologists specializing in sub-specialties of their discipline. However, there is an inevitable need for these dedicated pathologists to remain within the cultural and physical environment of the Pathology Department where they have been introduced to and trained in the discipline. The present paper highlights the scientific and practical motives leading to the creation in Italy, and other European countries of a working group open to pathologists particularly dedicated to gastrointestinal disease. The group is called the Gruppo Italiano di Patologi dell'Apparato Digerente (GIPAD).--Italian Group of Digestive Tract Pathologists.