Virtual Open Day in Cytology

Every year the Leicester Royal Infirmary holds a pathology open day where members of the public come into the pathology labs for a guided tour and a chance to learn about how different samples are processed.

This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to make it a virtual open day where each pathology discipline created a video to highlight the amazing work that is carried out behind the scenes.

In 2018 diagnostic cytology was moved back to cytology after spending over two decades under the umbrella of histology. There are only two of us permanently in the cytology section with a rotational MLA and we have worked tirelessly over the past two years to ensure the processes we perform are in line with best practice guidelines so we can produce the best possible preparations for diagnosis.

Creating this video helped us reflect on how far we’ve come, how hard we’ve worked and how proud we are of what we have achieved.

It was important for us to create content that targeted members of the general public who had no previous scientific knowledge and therefore it may seem very basic for trained cytologists and others working within the discipline but hopefully it provides a simple overview of our diagnostic cytology laboratory.

We felt the addition of Idris Elba (honorary staff member) and the fantastically annoying, can’t-get-it-out-of-your-head background music made the video more entertaining and added an element of fun!