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409 - A Cry For Help From the Pathology Department
Episode • Bonus Episode • 23rd July 2026 • The Cone of Shame Veterinary Podcast • Dr. Andy Roark
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A Cry for Help in Veterinary Pathology, Burnout, Economics, Digitization, and AI with Dr. Eric Fish Dr. Eric Fish, DVM, DACVP, joins Dr. Andy Roark to tackle a tough question: Why does being a veterinary clinical pathologist feel darker right now, and what happens if AI turns “nice to have” diagnostics into “don’t need to have”? They unpack burnout and pay compression (including pathologists earning less than new grad GPs), consolidation in the lab market, and how digitization has pushed cytology toward point-of-care and high-volume “turn and burn” workflows with per-case bonuses that can be as low as $8 to $12. Eric explains how consultative lab medicine has shifted toward internists, why cytology’s cost and turnaround time are eroding its value, and what a better future could look like with AI that augments, triages, and keeps a human in the loop. Gang, let’s get into this episode. Keywords: veterinary pathology, clinical pathologist burnout, digital cytology, AI in veterinary medicine. Links: Substack newsletter All Science Great and Small; LinkedIn. Dr. Eric Fish is a veterinary clinical pathologist and laboratory director at a large private referral center, with a career spanning academia, entrepreneurship, and industry. He co-founded Lacuna Diagnostics, the first point-of-care digital cytology company, spent years at IDEXX as a diagnostician and technology scouting manager, and even found time to work occasional relief ER shifts. Eric brings a unique perspective to the conversation around artificial intelligence: he has not only used voice recognition and large language model AI tools in his own practice, but also worked on teams building computer vision applications for medical imaging. He writes about AI and other hot topics in veterinary medicine in his Substack newsletter, All Science Great & Small.

Transcripts

Speaker:

Welcome everybody it to the corner of Shame Veterinary Podcast.

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I am your host, Dr.

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And guys, I got a wild episode today.

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a cry for help.

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From your pathology friends, this is a

really interesting conversation with Dr.

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Eric Fish.

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He's a clinical pathologist.

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He writes a lot about pathology, about

science or medicine and about ai.

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And, he's been dark recently.

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He's been, he's been.

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He's been sharing, some views of the

veterinary pathology profession that

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are, that, dare I say pessimistic.

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It, it's, it looks like a dark

time for our pathology friends.

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And I, I just kept looking at

it and going, is that what it's

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like to be a clinical pathologist

in fact medicine, really?

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it's a fascinating conversation today.

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We talk through like, what

are the economic drivers.

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pathologists and the pathology

work in our profession.

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How is, veterinary pathology changing?

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What are pay structures

for pathologists today?

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And if you're just interested

in understanding how this

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piece of our profession works,

this is fascinating episode.

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It's really interesting.

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And also there's a lot of the

components that Eric talks about.

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That I could kind of extrapolate

into general practice as well.

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Pathology is interesting because

it's sort of similar to radiology

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and that it can be digitized and

has been digitized in a lot of ways.

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And also the experience the pathologists

have and the radiologists have,

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they, they're pretty different.

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And we get into why that is,

is Anyway, guys, this is a

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really interesting episode.

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I have not had a conversation

like this, that I can remember.

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I hope you guys will enjoy it.

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Let's get into it.

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Kelsey Beth Carpenter: This is your show.

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We're glad you're here.

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We want to help you in

your veterinary career.

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Welcome to the Cone of Shame with Dr.

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Andy Roark.

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dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150:

Welcome to the podcast, Dr.

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Eric Fish.

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How are you, my friend?

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eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: Great.

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Thank you.

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I was very excited to be here.

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It's kinda like, when you listen to

the radio and someone says, "Longtime

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listener, first-time caller,"

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dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150:

Excellent.

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Well, thanks, thanks a lot

for making time for this.

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For those who don't know you, you

are a veterinary clinical pathologist

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and a laboratory director at a

large private referral center.

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you've done a ton of

things in your career.

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You've been academia,

you've been in industry.

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You have kind of worked all over

as a clinical pathologist, that's

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kind of where you come from.

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you write on Substack, and that's actually

where I became sort of aware of you.

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It's called All Science Great and Small.

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And

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eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: right.

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dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150:

of different things.

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yeah, you write about a lot of different

things, just generally in, in veterinary

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medicine and science in general.

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You write a lot about pathology

and the profession of veterinary

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pathology, and that's kinda what

I wanted to talk about today.

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I know that I'm talking to you, kind

of not as a representative any- of

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any company, anything like that.

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you know, this is, this is just 100%

you and me, just you and me talking.

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So,

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eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: Absolutely.

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dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: yeah.

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So, l- let's, let's kinda,

let's kinda get into this.

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I wanna sort of give a, a, a

high-level idea of kinda what

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I've found most interesting.

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So you've been writing a lot recently,

and the thing that I've been sort of most

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surprised by, my feeling is that you are

a bit pessimistic about the future of the

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career path of veterinary pathologists.

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And so you, you put a number of

things out about how pathology as

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a, as a vocation i- is changing,

and specifically sort of how it's

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changing with AI and things like that.

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And I gotta tell you, Eric, I was really

blown away as I'm sort of reading through

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your sort of descriptions of, of how

technology is being used and how it is

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changing what has traditionally been

done by pathology and, and pathologists.

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and you kind of paint it, paint it

into sort of a dark picture here.

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Let me, let me hand this over to you.

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Can you talk to me at a high level

about sort of the state of clinical

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pathology as a practitioner?

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eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: Sure, yeah.

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So I think what you're referring

to is a month or two ago I wrote

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something called A Cry for Help, and it

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dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Yes.

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Yeah.

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eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: public, our, our

specialties journal, Veterinary Clinical

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Pathology, there was a large survey done

of European clinical pathologists, so

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dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Okay.

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eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: to the US,

but a lot of themes seem very similar.

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In, in very high levels, there was very

high levels of burnout, dissatisfaction.

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There were a lot of complaints about pay.

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And when you dig it down into the

detail, a lot of clinical pathologists,

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particularly in Europe, but also

frankly in, in North America, they're

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starting to make less than even

new grad general practitioners.

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And, you know, GP's work very hard.

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They generate a lot of revenue,

so that's nothing against them.

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But

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dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Sure.

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eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: cost spending

four to six years in advanced training,

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and then you're making less than someone

who got their DVM six months ago.

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So it's kinda crazy.

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And there's a number of reasons for this.

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It's not one.

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It's very multifactorial.

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part of it is clearly a story about

consolidation, particularly in the

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North-- in North America, there's a

handful of big labs that are probably

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eighty-five, ninety percent of the market.

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And then there's a few boutique labs,

a few people work in universities,

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but the, the main point of

action is the private lab sector.

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So anytime there's consolidation,

they have more power to set wages

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and policies, things like that.

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Part of it's definitely

a story about technology.

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Some of that is the transition to

digital, which I was a part of.

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I was involved with some companies

that did digital cytology.

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That has had a lot of positive impacts,

but there have also been some growing

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pains and disruption to the industry.

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So I think that's part of it.

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And AI is starting to creep in.

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I don't think it's at the point yet

where that is the main reason for some of

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dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Okay.

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eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: on the horizon.

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And there's d-- there's at least a couple

companies out there that are starting to

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market point-of-care analyzers for dig--

for cytology using AI to interpret them

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really without a person in the loop.

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And those are starting to get traction,

and I think that as that grows and

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they add more capabilities, it is gonna

start to eat into the lab business and

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likewise, the employment of pathologists.

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dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150:

Talk to me a little bit about

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how the day-to-day work that you

do as a pathologist has changed.

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And so when did you, when

did you become boarded?

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eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: did my residency

from twenty thirteen to twenty sixteen,

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so got boarded in twenty sixteen.

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I did stay on and do a PhD, so a

lot of path residencies are, are

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actually combined with graduate

training, particularly PhDs.

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So I finished that in twenty

nineteen, but I got board certified,

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by the ACVP in twenty sixteen.

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dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Okay.

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But you were actually working

towards being boarded as a

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pathologist in like 2013.

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Just in your career, so you're

th- 13-- over the last 13 years,

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Eric, tell, what has changed for

you in terms of doing this work?

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When you started your training, how

different is it now from the type of work

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that you were either doing or anticipated

doing when you started your training?

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eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: Sure.

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So there's a couple

different dimensions to that.

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You know, starting training in a

university setting, I was at Auburn,

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and I stayed on for faculty there.

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It's a much more diverse role

when you're in a university.

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Part of what you're doing is

reading cytology and hematology

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slides, but you're also teaching.

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You may be doing research.

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You may be consulting with the

technologists who are running the

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chemistry panels, things like that.

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You may be having conversations

with clinicians for consults

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on weird test results.

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Whereas in the labs, your job is pretty

much ninety-seven percent just reading out

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cytology slides, almost like a machine.

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And that was one of the complaints

they called out in that European

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wellness survey, is that they did not

feel like they were utilizing their

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breadth of training and experience.

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So that's partly a sector

thing versus new technology.

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the biggest impact I've seen

really since starting, setting

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aside AI, is the digitization.

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So that has pushed more and more

cytology to the point of care.

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Instead of mailing things into a

big lab network, you may be having

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a scanner in your hospital that

beams it up to a, a contract group

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of pathologists in the cloud.

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And that can allow faster turnaround

times, but one of the things

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is not all the scanners can get

anywhere close to 100X resolution.

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So there are some optical limitations.

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So unlike digitization for radiologists,

where the transition was pretty smooth and

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there weren't really any handicaps from

the technology, in cytology, there are

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some things you just can't see on digital.

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So that has been a little

bit of a rocky transition.

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would say another big change has been,

frankly, the economics and the price.

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We're starting to see, you know, even when

I take my own pets in and they recommend

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cytology, it can be two hundred and fifty,

three hundred dollars to the end client.

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dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Okay.

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eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: some of the

things that happen with cytology is it's

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best used as a quick screening tool.

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So is it this or is it that?

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But when it takes seven days, ten

days to get your result back and it

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costs as much or more than a biopsy,

you're really starting to hurt the

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value of that rapid screening test.

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So I think some of the volume issues

and pay issues we're seeing with

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clinical pathology are really due

to those macroeconomic changes.

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So it's like the cost has gone way up,

and has been harder and harder to get

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some of those things in the turnaround

time where they're most useful.

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So I think some people are just

opting out of sending cytology, so

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even before you get to the AI piece.

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dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150:

Really?

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Okay.

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So there's, there's a lot of

things here to sort of unpack.

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eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: Sure.

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dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150:

Talk to me a little bit more about

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the transition of pathology towards

this focus on cytology slides.

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You know, and so this is kind of something

that, that you wrote a bit about of,

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you know, 97% of the, of the work now

is just looking at cytology slides.

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I still think of, you know, histopath

and s- you know, biopsies and

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things like that, but it, it sounds

like that has sort of changed.

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Talk to me a little bit about that.

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My impression is just s- sort of from,

from reading through some of the patie-

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papers, there's some frustration around

the, the, the idea that basically we

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just, we're the readers of slides now.

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Talk, talk to me, u- unpack that for me.

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eric_1_05-05-2026_141149:

Yeah, absolutely.

213

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in a perfect world, clinical

pathologists are supposed to be

214

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experts in laboratory medicine.

215

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So we're supposed to know how each one

of the parameters on a chem panel works,

216

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when they go wrong, what's causing the

error, talking about interpretation.

217

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A lot of that has sort of, in

an almost turf war way, been

218

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absorbed by other specialties.

219

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So internal medicine is often the go-to,

and many of these lab companies actually

220

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hire internists to be doing some of the

that I think in a previous era would have

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been handled by clinical pathologists.

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So

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dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Okay.

224

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eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: of some scope

creep and turf creep between those there.

225

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and yeah, I think that's the major part

for, like, why we're not doing a lot of

226

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that consultation on the lab diagnostics.

227

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And that's unfortunate 'cause it's

like a third of the training and

228

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the content that we go through.

229

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It's a third of our boards,

and you just never use it again

230

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once you finish residency for

most people who leave academia.

231

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dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150:

Why is that?

232

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Like, w- so yeah, why, why, I mean,

if, if, if clinical pathologists are

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trained for it and there's, you know,

there's people around to do the work,

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like why, why has that-- why have they

been kind of moved out of that role?

235

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eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: Yeah,

I think there's just a perception

236

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that there's not the value add,

which is unfortunate, 'cause I think

237

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there's a huge amount of value add.

238

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I think clinicians are like, "Well,

I can interpret my own lab work," and

239

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internists are there for the kind of the

higher level consultat- consultations.

240

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And it just-- it's, it's actually

pretty similar to cytology.

241

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A lot of people have the

perception, "Well, I can do

242

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cytology in my clinic for $10.

243

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Why am I mailing it to a lab for this huge

price that the client doesn't wanna pay?"

244

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With histopathology and anatomic

pathologists, no one has a microtome,

245

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no one remembers histology.

246

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It's all kind of a nightmare from vet

school, so you're like, "Of course

247

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you have to send it to a specialist."

248

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The norms and the mores for

radiology have shifted very heavily

249

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towards, "You should probably have

a radiologist sign off on this."

250

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it's obviously not available everywhere,

and sometimes clients don't consent,

251

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but the norm has really shifted there.

252

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Whereas I think clinical pathologists

are viewed right now as a nice to have,

253

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and I think we're sliding towards maybe

a don't even need to have in the future,

254

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dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Wha-

255

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eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: have

been a must-have in the past.

256

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dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150:

why do you think people perceive

257

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radiology so differently?

258

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Like, why isn't it, those are

the same thing of, you know…

259

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it-- in both of these cases, it's kinda

like, well, we've got some information

260

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and I'm making a call based on this.

261

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You know, having someone who can,

who can verify or validate, there,

262

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there seems to be value there.

263

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Like, why, why don't

you perceive the, the…

264

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Why, why does, why is radiology

going in, in a different

265

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direction in people's minds?

266

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eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: Yeah,

I'm not really sure about that.

267

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I think their, their journey from the

traditional dipping films and chemical

268

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vats to digitization has played out a

little differently than pathology for

269

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a variety of granular detailed reasons.

270

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I think part of it is there might be

more of a shorter loop on feedback.

271

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So you take an X-ray of something,

272

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dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Yeah.

273

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eric_1_05-05-2026_141149:

surgical or there's nodules, and

274

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pretty soon you're often gonna

275

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dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150:

That's right

276

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eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: there's

just-- that, that would be my

277

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guess is that there's not as

much of a tight correlation.

278

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Like, you know, r-radiology

plays really nicely with surgery.

279

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So a lot of those things, you're

gonna go to surgery and you saw

280

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it or you didn't, and then you're

gonna refine your own mental model.

281

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When I saw this in a patient, it was that,

and then it was confirmed when I took it

282

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to surgery or referred it for surgery.

283

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So that would be my guess.

284

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I, I don't know.

285

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I, I do think partly for cost reasons,

a lot of people don't consent to

286

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histopathology, so a lot of times whoever

looked at the cyto is the last word.

287

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And if that was someone who looked

in-house, they think that they were right.

288

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dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Yeah.

289

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Yeah.

290

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It's like, let's just call, let's

call it right and no one will

291

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ever come along behind us and, and

correct us, so we're taking the win.

292

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Okay.

293

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when you look into the future,

where do you see this going?

294

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Do you think that there's a possibility

that, you know, like maybe, maybe

295

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shortened turnaround time on pathology

is gonna kind of thrust it back into, i-

296

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into a, a more, you know, favorable light

in terms of, you know, what we, what we,

297

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how we use it in, in cl- in the clinics?

298

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Or do you think that AI is

going to further kind of push,

299

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push pathology down the list?

300

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Well, it, you've, you've kind of, you've--

I've seen you sort of talk both ways.

301

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I mean, I think you clearly really

enjoy being a pathologist, and also

302

00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:41,490

you seem to have some, some concerns.

303

00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:43,390

Where, where do you

really think this goes?

304

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eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: Yeah.

305

00:13:44,370 --> 00:13:48,690

So I'll, I'll-- a couple years ago, I

did a talk on AI and medical imaging,

306

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and it was focused on pathology, but

also talked a little about radiology.

307

00:13:51,560 --> 00:13:54,480

And I had a slide in there

that said, "I am ambivalent

308

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about artificial intelligence."

309

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And I think a lot of people when they hear

the word ambivalent think someone means,

310

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like, disinterested or they don't care,

when really if, if you break it down, ambi

311

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is both and valent is a strong opinion.

312

00:14:05,980 --> 00:14:09,450

So it means you have conflicting

and equally strong opinions.

313

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dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Yeah.

314

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eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: of positive

and negative thoughts about AI.

315

00:14:12,750 --> 00:14:15,410

you know, if you're a fan of "The

X-Files," one of the things Mulder

316

00:14:15,410 --> 00:14:17,020

used to say is, "I want to believe."

317

00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:17,490

I wanna

318

00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:19,300

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150:

I want to believe.

319

00:14:19,450 --> 00:14:20,610

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149:

makes us more efficient,

320

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dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Yeah.

321

00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:24,250

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: patients by

getting better at catching things that

322

00:14:24,250 --> 00:14:25,500

you wouldn't have seen on the X-ray.

323

00:14:25,740 --> 00:14:30,160

It makes us enjoy our jobs more because

it gets rid of some of the scut work,

324

00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:34,240

like just kinda doing mindless counting

or mitotic counts, things like that,

325

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and really helps us focus on the thought

work and providing care for patients.

326

00:14:38,123 --> 00:14:42,730

What I am seeing over the last few years

Is not a lot of data to support this.

327

00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:47,470

I'm seeing what little data emerges

that's independent, the performance is

328

00:14:47,470 --> 00:14:49,140

often a little lackluster in my opinion.

329

00:14:49,500 --> 00:14:54,020

And the model we're moving towards is

not augmentation, it's replacement.

330

00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:58,950

So we're pitching boxes that you

can buy from-- for $5,000, or you

331

00:14:58,950 --> 00:15:00,943

get it into your lab contract.

332

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And for a low consumable cost,

you can get a pathology read.

333

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And that is going to, I think, be very

attractive to a lot of practices in

334

00:15:09,423 --> 00:15:12,503

this environment where a lot of clients

are very concerned about costs, people

335

00:15:12,503 --> 00:15:13,923

are concerned about turnaround time.

336

00:15:13,923 --> 00:15:18,433

So don't think that future is inevitable,

but I'm worried that's the model a lot

337

00:15:18,433 --> 00:15:20,793

of the big stakeholders are looking for.

338

00:15:20,823 --> 00:15:24,473

And, and frankly, it's because

they wanna reduce their own costs.

339

00:15:24,593 --> 00:15:25,123

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150:

Oh, sure.

340

00:15:25,253 --> 00:15:27,573

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: a pretty big

cost center for a lot of these major labs.

341

00:15:27,573 --> 00:15:31,856

So, you know, you don't wanna infer

negative, motivations on the part of some

342

00:15:31,856 --> 00:15:35,596

of these people, but I, I do worry that a

big part of it is about cost savings more

343

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than medical quality or efficiency per se.

344

00:15:38,516 --> 00:15:38,806

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Yeah.

345

00:15:39,010 --> 00:15:41,700

there's-- the thing in my mind is, you

know, you're not gonna lose your job to

346

00:15:41,700 --> 00:15:45,010

AI, you'll lose your job to someone who's

using AI, and it's like, I imagine…

347

00:15:45,050 --> 00:15:48,700

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: people say that

all the time, and it's just become such a

348

00:15:48,750 --> 00:15:49,060

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150:

it's so

349

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eric_1_05-05-2026_141149:

kind of annoys me

350

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dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150:

It's-- Oh, it's so-- I think

351

00:15:51,083 --> 00:15:51,943

it's, I think it's super annoying.

352

00:15:51,973 --> 00:15:53,333

It sa- it means nothing.

353

00:15:53,333 --> 00:15:56,263

Like, there's no real wisdom there,

and people say it all the time.

354

00:15:56,613 --> 00:15:58,723

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: and

it's really just kind of a frankly

355

00:15:58,723 --> 00:16:00,891

self-serving kind of, aphorism.

356

00:16:00,891 --> 00:16:04,201

You're like, "Well, Skynet's coming, so

I might as well help it get here faster."

357

00:16:04,241 --> 00:16:04,811

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150:

Yeah, totally.

358

00:16:05,261 --> 00:16:05,891

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149:

I don't know about

359

00:16:06,221 --> 00:16:06,501

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Yeah.

360

00:16:06,551 --> 00:16:09,771

Oh, it, it's definitely, it definitely

write, writes off sort of your,

361

00:16:09,771 --> 00:16:11,781

your role in the whole play of like,

362

00:16:11,881 --> 00:16:12,431

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: Yeah, you

363

00:16:12,581 --> 00:16:13,101

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150:

this is…"

364

00:16:13,131 --> 00:16:13,881

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: hands.

365

00:16:14,041 --> 00:16:15,221

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150:

It, it, it really is.

366

00:16:17,984 --> 00:16:24,285

do you think that, efficiency in

pathology has been increasing?

367

00:16:24,285 --> 00:16:25,925

Do, you know, do you feel like…

368

00:16:26,125 --> 00:16:26,785

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: Absolutely.

369

00:16:26,785 --> 00:16:29,485

I mean, if you look at the data,

I-- some of my journey, I've worked

370

00:16:29,485 --> 00:16:33,005

at a couple corporate labs, and the

internal turnaround data, obviously

371

00:16:33,005 --> 00:16:34,725

can't share, but it's quite fast.

372

00:16:34,725 --> 00:16:35,815

It's minutes per slide.

373

00:16:35,815 --> 00:16:39,535

I mean, the idea-- the, the rate

that we train in a residency for

374

00:16:39,535 --> 00:16:42,145

your board exam when the format was a

little different and you had to read

375

00:16:42,145 --> 00:16:45,795

a whole flat of slides was about 12

minutes a case, and you had one slide.

376

00:16:46,065 --> 00:16:46,345

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Okay.

377

00:16:46,545 --> 00:16:47,695

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: a

pretty challenging case, but

378

00:16:47,695 --> 00:16:48,755

you had 12 minutes per slide.

379

00:16:48,755 --> 00:16:50,515

That was kind of the benchmark rate.

380

00:16:50,875 --> 00:16:54,225

It's well below seven to eight

minutes in most of the labs.

381

00:16:54,225 --> 00:16:56,895

And a lot of them are you've got

pathologists reading four or five minutes.

382

00:16:56,895 --> 00:16:58,695

It is lightning fast.

383

00:16:59,405 --> 00:17:02,485

And that's part of the burnout

piece, is people feel like

384

00:17:02,485 --> 00:17:04,055

they're just turning and burning.

385

00:17:04,055 --> 00:17:05,035

They're not putting the thought

386

00:17:05,244 --> 00:17:05,545

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Yeah.

387

00:17:05,625 --> 00:17:06,744

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: You're

like, "Well, maybe I missed

388

00:17:06,744 --> 00:17:09,265

something on that case, but I do

not have time to call the client.

389

00:17:09,265 --> 00:17:12,125

I don't have time to look something up

and give it a little bit more thought."

390

00:17:12,375 --> 00:17:15,675

and I think for people in a certain

part of the profession, they

391

00:17:15,675 --> 00:17:17,145

may turn towards boutique labs.

392

00:17:17,145 --> 00:17:18,565

You're like, "I wanna work

with a pathologist where I

393

00:17:18,565 --> 00:17:19,805

have a personal relationship."

394

00:17:20,045 --> 00:17:22,565

Maybe the volumes are lower,

the price is higher, but that

395

00:17:22,565 --> 00:17:23,484

doesn't work for everyone.

396

00:17:23,484 --> 00:17:26,515

So most people are kinda pigeonholed

into one of the big labs,

397

00:17:26,755 --> 00:17:27,035

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Yeah.

398

00:17:27,045 --> 00:17:27,805

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: very high volume

399

00:17:28,214 --> 00:17:30,335

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150:

Is, is the compensation in those labs,

400

00:17:30,335 --> 00:17:32,625

is it, is it done on a per case basis?

401

00:17:32,625 --> 00:17:33,585

Or, I mean, is there…

402

00:17:33,585 --> 00:17:37,045

I'm just trying to think about kind

of like, in, in my, in my mind, what

403

00:17:37,045 --> 00:17:39,265

you're describing feels a lot like Uber.

404

00:17:39,605 --> 00:17:40,205

It feels

405

00:17:40,300 --> 00:17:40,640

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: Yeah.

406

00:17:40,825 --> 00:17:43,235

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150:

you just, you flip on the meter and

407

00:17:43,235 --> 00:17:46,765

you drive for, you know, as long as

you kinda want, and the number of trips

408

00:17:46,765 --> 00:17:49,345

you make or the number of miles you

drive is kinda what you get paid for,

409

00:17:49,345 --> 00:17:51,115

and you, you flip the meter back off.

410

00:17:51,115 --> 00:17:55,595

Is that kind of where pathology is

going into this kind of Uber-ification

411

00:17:55,595 --> 00:17:57,385

of, of this part of medicine?

412

00:17:57,960 --> 00:18:01,300

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: Yeah, so the

old model was most people were on salary,

413

00:18:01,300 --> 00:18:03,980

and you could kind of think of it almost

like as a form of pro sale, where if you

414

00:18:04,085 --> 00:18:04,395

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Yeah.

415

00:18:04,700 --> 00:18:06,360

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: expected

benchmark, you would often

416

00:18:06,360 --> 00:18:08,070

get a pay-by-case bonus above.

417

00:18:08,430 --> 00:18:09,780

they're, they're pretty modest.

418

00:18:09,830 --> 00:18:12,630

if you had to guess, what

would you say the pay-by-case

419

00:18:12,630 --> 00:18:14,450

bonus is at most of these labs?

420

00:18:14,515 --> 00:18:16,115

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150:

I, I have, I have no idea.

421

00:18:16,115 --> 00:18:17,185

I'm trying to think, you know?

422

00:18:17,185 --> 00:18:20,675

So he's doing the cytology slides,

it's, you know, $300 to the clients.

423

00:18:20,675 --> 00:18:22,705

I'm like, I don't know, 20 or $30?

424

00:18:22,785 --> 00:18:22,945

Uh.

425

00:18:23,670 --> 00:18:26,580

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: So there's a few

places where you get that, but a lot of

426

00:18:26,580 --> 00:18:29,600

them it's honestly about eight, 10, $12.

427

00:18:29,635 --> 00:18:29,965

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Okay.

428

00:18:30,100 --> 00:18:32,270

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149:

Europe, it's as low as $5 a case.

429

00:18:32,295 --> 00:18:32,685

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Okay.

430

00:18:32,950 --> 00:18:35,390

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: you know, you

can see how people feel pretty squeezed.

431

00:18:35,660 --> 00:18:36,990

the s- the salaries aren't great.

432

00:18:37,020 --> 00:18:38,410

The pay-by-case isn't great.

433

00:18:38,410 --> 00:18:41,500

And so some of the people who do wanna

make a lot of money, and we all have

434

00:18:41,500 --> 00:18:45,900

huge student debt now, they end up just

reading these astronomical case volumes.

435

00:18:46,455 --> 00:18:46,875

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Wow.

436

00:18:47,270 --> 00:18:50,130

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: the number

of slides you're supposed to read for

437

00:18:50,130 --> 00:18:54,810

cytology in human medicine in the US

is legally capped at 100 slides a day.

438

00:18:55,140 --> 00:18:59,600

And I would say people in the big labs are

often reading multiples of that every day.

439

00:18:59,835 --> 00:19:00,195

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Wow.

440

00:19:00,349 --> 00:19:01,639

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149:

it, it's very high volume.

441

00:19:01,639 --> 00:19:04,509

And yeah, the Uberification is

definitely a thing that started to

442

00:19:04,509 --> 00:19:08,249

frankly come with, digital cytology

and more of kind of freelance model.

443

00:19:08,249 --> 00:19:11,589

And, and I own up to, you know,

I started Lacuna Diagnostics, and

444

00:19:11,589 --> 00:19:13,419

we relied a lot on contractors, so

445

00:19:24,112 --> 00:19:37,027

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Yeah.

446

00:19:37,052 --> 00:19:38,962

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149:

our roads have diverged, even

447

00:19:38,962 --> 00:19:40,172

if the models are similar on

448

00:19:40,327 --> 00:19:40,577

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Yeah.

449

00:19:40,677 --> 00:19:43,737

If it-- I feel like if you hadn't done

it, someone else would've done it.

450

00:19:43,737 --> 00:19:47,617

Everybody's looking from a, you know,

an entrepreneur standpoint, everybody's

451

00:19:47,617 --> 00:19:52,707

looking at how to, at how to scale,

you know, the program that they do.

452

00:19:52,997 --> 00:19:56,627

Everybody is looking for how to have

this model where you can, you know,

453

00:19:56,627 --> 00:20:00,687

have a flexible workforce that can work

as much as they want, and then you can

454

00:20:00,687 --> 00:20:02,247

keep them as independent contractors.

455

00:20:02,547 --> 00:20:05,827

I don't think that there was

anything shockingly novel.

456

00:20:05,827 --> 00:20:08,417

No offense, but I don't feel like

there's anything shockingly novel about

457

00:20:08,417 --> 00:20:10,037

this that like, you know what I mean?

458

00:20:10,037 --> 00:20:11,337

Other, other people wouldn't

459

00:20:11,562 --> 00:20:13,152

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149:

Technology was the novel piece.

460

00:20:13,152 --> 00:20:16,492

Yeah, the idea-- I mean, like the brick

and mortar era with glass slides, there

461

00:20:16,492 --> 00:20:18,012

were contractors at all the big labs.

462

00:20:18,012 --> 00:20:18,252

So

463

00:20:18,697 --> 00:20:19,247

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Yeah.

464

00:20:19,302 --> 00:20:19,582

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: with that.

465

00:20:19,582 --> 00:20:22,162

It made it maybe change the

volume and the pace and the

466

00:20:22,162 --> 00:20:23,642

kinetics and some of the policies.

467

00:20:23,642 --> 00:20:27,242

But yeah, and part of this is, you

know, I did-- after vet school,

468

00:20:27,242 --> 00:20:28,562

I did a rotating internship.

469

00:20:28,562 --> 00:20:30,822

I worked ER relief for a number of years.

470

00:20:31,062 --> 00:20:33,822

I saw how impactful it could

be when you couldn't get those

471

00:20:33,822 --> 00:20:35,102

cytology results for a few days.

472

00:20:35,102 --> 00:20:35,292

So

473

00:20:35,407 --> 00:20:35,747

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Yeah.

474

00:20:35,802 --> 00:20:38,752

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: my driving force

for going towards digital was to really

475

00:20:38,752 --> 00:20:42,732

get those results when they matter in a

matter of hours rather than days or weeks.

476

00:20:42,832 --> 00:20:44,562

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150:

there's something like if you said, "Oh,

477

00:20:45,002 --> 00:20:49,852

Henry Ford and his assembly line, look

at all the, the pain that he brought."

478

00:20:49,852 --> 00:20:51,272

And you go, "Well, it's a tool."

479

00:20:51,272 --> 00:20:52,612

Like this is a, it's a tool.

480

00:20:52,612 --> 00:20:53,752

It's a way of doing things.

481

00:20:53,752 --> 00:20:55,032

It's wildly efficient.

482

00:20:55,032 --> 00:20:56,562

It, it created a lot of opportunities.

483

00:20:56,932 --> 00:21:01,612

And there are some people who apply

that tool in a, less than ideal

484

00:21:01,612 --> 00:21:04,002

way or there's, you know, there's

definitely people who have worked on

485

00:21:04,002 --> 00:21:07,252

inch- assembly lines and, and been

miserable and had their health and

486

00:21:07,252 --> 00:21:08,862

safety discounted and things like that.

487

00:21:08,862 --> 00:21:10,592

And so to me, it's kind of the same thing.

488

00:21:10,592 --> 00:21:13,422

It, it's, it's there's ways

of doing things and, you know,

489

00:21:13,422 --> 00:21:14,652

how do people apply those?

490

00:21:14,652 --> 00:21:17,862

I, I think the idea, you know, you

look at the radiologists and they're,

491

00:21:17,862 --> 00:21:19,452

they're doing, they're doing quite well.

492

00:21:19,452 --> 00:21:22,999

I, I think that that's an important

point in sort of how much, how much

493

00:21:22,999 --> 00:21:24,289

responsibility you take, how do

494

00:21:24,289 --> 00:21:27,129

you, you know, how do you, how

do you feel about how things sort

495

00:21:27,129 --> 00:21:28,579

of, things sort of shook out,

496

00:21:29,369 --> 00:21:32,819

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: And to extend

that further, we now pine for the

497

00:21:32,819 --> 00:21:36,849

days when everyone worked these good

manufacturing jobs on the factory floor.

498

00:21:36,899 --> 00:21:37,949

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Sure.

499

00:21:38,259 --> 00:21:39,979

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: towards

the knowledge work economy, we have a

500

00:21:39,979 --> 00:21:44,279

different set of problems, but we're

longing for this halcyon era that may

501

00:21:44,529 --> 00:21:47,769

have either never existed or not been

as good as we remember it with the

502

00:21:47,769 --> 00:21:49,749

rose-colored glasses looking backwards.

503

00:21:49,959 --> 00:21:52,929

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150:

Yeah, I, I, I think I, I may be a, a bit

504

00:21:52,929 --> 00:21:55,149

naive in some ways, but I, I really…

505

00:21:55,399 --> 00:22:01,129

I have this idea that I, I would like

to see, I would like to see industry

506

00:22:01,129 --> 00:22:07,239

in America go towards this, not just

maximizing revenue, but, but having an

507

00:22:07,239 --> 00:22:11,809

optimization of revenue, like purpose,

meaning like the, the good you do

508

00:22:11,809 --> 00:22:14,909

in the world, and then environment,

which is how you treat your people.

509

00:22:15,259 --> 00:22:17,639

And so I just think wouldn't it be

great if you could have a profitable

510

00:22:17,639 --> 00:22:21,189

business that had a purpose and

that you treated your people well?

511

00:22:21,379 --> 00:22:22,609

Like, is that too much to ask?

512

00:22:22,609 --> 00:22:29,419

And again, if, if you measure all of your

success based on your quarterly earnings

513

00:22:29,419 --> 00:22:33,529

and your stock performance, it's, it's,

it, it contradicts exactly what I'm asking

514

00:22:33,529 --> 00:22:37,549

for, but I, I miss, I miss those days

and I, you know, I, I would like to see,

515

00:22:37,829 --> 00:22:40,509

I would like to see more companies kind

of focusing on balancing those things.

516

00:22:41,228 --> 00:22:41,718

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: Absolutely.

517

00:22:41,948 --> 00:22:45,778

I, I may also be naive, but I,

I was taught and I still believe

518

00:22:46,108 --> 00:22:47,518

good medicine is good business.

519

00:22:47,518 --> 00:22:52,318

And I think that there should be room

for us to turn a profit with a good

520

00:22:52,418 --> 00:22:54,468

patient-focused, client-focused service.

521

00:22:54,468 --> 00:22:57,418

And I, I do think we've

tilted more towards one side.

522

00:22:57,448 --> 00:23:00,638

but part of why that happened is for

a long time veterinarians weren't

523

00:23:00,638 --> 00:23:01,948

particularly good business people.

524

00:23:02,178 --> 00:23:05,698

We didn't run things well, and it was

rife for having people with MBAs to come

525

00:23:05,698 --> 00:23:07,368

in and tell us how to lose less money.

526

00:23:07,519 --> 00:23:07,779

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Yeah.

527

00:23:07,959 --> 00:23:12,549

No, I, I, I, I do, I do think

that we have made our bed to some

528

00:23:12,549 --> 00:23:14,029

degree for that, for that reason.

529

00:23:14,029 --> 00:23:17,429

Again, I, I love, I love being

a veterinarian and I love vets.

530

00:23:17,969 --> 00:23:22,890

I, I think our-- we had a pretty strong

anti-business mindset, and I think it

531

00:23:22,890 --> 00:23:27,560

left the door open for, for others to come

in and, and, and grab up opportunities

532

00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:31,290

that we were, that we were leaving,

hoping no one else would pick up.

533

00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:34,090

And so I think that that's, I think that

that's something, that's something I wish

534

00:23:34,090 --> 00:23:37,240

we could go back and change, but I think

it sort of-- it is, it is where it is.

535

00:23:37,540 --> 00:23:42,060

Eric, it's five years in the future,

and the pendulum has swung back the

536

00:23:42,060 --> 00:23:45,840

other way, and pathology is great.

537

00:23:46,327 --> 00:23:47,237

What does that look like?

538

00:23:47,237 --> 00:23:47,897

What has happened?

539

00:23:47,897 --> 00:23:52,247

What, what-- Just leave, leave

me on a happy note of what

540

00:23:52,247 --> 00:23:53,137

happens if this is great?

541

00:23:53,407 --> 00:23:57,327

What happens if this

really goes well from here?

542

00:23:58,182 --> 00:23:58,612

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: Sure.

543

00:23:58,662 --> 00:24:00,212

Well, I'll take that into a couple pieces.

544

00:24:00,212 --> 00:24:05,972

So one, on the volume and economic

piece, counter to a lot of my concerns

545

00:24:05,972 --> 00:24:07,962

is something called Jevons paradox,

546

00:24:08,007 --> 00:24:08,197

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Okay.

547

00:24:08,197 --> 00:24:08,337

Okay.

548

00:24:08,352 --> 00:24:10,972

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: an economist

in the industrial era in Britain.

549

00:24:11,302 --> 00:24:14,762

And he noticed that when, James Watt

came out with his more efficient steam

550

00:24:14,762 --> 00:24:18,362

engine, a lot of these things that

were consumed in terms of coal and

551

00:24:18,362 --> 00:24:22,877

everything else from going down because

it was more efficient, they shot way up.

552

00:24:23,187 --> 00:24:27,787

And it's since been applied to mean

any time a resource or technology makes

553

00:24:27,787 --> 00:24:31,827

something cheaper or more efficient, it

tends to increase utilization of that.

554

00:24:32,077 --> 00:24:34,217

So we've seen that even in lab medicine.

555

00:24:34,217 --> 00:24:38,077

So in the old days, people did

a CBC by actually doing all

556

00:24:38,077 --> 00:24:39,787

the different assays by hand.

557

00:24:39,787 --> 00:24:43,287

They would be doing a hemocytometer count,

things that would be unimaginable today.

558

00:24:43,577 --> 00:24:48,177

But you really can't do 40, 50, 60 CBCs

a day even in a small lab doing that.

559

00:24:48,397 --> 00:24:51,517

So as we started to get these high-powered

instruments, both like a little point

560

00:24:51,517 --> 00:24:55,597

of care thing like a Procyte or bigger

systems like a Sysmex analyzer or

561

00:24:55,597 --> 00:24:59,217

an ADVIA hematology analyzer, the

volumes exploded and went way up.

562

00:24:59,217 --> 00:25:02,257

So the business side may

work itself in terms of that.

563

00:25:02,717 --> 00:25:06,027

In terms of how AI is gonna be

applied to our workflows, the

564

00:25:06,027 --> 00:25:09,177

positive version of this is what we're

starting to see in human medicine.

565

00:25:09,497 --> 00:25:12,497

So they have a lot of strict

regulations that we do not at all

566

00:25:12,497 --> 00:25:16,407

have in human medicine, and so they

have to treat AI and other forms

567

00:25:16,407 --> 00:25:17,897

of software as a medical device.

568

00:25:17,977 --> 00:25:20,867

So there's a lot of scrutiny in

there, and as a result, their model

569

00:25:20,867 --> 00:25:24,537

has not been automated diagnosis

straight to the end user clinician.

570

00:25:24,757 --> 00:25:26,487

it is more of an assistive capacity.

571

00:25:26,677 --> 00:25:30,707

So they do things like there are different

softwares that predict a cancer grade.

572

00:25:30,707 --> 00:25:33,577

For prostate cancer, it'll give

you a Gleason score, and it'll

573

00:25:33,577 --> 00:25:36,677

show you its work, and the

pathologist can accept or reject it.

574

00:25:36,907 --> 00:25:40,437

So it makes things a little faster, but

it's also a person's in the loop calling

575

00:25:40,467 --> 00:25:41,797

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Yeah.

576

00:25:41,807 --> 00:25:43,767

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: had a bunch

of tools like that and it was very

577

00:25:43,767 --> 00:25:45,647

modular, I would actually love that.

578

00:25:45,677 --> 00:25:48,157

That would be great to be able to

be like, "Hey, it caught something

579

00:25:48,157 --> 00:25:51,237

I missed on s- on my fourth case

of the day that was really tricky."

580

00:25:51,827 --> 00:25:55,988

Some places are using it to triage

triage up the harder cases higher in

581

00:25:55,988 --> 00:25:59,328

the queue earlier in the day, so that

by the time you're burned out at 4:00,

582

00:25:59,328 --> 00:26:02,718

5:00, 6:00 at night, you're reading

your lipomas and your dumb stuff.

583

00:26:02,758 --> 00:26:05,478

But the hard, challenging

cases, the suspected cancer

584

00:26:05,478 --> 00:26:06,608

cases come early in the day.

585

00:26:06,638 --> 00:26:07,748

I think that's a great use.

586

00:26:08,205 --> 00:26:11,215

of the uses we're seeing at some of

the companies for radiology are great.

587

00:26:11,215 --> 00:26:15,135

They're applying vertebral heart scores

or their automated measuring of TPLO

588

00:26:15,135 --> 00:26:19,125

things, but they're not saying, "This

dog has a stage two osteosarcoma.

589

00:26:19,125 --> 00:26:20,005

You should euthanize it."

590

00:26:20,005 --> 00:26:24,575

They're very applied tools that are gonna

be saving time but also have the ability

591

00:26:24,835 --> 00:26:28,625

to be changed or accepted or rejected

by the clinician or the radiologist.

592

00:26:28,885 --> 00:26:29,995

So I think those two things.

593

00:26:29,995 --> 00:26:34,665

So economics may sort itself out, and I

think that if we start using this in a

594

00:26:34,665 --> 00:26:38,615

fashion where it's very much augmenting

human intelligence, I think that that

595

00:26:38,615 --> 00:26:41,045

could make our role more interesting.

596

00:26:41,045 --> 00:26:44,599

We could be focusing more on the harder

cases and not as much rote nonsense.

597

00:26:44,599 --> 00:26:48,109

I do worry that the piece in veterinary

medicine is gonna focus very much on the

598

00:26:48,109 --> 00:26:51,849

point of care, so people aren't even going

to be sending those cases to the lab.

599

00:26:51,849 --> 00:26:55,329

That's where the analogy could

break down from previous things.

600

00:26:55,669 --> 00:26:57,839

You know, there-- everyone

says this time's different.

601

00:26:57,839 --> 00:26:59,619

Well, this time may be different with AI.

602

00:26:59,669 --> 00:27:01,719

I don't know that it will

be, but I worry it might

603

00:27:01,914 --> 00:27:02,114

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150: Yeah.

604

00:27:02,354 --> 00:27:03,034

Well, Dr.

605

00:27:03,034 --> 00:27:05,594

Eric Fish, thanks so much for being

here and talking through this with me.

606

00:27:05,594 --> 00:27:06,924

Where can people find you online?

607

00:27:07,396 --> 00:27:09,579

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: obviously

on LinkedIn I post things there.

608

00:27:09,579 --> 00:27:12,129

A lot of it is cross-posts for

my newsletter, Science Great

609

00:27:12,129 --> 00:27:13,229

and Small, which you can find.

610

00:27:13,509 --> 00:27:14,609

We've got in the show notes here.

611

00:27:14,609 --> 00:27:17,129

So I, I write a lot about AI,

but that's not the only thing.

612

00:27:17,129 --> 00:27:19,059

I break down a lot of different studies.

613

00:27:19,059 --> 00:27:22,669

I write about some of the big macro

trends in veterinary medicine, for both

614

00:27:22,669 --> 00:27:24,559

the clinical side and the pathology side.

615

00:27:24,559 --> 00:27:26,369

So people enjoy it.

616

00:27:26,505 --> 00:27:26,955

dr--andy-roark-_1_05-05-2026_141150:

Excellent.

617

00:27:27,075 --> 00:27:28,405

Thank you so much for all you do.

618

00:27:28,405 --> 00:27:29,985

Guys, thanks for tuning in, everybody.

619

00:27:29,985 --> 00:27:30,885

Take care of yourselves, gang.

620

00:27:31,076 --> 00:27:31,526

eric_1_05-05-2026_141149: Thanks a lot

621

00:27:31,742 --> 00:27:32,912

Speaker 2: And that's our episode.

622

00:27:32,912 --> 00:27:34,022

Thanks to, Dr.

623

00:27:34,022 --> 00:27:35,042

Eric Fish for being here.

624

00:27:35,042 --> 00:27:36,092

Guys, thanks for tuning in.

625

00:27:36,092 --> 00:27:37,232

I hope this was interesting for you.

626

00:27:37,282 --> 00:27:41,872

as always, if you, if you like the

episode, go ahead and do the things

627

00:27:41,872 --> 00:27:43,462

that people do when they like podcasts.

628

00:27:43,492 --> 00:27:45,542

like share, subscribe.

629

00:27:45,637 --> 00:27:47,017

Send it to a friend.

630

00:27:47,197 --> 00:27:48,337

All of those of Right.

631

00:27:48,367 --> 00:27:49,957

A fan mail to me.

632

00:27:50,042 --> 00:27:52,237

I, I, I would take that, that

would be a, that would be a

633

00:27:52,237 --> 00:27:53,827

thing that I would be okay with.

634

00:27:54,007 --> 00:27:56,557

Anyway, guys, I'm messing around.

635

00:27:56,557 --> 00:27:58,087

Have a wonderful day.

636

00:27:58,117 --> 00:27:59,377

Thanks for tuning in and listening.

637

00:27:59,557 --> 00:28:00,474

I'll talk to you later on.

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