[Present state of outpatient consultation in Gunma University Hospital]

We started outpatient consultation by clinical laboratory physicians in Gunma University Hospital in June, 2002. Three days a week, five clinical laboratory physicians examine outpatients or answer questions concerning laboratory tests in an outpatient consulting room. The number of outpatients referred has gradually increased since we started this consultation. Among the wide rage of cases examined, there have been many preoperative patients with eye disorders from the Department of Ophthalmology. There are some advantages of our outpatient consultation. For example, we are able to give patients a detailed and unrushed explanation of their laboratory data, and close cooperation with clinical laboratory technicians enables physicians to perform quick and smooth echo-guided fine needle aspiration cytology of thyroid nodules. We hope that our consulting work by clinical laboratory physicians will become widely known to patients and doctors.