The story of the Canadian Society of Cytopathology began when the Canadian Association of Pathologists (CAP-ACP) established a special committee on Cytology in May 1960. The members were Drs. John Penistan of Stratford, Ontario, H. Fidler of Vancouver, Don Penner and Don Thompson of Toronto. In 1961, based on the recommendations of the committee, the CAP-ACP established Section of Cytology within the Association, then called Canadian Cytology Council (CCC), with Dr. Penistan as its first Chair. The main goal was to include pathologists and members of other medical specialties concerned with cytologic diagnosis and to encourage the development and expansion of training facilities for cytologic technologists as well as pathologists. The CCC was subsequently renamed Canadian Society of Cytology (CSC). The first scientific meeting of the new society took place in Winnipeg, on the occasion of the Annual CAP-ACP meeting in June 1962. The first Newsletter of the society, at the time called CCC Newsletter, was also published in 1962 with Dr. Kulcsar as its editor.
The CSC logo was designed by Dr. Ian Turnbull of the Victoria Hospital in London Ontario in 1977. First CSC Quality Assurance Guidelines document was published in 1978 and has been revised regularly since then. Also, in 1978, though efforts and generosity of Dr. Kulcsar, CSC established Trust Fund for the support and promotion of Cytology education in Canada. The Trust Fund was recognized as official charity by the Canadian Government in 1980. The Lecture at the Annual CSC Symposium held at CAP-ACP meetings is named in honour of Dr. Kulcsar. First of these Kulcsar Lectures was delivered by Dr. Alex Ferenczy in 1990. The Canadian Society of Cytology Bulletin obtained International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) in the mid 1980s which allowed the publication to be filed with the Library and Archives of Canada in Ottawa. In 1990, CSC awards were established for best paper/poster in cytology at the annual meetings of CAP-ACP. The awards were named Hugh Curry Awards, in the memory of Dr. Hugh Curry, past Chair of the society.
The Canadian Society of Cytology was the host of International Congress of Cytology Meeting in Montreal in 1983 and then again in Vancouver in 2007. The society was renamed “Canadian Society of Cytopathology” in 2010. In 2012 CSC successfully sponsored the application for recognition of Cytopathology as an Area of Focussed Competence (AFC) by Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. This allowed graduates of Cytopathology Fellowship Programs from Canadian institutions to receive Diploma from the Royal College, if they meet required competencies.
Updated in February 2019 by Dr. Karim Khetani
Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta