A month of events and activities will mark National Pathology Week (NPW) and International Pathology Day (IPD) this November. 

‘Welcome to the Lab’
 

Kicking off on 2 November, NPW 2026 events will extend beyond the week this year, with a series of webinars being delivered by the College and a range of other Pathology Alliance organisations throughout November. These include 10+ careers webinars that highlight different pathology specialities, as well as an event on direct-to-consumer testing being delivered by the Association for Laboratory Medicine. Free to attend and open to all, the events are likely to be of most interest to undergraduates, sixth formers, foundation doctors, and trainee scientists. Find the booking page links on the NPW page and public events page.

The theme for NPW is ‘Welcome to the Lab’ and we’re encouraging members to share what they do with their colleagues, patients and local communities to highlight the importance of pathology to disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Event ideas and useful resource links are all included in our updated ‘Get Involved’ organiser guide. 

International perspectives on personalised medicine – IPD virtual conference
 

Our annual IPD virtual conference will this year focus on precision medicine. Taking place on 11 November, the event, entitled 'Pathology in an Era of Personalised Medicine’, is kindly sponsored by Epredia, one of the College’s Corporate Members. The varied programme explores the evolving role of personalised medicine across a range of pathology specialties.

Chaired by Dr Bernie Croal, RCPath President, the event also features a keynote session that will see our President-Elect, Professor Sarah Coupland, in conversation with Professor Ahmad Abou Tayoun, Chair of the WHO Technical Advisory Group on Genomics.

The event will feature speakers from around the world and, for the first time, a live debate chaired by Professor Yousuf Karim, RCPath Country Advisor for Qatar. The debate, titled 'Personalised medicine is a luxury available only to the global minority', will explore one of the most pressing and challenging issues in modern healthcare.
The IPD virtual conference is open for registration – find out more here. 

Online pathology quiz for undergraduates

Our pathology-themed online quiz is open to undergraduates studying relevant undergraduate courses anywhere in the world.

Teams of up to 6 undergraduates studying medicine or biomedical science (or similar degrees such as veterinary sciences and dentistry) are invited to join in our virtual pathology quiz on 18 November. With a range of questions gathered from RCPath members and experts in their field, the event gives you the chance to test your knowledge of disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Even if you’re in the early stage of your degree, there’ll be questions to suit all levels of background knowledge.

The event is an annual collaboration between the public engagement and international teams and our hosts this year are histopathologist, Dr Ryan Clark, and medical microbiologist, Dr Reham Abdelmonem. Students can book their free place here.

Free support and resources for your NPW events

If you’re running an event or activity, please register it on our website so we can add it to our events calendar. You can order free promotional materials for any in-person NPW events you’re running here. You can also download NPW logos and social media assets from the NPW page.

Stay connected

If you post on social media about NPW and/or IPD, please tag us (accounts shown at the bottom of this article) and use #PathologyWeek and/or #IPD2026.

If you have have any questions about NPW, please contact the public engagement team on [email protected]. If you have any questions about IPD, you can contact the international team on [email protected]. 

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