A dedicated biology teacher from one of Scotland’s leading independent schools is putting her heart, soul …. and appendix into a classroom lecture.

Catherine Middleton, who teaches science at St Margaret’s School for Girls, has given permission for slides of her appendix to be used to illustrate a talk which is being held as part of National Pathology Week.

She was rushed into hospital with appendicitis and peritonitis last year – the presentation will take place exactly 12 months to the date that she was operated on.

Participating in the national science event, Dr Lesley Carson, thought that using the teacher’s operation as a case study was an ideal way to highlight this specialist medical profession.

Using microscopes in the school science labs, the St Margaret’s fifth year biology pupils will carry out an analysis of the slides of tissue from their own teacher’s appendix.

“This is a fantastic way to illustrate the nature of pathology as there is a misconception that pathologists deal only with death and bodies while the vast majority of our work focuses on the care of living patients,” said Dr Carson, a consultant at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, who specialises in histopathology and is a fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists.

“I am really grateful to Mrs Middleton for giving us her permission to look at these slides as it will show the girls what a diseased appendix looks like and we will be able to talk though how the pathological diagnosis was made in her case.”

The school session is part of National Pathology Week, an initiative from the Royal College of Pathologists, which aims to raise the profile and the public’s knowledge of the profession.

Mrs Middleton said the event will allow the girls to get an enlightening insight into the importance of pathology which is essential in understanding disease and directing care for patients.

“At St Margaret’s, we believe it is really important to base our classroom activities on real life examples as this can give the girls real context to their learning,” she said.

“Obviously with this lesson, the example is all the more relevant as it was my appendix which was taken out and that happened coincidentally exactly a year to the day that presentation will be happening.

“We are really pleased to be involved with this national event as a significant number of our girls are considering studying sciences and medicine at university so this will give them a chance to handle pathological specimens and experience a first hand in sight into working in this type of science and part of the medical profession.