Joan Barenfanger, MD

Anatomic & Clinical Pathologist

Dr. Joan Barenfanger is an Anatomic & Clinical Pathologist in Springfield, IL with special training and skill in determining the origin, type, and severity of a disease. As an Anatomic & Clinical Pathologist, Joan Barenfanger, MD performs laboratory tests to detect and treat the causes of illnesses. Anatomic Clinical Pathology is the study of disease in bodily fluid, tissues, and organs. Significant diseases and conditions treated by Anatomic & Clinical Pathologists include diabetes and cancer. Medical tests, procedures and therapies provided by Anatomic & Clinical Pathologists include diagnostic tests on blood, urine, sputum, feces, spinal fluid, pleural fluid, and belly fluid, as well as biopsy and autopsy.

A pathologist deals with the causes and nature of disease and contributes to diagnosis, prognosis and treatment through knowledge gained by the laboratory application of the biologic, chemical and physical sciences. A pathologist uses information gathered from the microscopic examination of tissue specimens, cells and body fluids, and from clinical laboratory tests on body fluids and secretions for the diagnosis, exclusion and monitoring of disease.