It’s been a while since I’ve updated you all. I’ve found that the second year, although
less stressful, is still quite busy.
With moving around from site to site, studying for the monthly exams, job
hunting, and working full-time I’ve found that I haven’t had as much time to
blog as I would like.
Tomorrow will be the start of my third week at UPMC
Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA.
Like the name suggests, Children’s Hospital is dedicated to the care of
infants, children, and young adults. Their services include ENT, emergency
medicine, childhood cancer, transplant programs, and much more. The world of
pediatric pathology is quite different than adult pathology; therefore this
rotation site is an invaluable experience.
Children's is primarily a surgical pathology rotation, but there
are occasionally autopsy cases. The Pathology Department has three amazing pathologists’ assistants who work with you at the grossing bench.This rotation gives you the opportunity to gain
experience with the pathologies that are more common in children than
adults. Some of the classic cases include: congenital heart malformation,
Hirschsprung’s disease, bone cancer (ex- osteosarcoma, Ewing’s sarcoma), Wilms’
tumor, rhabdomyosarcoma, neuroblastoma, and leukemia.
 |
| Normal position of heart and lungs. |
 |
| A cartoon of a congenital condition, situs inversus, where the major visceral organs are a mirror image of their normal positions. Typically these people can live "normal" healthy lives - the body is amazing! |
