Time has been flying by and it’s hard to believe there are only
18 weeks of rotations left! It was sad leaving Thomas Memorial, which had quickly become one of my favorite rotation sites. The past few weeks have been consumed by serious
board exam studying, applying for jobs, and preparing for interviews and
presentations. I promise to work on more creative posts for the upcoming weeks!
Tomorrow starts the third week of my rotation at Conemaugh
Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown, PA. Conemaugh Memorial is a general
medical and surgical hospital. The hospital has a plethora of graduate medical
educational programs, which include medical student
rotations, histotechnology rotations, pharmacy rotations, and of course us –
the PA students. As for the city,
Johnstown is located 60 miles east of Pittsburgh, has a population of 20,402, and is most famous for their three major floods (they even have a "Johnstown Flood Museum").
The pathology lab has three pathologists and receives around
16,000 specimens annually. This is a paired rotation, meaning two PA students
are working in the lab at the same time.
Just like at Thomas, we are responsible for all of the surgical
specimens. So far the more complex specimens have consisted of mastectomies,
colectomies, orchiectomies (testicles), and prostatectomies. It’s also a unique rotation in that we gain
both surgical and autopsy pathology experience. We primarily work in the gross
room with the surgical specimens, but whenever there are autopsy cases my classmate
and I will alternate who goes down to the morgue to assist with them.
