Summer is Over

Class starts back up again today. I’ve had a hard time getting back into the swing of studying; especially because this has been my view for the past couple of days.

Ft. Lauderdale

The fact that our first test is in 3 days is starting to freak me out.  This week we will be covering 3 chapters regarding cellular pathology, inflammation, and tissue renewal and repair.

Also I want to share with you a secret on how I got through the first semester: Coffee

Before starting grad school I was never into drinking coffee. Sure I would get a Frappuccino from Starbucks on a few occasions, but the idea of a regular cup of hot coffee disgusted me.  After the second week of grad school I realized I needed something extra to wake me up for early morning conferences and study sessions.  At the time my roommate's shiny new Keurig seemed like heaven! At the end of the first semester I decided that I wanted to stop drinking coffee. I didn’t like the feeling that my body was addicted to a substance (yes I’m aware I'm talking about caffeine and not an illegal drug).  So after I finished my last K-cup I went cold turkey.  This first week back at school will be the ultimate test to see if I can survive without it!

I’ll be back after this week to give you my first impression of the summer class and to let you know if I caved and started drinking coffee again.

1 Semester Down, 5 to Go!

We finished up our first semester on the 10th and I have done absolutely NOTHING since then (it feels great).  I’m very proud of my classmates and myself for surviving!

Some light reading

We have 2 weeks off before starting our 12 credit hour Mechanisms of Disease class. This class entails reading a chapter a day from Robbins’ Pathologic Basis of Disease.  So while the majority of college students will be lying out by the pool this summer, I’ll be cramming my brain with 1368 pages of pathology.  On the plus side, I’d much rather study Pathology all summer than something like Organic Chemistry (my arch nemesis in undergrad). I'll provide more details on this class once it starts!

With my remaining days of freedom, I’m headed down to Miami with my mom and grandma to relax on the beach!

Saying Goodbye to Our Cadavers

This past weekend was the memorial service for our cadavers.  The families whose loved ones donated their body to science were invited to celebrate that gift.  It was a beautiful service where students shared their experiences and were able to express their gratitude.

The boards list the names of the individuals who donated their body for the 2012-2013 school year. 

I was surprised to see just how many individuals had donated themselves. I’m sure these individuals impacted many lives while they were living and now they have continued to do so even in their passing. They have impacted the lives of future doctors, dentists, physical therapists, and pathologists’ assistants.  With the knowledge we have gained from them, one day we will be able to change the lives of those still living.

So a big thank you to Albert and the three other cadavers that I was able to study from this semester. I know I will be a better PA because of their generous gift. I cannot thank them enough!

WVU PA Class of 2014

A Race to the Finish

Only 13 days, 20 hours, and 24 minutes until the first semester of PA school is over (but who’s really counting).  I feel as though the last two weeks will be a full out sprint to the finish line.  We have 4 finals, 2 this week and 2 next week.  First up we have a cumulative Anatomy Lab final, which is worth 20% of our grade. Because of the huge impact it could have on our grade, as well as the sheer volume of material, I’m most worried about this final. Needless to say, I’ll be living in the cadaver lab until Wednesday. The rest of the finals won't be a walk in the park either, but with some extreme studying, I'm sure everything will be ok!

Bare with me for the next two weeks and then I should be back to more exciting posts!

Lower Limb Dissection

I want to preface by saying that I am a very shy person, but sometimes I can get overly animated and excited about certain things.  I am coming to find out that this especially happens during anatomy lab (I think my lab group can attest to that).

I feel as though I’m in a state of awe for the majority of lab.  Before this class I had never cut into a body before and every week I am more and more amazed.  This past week in lab we dissected the lower limb.  We were supposed to peel back the patella (knee cap) so that we could get a better look at how the knee works.  As I was cutting the right knee, I noticed that it wasn’t looking anything like the left knee.  Once I finally had a big enough cut, I looked inside and it felt as if I was looking at a mirror or some sort of shiny surface.  A light bulb went off in my head and I started screaming for my lab group to come look; “Guys something isn’t right, THERE IS SOMETHING IN THERE!”

This is what I was seeing:

It turns out that Albert had a knee replacement; which was really neat to see.  

Knee replacement

Normal Knee Anatomy

Have any of you readers found any interesting anomalies in your cadavers?

Surgical Pathology Rotations

I recently spent 2 days in the surgical pathology gross room.  I had shadowed at Ruby’s gross room before applying to the program, but I understood and appreciated way more of what was going on this time around. I was able to see a variety of specimens being grossed by the pathology residents and a second year PA student.

For those who don’t know what a gross room entails, I’ll give a scenario so that you can have a better understanding.

Say that you are a patient and you come to the hospital with the following symptoms:

-       Pain near the navel or the upper abdomen that becomes sharp as it moves to the lower right abdomen

-       Loss of appetite

-       Fever

-       Nausea and/or vomiting

The doctor decides that you need surgery and the surgeon performs an appendectomy.  The appendix is then taken to the gross room for gross examination (observation with the naked eye).  This is where my job, as the PA, begins.  I start by checking 3 things: the requisition, the container, and the cassettes. We want to make sure that everything matches because we don’t want to end up telling one person that they have cancer, or any pathology, when they in fact do not.

After I'm sure that I have the correct specimen, I will open the container and take out the surgical specimen, in this case the appendix.  First, I will orient and measure the appendix. With appendix specimens it is important to look for any perforations, presence/absence of inflammation, and search for any incidental neoplasms (abnormal mass of tissue).  While I am doing this, I am dictating my findings.  At Ruby each PA has a headset with a microphone, so that a computer records as they speak.  So far this is what I would have on my computer screen: “Part A is received in formalin, labeled “Doe, Jane” and “appendix”. It consists of a 11.0 x 0.7 cm pink-red vermiform appendix with attached mesoappendix.”

After I’ve looked at the outside of the specimen, I serially section the appendix to evaluate the wall, mucosa, and the lumen. Keep in mind that I am still dictating everything that I see.  For this particular case we may see the presence of exudate, evidence of a rupture, and hemorrhage.  I will then finish the gross examination by submitting specific sections for histologic evaluation (check out my post about histology rotation) so that the pathologists can see what is going on at a microscopic level.  Then the pathologist gives the final diagnosis to the surgeon or doctor.

 

The top specimen is of a normal appendix.  The bottom specimen is an example of what could be seen in the scenario above.

Points to anyone who can tell me the probable diagnosis of this specimen (or give me an example of a pathology that might be seen in an appendectomy specimen)!