Sunday, July 20, 2008

What in the world is a Pathologist?



My life has changed dramatically from being a medical student. I study more, I spend more time at the hospital, I work in a cubical, and I don't carry a stethoscope. I am a resident pathologist.



So what is a pathologist anyway? We are the lab rats of the doctor community. We run the clinical labs. Right now I am doing surgical pathology. Basically if a surgeon cuts it out, we get it, process it into small blocks of tissue which get made into slides that are viewed under the microscope. We make the diagnosis based on what we see. The most important question that we answer is "Is it cancer or not."



Well this is my job. I have 4 year to learn what I am doing, which is good because I don't have a clue about what I am doing right now. It's OK, I'm only a first year.

2 comments:

Mich said...

If you, who have studied medicine haven't got a clue, then the rest of us are in real trouble. We don't even have a clue about what to have a clue about.
I do hope that you are enjoying everything that you are learning and that you will be able to help people.

Bonny said...

I'll bet its cool to see your name like that if nothing else :) Cancer or not, no pressure right?