On the Home Stretch

It is honestly hard to believe that today is July 29th, I feel like it was just yesterday that we were starting this program...but here I am with almost 8 months of PA school under my belt. Just thought I'd give a little update on how things have been going since the last time I posted and let's just say, July has been a crazy month.  We had three or four regular exams between our two classes in addition to the systemic pathology conferences and our occasional gross room, autopsy, and EM rotations.  Needless to say, there has been a lot of work and studying that has been going on over the past few weeks.

This week (the dreaded finals week) hasn't been any different.  We started Monday, July 27th, with our final "regular" exam in Systemic Pathology that covered the CNS and breast.  Thus far, the CNS chapter has been the most overwhelming because there is so much information on the different types of CNS pathologies.  It's slightly scary to think that we only covered a fraction of all CNS pathologies and we had 10 full PowerPoints of what our directors thought were the most important ones for us to know.  Once we conquered that test, the fun wasn't over.  The next day, we had our final exam for Clinical Pathology, which was composed of 90 multiple choice, true and false, and fill in the blank questions.  It was cumulative, so it covered everything we went over this summer, but I am glad to have everything finished for that class.

Throughout this week, we were also each given a topic/chapter from our Disease Mechanisms book that we had to make a PowerPoint and present on for 20 minutes.  That took a good bit of our time this week, but it was a good review for our final in Systemic Pathology this coming Friday.  I presented on the skin, which included benign epithelial tumors, acute inflammatory dermatoses and chronic inflammatory dermatoses. I can honestly say after that practicing that presentation that I should be pretty solid on knowing the skin part of the final for Friday.  The Systemic Pathology Exam Friday is cumulative and will also have a normal histology (tissue recognition) portion that will be performed in the scope lab.  The other part of the test will be composed of the normal multiple choice format.

Here's to happy studying and finishing the summer semester up strong! I'm excited for the two week break I have coming before fall semester starts! :)

One Month to Go...for Summer Session

We have made it to July 1st and I find that hard to believe.  This summer has flown by, which isn't necessarily a bad thing at all.  The past few weeks haven't been too crazy, just the normal schedule of class and the occasional rotation.  Since my last post, we have had two tests.  One was on the kidney, heart, and bone, and the one this week was on the liver, skin, and endocrine.  There really isn't too much left of the semester with only two tests, a presentation, and a final remaining in Systemic Pathology, and then one test and a final in Clinical Pathology.  Time really does fly when you're having fun :P.  

I did have my second gross rotation this week and I had the chance to see and gross a few specimens that I haven't had before.  One of the specimens was vaginal mesh, which really wasn't too difficult.  The specimen just required a gross description and it was submitted entirely.  I was also given the opportunity to gross my first uterus with the cervix, both fallopian tubes, and an ovary.  It came across my bench because of leiomyomas, which appear as white-whorled nodules of various sizes within the myometrium.  As always, I had to measure, weigh, and describe all the components.  The specimen had been sliced the day before and left in formalin over night, so I had to describe what the cut surfaces, such as the endometrial cavity, myometrium, and so on, looked like before I began taking the appropriate sections.  It was quite the experience and a little nerving at times, but it was nice to get one of the more "complex" specimens I've never done before.  Aside from those new specimens, I did a lot of biopsies from the GI tract, breast cores, and skin specimens.  I get a little stressed out in the gross room at times, but once I start working, I realize I know a lot more than I feel like I do and just have to trust in everything I have learned.  It will take time, but one day, my classmates and I will be "pros" at what we are being taught to do!