Week 6: Brains & Chocolate
Just when I think I’m starting to get some of the basics down, I realize that there’s so much more to learn (as always). At first, four years of medical school and a four year residency seemed a little excessive, but after my short six-week stay in pathology, I can’t imagine learning to be a pathologist in only four years. I guess that’s why they have fellowships! And of course, pathologists get to keep learning throughout their whole careers.
This week, I went to sign-out to learn a little about breast pathology, and I got to look at more prostate slides too. I also went to a camera demo for a system that takes pictures of gross specimen. I learned why gross pictures are important, and I heard some of the challenges like unwanted shadows and color accuracy. These images are used extensively to help get the point across. Gross photos are used in research papers, for teaching and documentation purposes, and simply to understand the specimen better, so the technology has to be good!
Here’s what a gross photo of a brain might look like:
And speaking of brains… I learned a little bit more about them today! During the autopsy conference, I got to see and touch a brain and the dura (the tissue that surrounds the brain). After the autopsy conference, the neuropathologist talked about considerations involved in getting the best diagnostic information from available tissue. The amount of tissue is often limited, especially with biopsies. I understand that efficiency is vital in pathology, but this made me think about deliberate testing. This concept is very well emphasized and exemplified in this department. After all, you never want to have to get another biopsy because the first one wasn’t enough!
Another fun adventure: I went to the microbiology department for their grand rounds. I got to see a few different microscope slides and plates that were being discussed. Despite not understanding most of the bacteria names and getting confused when they talked about chocolate that’s not actually chocolate (see below), I did learn a lot about what happens in microbiology and how it’s different than surgical pathology. In surgical pathology, they receive the specimen and proceed to cut it up, but in microbiology, they get to grow their specimen.
This is a chocolate dish [2]; not quite what I imagined. I learned that when microbiologists are talking about chocolate, they mean lysed blood. Some bacteria like to grow on this, so this can be a good way to determine what type of bacteria is present. I like my kind of chocolate better.
Back in surgical pathology, I got to watch more grossing. I find it very interesting to see the different organs and learn how the residents describe them. I have noticed an unsettling trend of describing parts of organs as different foods. As a non-pathologist, I see no need to associate strawberries and cauliflower and chocolate with the insides of a human body, but I guess if it works, it works! The organs I saw were very unique (they were taken out of the body for a reason). I got to see a few lungs and some gastrointestinal organs including a very mucousy appendix. I learned about jelly belly (not the jellybeans) and got to see some green velvety gall bladders.
I had fun this week getting to see more aspects of pathology. I always enjoy learning new things, and this experience had definitely provided many new concepts and ideas. I have seen a very different side of clinical medicine, and I greatly look forward to a little bit more time in pathology!
This week, I went to sign-out to learn a little about breast pathology, and I got to look at more prostate slides too. I also went to a camera demo for a system that takes pictures of gross specimen. I learned why gross pictures are important, and I heard some of the challenges like unwanted shadows and color accuracy. These images are used extensively to help get the point across. Gross photos are used in research papers, for teaching and documentation purposes, and simply to understand the specimen better, so the technology has to be good!
Here’s what a gross photo of a brain might look like:
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| Photo of brain sections [1] |
Another fun adventure: I went to the microbiology department for their grand rounds. I got to see a few different microscope slides and plates that were being discussed. Despite not understanding most of the bacteria names and getting confused when they talked about chocolate that’s not actually chocolate (see below), I did learn a lot about what happens in microbiology and how it’s different than surgical pathology. In surgical pathology, they receive the specimen and proceed to cut it up, but in microbiology, they get to grow their specimen.
Back in surgical pathology, I got to watch more grossing. I find it very interesting to see the different organs and learn how the residents describe them. I have noticed an unsettling trend of describing parts of organs as different foods. As a non-pathologist, I see no need to associate strawberries and cauliflower and chocolate with the insides of a human body, but I guess if it works, it works! The organs I saw were very unique (they were taken out of the body for a reason). I got to see a few lungs and some gastrointestinal organs including a very mucousy appendix. I learned about jelly belly (not the jellybeans) and got to see some green velvety gall bladders.
I had fun this week getting to see more aspects of pathology. I always enjoy learning new things, and this experience had definitely provided many new concepts and ideas. I have seen a very different side of clinical medicine, and I greatly look forward to a little bit more time in pathology!
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