Week 6

I spent my time this week in the pathology department once more, splitting my time more or less evenly between the gross room and the autopsy suite.  There was another fetal autopsy this week, and though I've already seen one, the effect is still the same.  I discussed this with the resident on service this week, how you can get used to the idea of an autopsy and the procedure itself but still continue to feel sad for the family because of their loss.  It was comforting, in a way.  And it was nice to see the same procedure performed by another resident, to observe the slight differences in their methodology--though the end result was the same and the duration more or less equal.  In the gross room I watched residents from various sub-specialties work, including GI, CVT, and breast, once more.  I was able to assist them as they worked with various tissues, helping with organizing workstations and even trying to locate lymph nodes in tissue samples.  It's made me realize how comfortable I am with the people in the pathology department, and how grateful I am that I've been able to work with a group that has been so patient and kind with me.

I ended the week by attending two conferences, radiology/pathology (breast) and autopsy.  The former involved what I see more or less during morning signout with the addition of radiologists presenting various scans to accompany the tissue samples.  It contributed an additional level of clarity to the setting, I think, and resulted in a more complete story.  The autopsy conference involved a resident presenting on a previous case--one that I was not familiar with--and guiding the group step-by-step through the various findings.  As is the case with all autopsies, I felt it was a humbling and distinctly sad situation.  Once again, however, I appreciate the manner in which everyone has discussed the deceased; it's direct but very respectful.  The conference then ended on a lighter note, with a question-and-answer session in which various scenarios were presented to the residents in order for them to determine cause of death.  It showed me again how close the group was, as well as how much knowledge was acquired between the first and second year of residency.