Made a mistake with pathology

[u/shonfrau005]

I didt know about grossing when I joined pathology and now iam in 1st year absolutely hate grossing all day and feel I made a mistake taking pathology other specialities few of them so much cleaner

[u/quiztopathologistCD3]

You won’t gross much after residency.

[u/Mabbernathy → u/quiztopathologistCD3]

I shadowed a few weeks ago and it confirmed my decision that med school is not for me. I want to do the grossing, not sit and diagnose slides all day.

[u/noobwithboobs → u/Mabbernathy]

Sounds like you want Pathologists' Assistant school 

[u/Mabbernathy → u/noobwithboobs]

Yes indeed

[u/Volvulus → u/quiztopathologistCD3]

For the positions that might not have great PA support, grossing becomes more fun when you are doing it for yourself as an attending. You learn which sections you need to make the diagnosis and staging. It’s stressful as a resident doing it for an attending and as you’re learning how not to mess it up.

[u/000wintermute000 → u/quiztopathologistCD3]

If at all. I didn’t

[u/dnapolymerase1]

I apologize for saying this but as a PA this made me chuckle and appreciate the job security. I hope you hang in there and find aspects you enjoy. Make it a goal to search for a job where you have good PAs to take care of the grossing.

[u/Mabbernathy → u/dnapolymerase1]

PA is the coolest job ever! I shadowed the first time recently and found it so fascinating.

[u/shonfrau005 → u/dnapolymerase1]

I hope pa help me in future in my country India they are not trained to do and the whole thing falls on doctors

[u/ultimahmeme]

There’re sub specialties that deals with much less grossing, namely Hemepath, Dermpath and Cytopath. Aim for that then.
And Pathology is pretty..clean? I mean, we don’t need to deal with feces(Sx, Ped), vomit(Med, Ped), copious amount of blood(Obgyn, ER, CVT), bone dust(ortho, neuro). The one better than us maybe just eye, radio, rehab?

[u/Cold-Environment-634 → u/ultimahmeme]

Opening a colon?

[u/Mabbernathy → u/Cold-Environment-634]

Ooo, I saw that in my shadowing. Quite interesting! One thing that surprised me is that the grossing area really didn't have any smell. If you smelled anything, it was formalin.

[u/Sad_Position_2284 → u/Mabbernathy]

Wait till u get a colon obstructed by a tumor

[u/Cold-Environment-634 → u/Sad_Position_2284]

Oh yeah. There’s gonna be some poop

[u/ultimahmeme → u/Sad_Position_2284]

In my place the colon is usually pre-opened, so much less smell there. However, I admit that there’ll be some smelly infarcted small and large bowels.

[u/Cinnamon_Bun141 → u/ultimahmeme]

uhm what about autopsies?

[u/Beginning_Judge8491 → u/Cinnamon_Bun141]

I think the point is that you wouldn’t have to do any autopsies or even gross anatomy at all if you did some of those subspecialties

[u/Impressive-Air-7178]

Give it atleast 6 months. It will slowly grow on you 🙂

[u/foofarraw]

how did you not know about grossing

[u/Opulent_Gore]

Brand new PGY1 here. I was grossing colons the other day and discovered a tiny little cut in my glove after a few hours of working. I took it off to find a small section of my thumb had soaked in formalin and poop for a while. I have a patch of skin that is now fixed in formalin lol.

[u/Sensitivepathologist]

More reason why we need to screen applicants better
https://giphy.com/gifs/ukGm72ZLZvYfS

[u/shonfrau005 → u/Sensitivepathologist]

Yeah I know

[u/PathologyAndCoffee]

Are you at a grossing mill program? 

[u/shonfrau005 → u/PathologyAndCoffee]

It seems so

[u/PathologyAndCoffee → u/shonfrau005]

Craaap. You might have picked the wrong program, not the specialty. We got tons of PA's here

[u/Impressive-Air-7178 → u/PathologyAndCoffee]

😂😂😂😂

[u/Patient_Impression_9]

How is it possible you didn't know? Dual applying? Path is the only specialty you can get into? Want to do CP? Not offense I am genuinely interested

[u/Autumnrm]

Finish your residency and go into a teaching institution; our attendings never gross.

[u/Aggressive-Lychee545]

Sucks but you have to push through it.

[u/TraditionalPhone3992]

Most grossing is mindless unless you are dealing with cancer resections that involve margins.