Pathology and Patient Contact

[nsap102]

Hey,

I like both. Is there a field within pathology in which you get to have direct patient?

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[listeriaismfb]

Hey,

I like both. Is there a field within pathology in which you get to have direct patient?

You neglected the contact bit in the quote above...


Yes, in cytology you see patients then do the fna. Likewise on transfusion medicine you see patients all the time.

 

[LADoc00]

transfusion medicine..not so much.

Cytology: variable. Some FNA cyto people have clinics and have massive amounts of patient contact. Others have none.

I have had all the patient contact I ever want to experience.

 

[listeriaismfb]

transfusion medicine..not so much.

Cytology: variable. Some FNA cyto people have clinics and have massive amounts of patient contact. Others have none.

I have had all the patient contact I ever want to experience.

LADoc, I guess my BB experience was different than yours.

I saw boatloads of patients on my transfusion medicine rotations, while covering the donor room, stem cell harvests, plasmapheresis & RBC exchanges. Getting informed consents, doing the consult write-ups, and the daily notes were the resident's responsibilities.

 

[scurred]

patient contact...way overrated...

i look forward to the days when star trek becomes reality and i have a little portable scanner that tells me what's wrong with someone

btw...i currently reserve that little portable scanner as a chargeable procedure only done by pathologists

 

[LADoc00]

LADoc, I guess my BB experience was different than yours.

I saw boatloads of patients on my transfusion medicine rotations, while covering the donor room, stem cell harvests, plasmapheresis & RBC exchanges. Getting informed consents, doing the consult write-ups, and the daily notes were the resident's responsibilities.

In real life, you never round on patients when you do trans med write ups. Typically you do a quick e-chart review and a select a canned text for the interp and move on.
Not sure what you mean by "getting informed consents". Trans med physicians do not consent anyone to anything.

People working in blood banks do, but you specifically mention transfusion medicine as "having patient contact all the time". In addition, real life blood bank management has zero percent patient contact anyway.

What you are doing in residency is simply not representative of what TM/BBing is.

 

[KeratinPearls]

I would like to quote a SDN legend, Apache Indian. He sums it really well.

Let me make it crystal clear: patient contact blows. Got it? It's nothing like House or Grey's Anatomy -- that is fairy tale land. Avoid patient contact as much as possible. You will be glad you did.

 

[HbyHA]

I would like to quote a SDN legend, Apache Indian. He sums it really well.

pure poetry.

 

[HbyHA]

LADoc, I guess my BB experience was different than yours.

I saw boatloads of patients on my transfusion medicine rotations, while covering the donor room, stem cell harvests, plasmapheresis & RBC exchanges. Getting informed consents, doing the consult write-ups, and the daily notes were the resident's responsibilities.

that would pretty much be my experience as well. it was awful, i tell you. wearing my little white coat and pretending that it would be all okay if something bad happened during a pheresis. talk about false advertisement! i think the hematologists should take back the plasmapheresis machines in our hospital...

 

[listeriaismfb]

Not sure what you mean by "getting informed consents". Trans med physicians do not consent anyone to anything.

Let me clarify. I trained in a place where the IM people just put the lines into people, they never, ever, consented the patients for any pheresis or exchange procedures.

We (BB residents & fellows) would explain risks, benefits, & side effects of a given procedure, ask pt if they understand these and have questions, etc. We even had the joy of calling family members for consents at 3 AM.

Fond memories from my time on BB...

 

[yaah]

Yeah, the important question to ask yourself is why you need patient contact. Is it because you really love it and can't have a career without it? Or is it because of one of the following:

1) You have heard that you can't be a real doctor without actually seeing patients
2) You went to medical school because you wanted to take care of patients and can't get past that
3) You have idealized fantasies about the patient-doctor interaction and either haven't experienced reality yet or are in denial about it
4) Members of the opposite sex (or same sex, depending on your POV) are only attracted to people who actually do things like touch patients or talk to them, so you had better do that if you want some action
5) You have a feeling that the patient will be much better off with you as their physician than someone else, because you can really relate to them and they will respect you more
6) You really get kicks out of sticking sharp objects into peoples' bodies and then fixing the problems that you or others or nature have created

Unless it's #6, give yourself a couple of major rotations in clinical med before you discount fields that don't have tons of patient interaction. It doesn't make you any less of a physician or any less intelligent or whatever if you don't like it or just find it so-so and you like other parts of medicine better.

 

[bodonid]

I really really liked Contagion, should I be a Pathologist?

nm


Well I have a question. Where do I ask stupid questions?

1)Do people do 3rd yr electives (or 4th) in Path? Or should I try to shadow or something sooner?

2)Is research in Pathology important?

 

[yaah]

Well I have a question. Where do I ask stupid questions?

1)Do people do 3rd yr electives (or 4th) in Path? Or should I try to shadow or something sooner?

2)Is research in Pathology important?

For stupid questions, it is best to ask Dr Search Function.

I think most people do some kind of elective in path during early fourth year or late third year if possible. It's hard to fit it in otherwise, most med schools don't give you much flexibility until fourth year or so. Research is always helpful, how important it is depends on the quality of the rest of your application.