pls explain some path lingo 'sign out' 'gross'

[peter90036]

http://choosepath.blogspot.com/

". Some weeks, we sign out in the morning and gross in the afternoon. Other weeks will consist strictly of grossing and covering frozen sections or signing out and covering frozen sections."

"Blood bank involves seeing patients for apheresis procedures during the day as well as working up antibody reactions and transfusion reactions. Chemistry involves signing out protein and hemoglobin electrophoreses for a few hours a day."

the only one i think i understand is 'working up' which i think means: preparing the reaction.

please someone clear these underlined phrases/word combinations for me...


thank you,
Peter.

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[yaah]

"Signing out" refers to analyzing the data (sometimes a histology slide, sometimes a computer printout of lab data, sometimes images, cytogenetics results, combinations thereof) and making a diagnosis and finalizing it so that it goes into the patient's record.

"Grossing" is the process of receiving a surgical or biopsy specimen, describing it, and processing it for future histology slide analysis (taking sections of tissue, etc).

"Frozen sections" are intraoperative diagnoses. Surgeon cuts something out, needs to know (or just simply wants to know) a diagnosis or a surgical margin immediately, so the tissue is snap frozen and a piece placed on a slide for instant analysis.

"Working up" refers to taking all the available data in a certain problem and figuring out what the answer is or what the diagnosis is.

 

[peter90036]

so, most of a pathologists job is interpreting data and making diagnosis?

a pathologist must know procedures and such but most of the time the specimens are already prepared and you must diagnose them?

 

[yaah]

Under the "path info websites" thread at the top of the main path forum page are some links that may provide you with more info about what a pathologist does.