Crossing the Half-Way Mark

I’m glad to say that finals are now officially over with. The brains of my classmates and I have been filled to their limits and now it feels as if all that we had crammed for is slowly leaking out from our ears. At least, that’s how my head feels. It’s good to have survived our first year of pathologists’ assistant school.

I always try to prepare as much as possible for anything that I can foresee. Studying for finals started well before the last week of school for me. To my surprise, I found that I had done much better on these last finals than I had expected. It could have been that our professors felt pity for us and decided to decrease the difficulty of the questions that they asked. Or, perhaps we students hunkered down into our study-mode shells and toughed it out like the battled hardened veterans of academia that we have become.

So, upon reflection of this year, the big question becomes, which were the hardest and easiest semesters? I’ve talked with my classmates about this, but my own personal experiences deviate from the opinions of my classmates.

As for the majority of my classmates, they felt that the semester that they most struggled with was this fall semester. This fall, we certainly had a lot of extra reports and papers to write than the spring semester. Microbiology and physiology were also big classes for us, but microanatomy and clinical pathology were not classes to be ignored. I think that my classmates were feeling run down by the end of the year and wanted to move onto clinical rotations so that made having to slog through the fall semester difficult for them.

As for myself, I thought that my most difficult time was the summer pathology course, while the easiest (I shouldn’t say ‘easiest’ because really, there’s nothing easy about this program) semester for me was this fall semester. The summer pathology course was a barrage of information in such a short period of time that it was difficult for me to grasp at so many different pieces of information all at once. I mean, what person can go through 4-5 chapters of Robins every week for 7 weeks and still emerge sane? That period of a month and a half was the most challenging and difficult period of my academic life, but at least I’m still alive.

The reason that I thought that this fall semester was the easiest for me may have been due to having emerged from the summer course and comparing everything to that. In addition, I had studied microbiology extensively during my time in undergraduate school so that course wasn’t as difficult for me as for many of my classmates. I didn’t mind having to write the many reports because once I’ve formulated my thoughts I can write at a good pace. On top of all that, since I had moved out of my old bed bug infested apartment from the spring semester, it left me more time to concentrate on school and studying. What a nightmare that was during the spring semester.

For the newly matriculated students into WVU’s PA Program, I’ll say that you shouldn’t underestimate the spring semester. You’re going to feel overwhelmed at first, but if you study consistently every day and don’t give up, you’ll become accustomed (dare I say, inured) to the lifestyle. Unlike what many of you may have learned during your time in undergraduate school, the things that you’ll learn here are the things that are relevant to what you’ll be doing for the rest of your life. If it doesn’t stick at first, give it some time. Find a strategy that works for you. During the spring semester, my strategy was to make lots of flash cards and it worked for me. During the fall semester, I stopped making flash cards and focused on printing out the powerpoint lectures. Writing my notes on the paper copies of the power point lectures worked for me. So, as you can see, my studying strategy changed as the year progressed. The majority of my classmates wrote their notes either on the laptops directly using the pen/stylus, or they bought lined notebooks and filled it with their handwritten notes. The important thing is to find what works for you and adapt when necessary.

Now, all that’s left to do is to get a little bit of paper work filled out for both school and my new apartment in Pittsburgh. It feels nice to not have any immediate obligations, so I had better enjoy this moment while it lasts. I expect that next year will be busy with clinical rotations but despite not having any breaks I imagine that the time will fly by quickly.

Have a nice time everyone.

Speed of Light

Things this week have been going by so fast I'm surprised that I've even found the time to write an entry. I've studied all the material that my brain will hold for today, so I need to get away from the lecture notes. After a while, no matter how hard you concentrate, there comes a point when you turn the page and have forgotten what you just read on the previous five pages. That's one of the reasons why it's better to study everyday rather than trying to cram it all in in just one day.

On Tuesday we had our clinical pathology final in the morning and then we had our frozen section practical and gross dictation practical in the evening. The art of taking a frozen section is really tough to master! Before Tuesday I was in the gross laboratory at night for a couple of days and there were multiple times where as I was cranking the wheel the blade cracked the specimen right in half! It's game over if that happens in a real situation. I couldn't for the life of me understand why it was happening. After I searched some on the internet, the freezing gel, "Optimal Cooling Temperature", needs to solidify just right to ensure smooth cutting. I was cooling the block too much and it was shattering the whole specimen when I cut into it. It's a good thing that I learned that through experience rather than have that happen to me on my rotations next year. I'd rather make all of my mistakes now.

Yesterday was also a big event for us. We finally received our laboratory coats at our white coat ceremony. Although finals are still ahead of us in two days, it's too late for any of us to fail now. It was a really nice ceremony and I had the chance to see the family members of many of my classmates. Of course, West Virginia was too far away for my family in California to attend, but I still felt as if I was surrounded by family. I'm sure that they are happy to see my progress through the program.

The lab coat seems to be both a blessing and a curse to me.
It's nice to see my progress physically manifest as a lab coat. I won't lie in that the lab coat is a kind of status symbol. But, what weighs on my shoulders more is the amount of responsibility that wearing the lab coat entails. When putting on the lab coat it felt as if now I had entered into a new world of responsibilities and mistakes would have much higher and real costs than before. My biggest fear right now is making a mistake that will impact someone's life negatively in a huge way. (Something I did or didn't do to cause the pathologist to misdiagnose our patient.) The most that we can do is to do our best, but there may come a time where my best is not enough to avoid making a mistake. In a just world, our mistakes would only negatively impact ourselves, but there are situations in which our mistakes negatively affect others. I'm certain that the lab coat will serve as a 'Sword of Damocles' that will remind me be to be ever vigilant. But, in a sense, the lab coat is more ominous than the 'Sword of Damocles'. Our mistake causes the sword to fall not on our own heads, but on the heads of our patients.

Another full day of studying awaits my classmates and I tomorrow. Just a few more days and we'll be finished with the semester. I'm looking forward to it!

Back From Break and Just a Few Big Things Left To Do

It's already been one week since we've been back in classes and things are moving very quickly. Even our Thanksgiving Break moved quickly! It was a well needed time to just relax before the last dash to the finish line. I’m disappointed I didn’t get as much done as I thought that I would. I had hoped I would study the lecture material in preparation for finals but the only thing that I got done was a microbiology report.

Our extra credit microbiology report was open-ended so I found it to be quite interesting.  We just had to write a report on how the field of microbiology affects the field of pathology. The most obvious choice would be to write a report on all of the different microorganisms that cause disease in humans, but I like killing things much better, so I wrote about all the different ways to kill bacteria in the surgical pathology laboratory. Basically I covered antiseptics, disinfectants and sterilants. I went in to the pathology laboratory at Ruby Hospital and looked at all of the chemicals they use in the laboratory to clean and to protect us from catching the bugs that our patients have. It turns out the active ingredient in the majority of disinfectants used there is n-alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride. It sounds dangerous, but it’s only dangerous for the bugs. I can only imagine what it’s like to be a happy bacteria hanging out on a contaminated bench and then to see a flood of toxic liquid coming at you like a tsunami. The molecules insert into the bacterial membrane and disrupt it, so it’s equivalent to being… liquefied. Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark style.

In other big news this week, we’ve finally found out our rotation schedule for next year! My classmates and I have been waiting for this moment because the hardest thing to do has been finding a good place to live. Our housing in Charleston, West Virginia is provided for by the kind pathologists who work there, but that still left the monster of Pittsburgh to deal with. Here’s what my schedule is for next year.

1/3 - 1/27 University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences Tissue Bank (Shadyside Hospital), Pittsburgh, PA

1/30 - 2/17 UPMC Magee-Womens’ Hospital Surgical Pathology, Pittsburgh, PA

2/20 - 4/6 West Virginia Deputy Chief Medical Examiner’s Office, Morgantown, WV

4/9 - 5/4 Allegheny General Hospital Surgical Pathology, Pittsburgh, PA

5/7 - 5/25 Ruby Memorial / West Virginia University Healthcare Surgical Pathology, Morgantown, WV

5/28 - 6/15 UPMC Presbyterian Autopsy Pathology, Pittsburgh, PA

6/18 - 7/13 UPMC Childrens’ Hospital Surgical Pathology, Pittsburgh, PA

7/16 - 8/31 Thomas Memorial Hospital, South Charleston, WV

9/3 - 10/19 UPMC Presbyterian Hospital Surgical Pathology, Pittsburgh, PA

10/22 - 12/14 UPMC Shadyside Hospital Surgical Pathology, Pittsburgh, PA

You may have noticed something from the schedule above. There are no more breaks! We’re going to be kept as busy as bees, but it’s a good thing because this is the actual hands on experience that we need to be prepared for the working world. I’m very excited to be starting rotations and can’t wait.

Before that though we’ve got to survive finals. Next week we have one final and a practical, then the next week after that we have three more finals. It’s going to be a lot of cramming, but all I can think about is not having to take another traditional lecture course for the rest of my life. Hopefully. That reminds me, I need to stock up on some caffeinated green tea for these next two weeks.

Green tea is my anti-drug.

Today’s going to be a busy day as well. After all of our efforts, my classmate Prashant and I have decided on an apartment in Pittsburgh, so we’re heading there today to hand in our paperwork. All should go smoothly. The new place we’ll be at is located outside of downtown Pittsburgh, which will make the commute a drag, but the price was reasonable. The costs should come out to be $695 for a one bedroom apartment, with everything except for electricity, internet and TV included. There’s a bus stop right outside the apartment area that goes to Pittsburgh, but I’ll be carpooling with Prashant as much as possible. My challenge is to prove that going through the WVU PA Program without a car is possible. Of course, I'll be paying gas money. So far so good.

Woohoo! Thanksgiving Break!

It's not often that we get a whole week off from school so my classmates and I are overjoyed that we get the week off. Although most of them have left Morgantown to be with their families or are vacationing in warmer climates a few of us will be here in Morgantown. It's been gray all day and now it's raining, but nothing can dampen my spirits.

It seems contradictory to be in such jubilation if going to school is so wonderful. School is going along just fine and although I enjoy studying, studying for tests isn't all that enjoyable. I like WVU and the PA Program here but as I've said before, even people like Tiger Woods need to take breaks from golfing.

Nonetheless, I will still get some studying done this week. There's a 4-5 page microbiology report that I'll be writing and a couple of other subjects that need some studying up on. Once we get back to school we should only have a few weeks left until we are finished with the year. And that means we'll also be finished with classes! I can't believe that this could possibly be the last time I sit in a classroom and take a traditional course. Sure, learning goes on, but my classmates and I have been in the educational system for so long (the majority of our lives in fact) that the classroom environment has become something of a second home. I need to rent a 'mental U-Haul' and make the transition from my former home, the classroom, to my future home, the laboratory.

My roommate has invited me to spend Thanksgiving with her and her family. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and eating some tasty food. I'm fortunate to have found such a kind roommate.

This winter break I'll be looking into the immigration and naturalization process so that Hanako and I can finally be together again. It's been six months now since we've last seen each other, but thanks to technology, email and SKYPE it feels like we aren't too far apart. I'm still worried about her situation because radioactive elements are still being emitted from the nuclear power plant and are possibly leaking into the ground water. I'm also very disappointed that the major media outlets have completely ignored Fukushima and kept everything hush-hush. I'll bet that the majority of people don't even realize that Fukushima is a level 7 nuclear accident, the highest rating possible and on par with Chernobyl. There are so many things in this world that I want to fix and set right, but I realize that the only thing I can do is to remain vigilant and care for my friends, family and those who will lend an ear.

In the meantime, I have some relaxing to catch up on.

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

There's Never a Good Time to Get Sick

I came down with a cold yesterday and it's just in time for my test tomorrow in laboratory management. I'm actually not too worried about it because my grades in that class have been fairly solid and I would have to flunk it for it to have a significant impact. But nonetheless, despite our two big tests last Friday and on Monday, the study material is once again piling up.

For me, the worst part about having a cold is not the impact that it has on your health, but how the cold disables your normal functioning. This is only the second cold that I've gotten this year so I don't get sick often, but when I do it just saps all of my precious energy. Precious energy is what is needed for studying.

Yesterday, as I was walking home from school after studying late in the scope room, my whole body just felt so exhausted that once I arrived home I couldn't study anymore. Later that night my pharynx began to get sore and I knew by midday today that I was sick for sure. Thankfully, I don't have any cough. Today after school I tried to catch up in the scope room again what I wasn't able to complete yesterday, but I was just so exhausted from the cold that I couldn't concentrate. No matter how long I stared at the slides I couldn't connect the dots or recognize what I was supposed to see. So after about 15 minutes of sitting listless I decided to head home, call it a day and try again tomorrow.

In high school, when our class graduated, my friend received an award for "Most Likely to Make a Cure for the Common Cold." He's studying physics now, but I need to pester him to hurry up on that cure.

Fingers, Abuse and Blood, Oh My.

Despite the misleading and grisly title this entry has little to do with what you're probably thinking.

So we've finished a big endocrine system physiology test today on Friday just in time to study for another big microbiology test on Monday. But at least this short break has given me enough time to write a little today. I focused most of my efforts this week on studying for the endocrine test today and it paid off well, but to my detriment a huge 16 lecture microbiology test awaits me in just three days. So, I already know what I'll be doing this weekend. In a twisted way, one perk of being in graduate school is that you usually know your plans are for weekends. Studying.

In addition to our normal studying, we've been busy fulfilling the requirements for working next year in Pittsburgh. We had already done our fingerprint requirements and vaccinations before we entered into the program, but unfortunately those results aren't transferable to Pennsylvania. So we have the pleasure of doing it all over again. Our program has switched over to a third party this year who will store all of our information and release it to any organization that we authorize. That third party is "Certified Profile" and we scan and submit our required information to their website. I believe that the PA students for next year in January 2012 will be going through Certified Profile as well.

There are a number of things that are required before we can start our clinical rotations. The hospitals want to make sure that we aren't child molesting, disease carrying ex-convicts. One would think that being in a Master's Program would pretty much be proof enough that you have no major offenses (after all how would you have been admitted to the program in the first place?) but rules must be followed for the sake of rules it seems.
The four requirements are:
1) Pennsylvania State Background Check
2) FBI Finger Print Background Check
3) Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Check
4) Proof of Immunizations for:
     -Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR)
     -Varicella
     -Meningococcus
     -Tuberculosis Skin Test (two PPD step test)
     -Polio
     -Tetanus, Diptheria
     -Hepatitis B

Hence, the title of this post.

In between our studying and exams and classes we've been getting these requirements done one-by-one.

1) The Pennsylvania State Background Check was the easiest. It was just a simple matter of printing out a form, sending it in the mail, waiting for the reply in the mail, scanning it and uploading it.
2) For our FBI Background Check, we needed to get our fingerprints done at a place certified to carry them out. There are a number of places in Pennsylvania which will take our fingerprints, but the most convenient place for us was in Washington, PA. There's a place there called "Mail Boxes Plus More" and it's located in a renovated train station, so it's got an awesome historical feel to it. They were open on Saturday so that's the reason we decided to go there. Anyways, the finger scanning laser machine was having trouble for the first customers but once it warmed up we got ours done in about 7 minutes each. I didn't know it but there's a special rolling technique to having your fingerprint scanned. You've got to roll with the right force, at the right angle and at the right speed or you aren't rewarded by the satisfying beep of success. Finger rolling is certainly an undervalued art form and deserves further study.
3) The Child Abuse Form was easy to do, just like the State Background Check. We just filled out a form, sent it in the mail, waited a week or so to get our results, scanned the result and uploaded it to the certified profile site.
4) Immunizations were a pain to do, but I am happy to say that today I should be finally finished with all of them. Because the cost of these immunizations was prohibitively expensive here in Morgantown, we drove to Fairmont to the clinic to get them done. The clinic has some of the nicest staff that I've ever met and it was a pleasure to be there. It's located just across from Fairmont State University and is called Monongahela Valley Association of Health Centers. In addition to our immunizations, I had some blood work done at the laboratory there on Wednesday and got my results today.

I've always had high cholesterol. Despite my slim BMI of ~18.5 my cholesterol has been over 200 for my entire life. Way back in early May I had my cholesterol done and didn't like my results.

                                                  normal
Total Cholesterol - 210 mg/dl     (<200)
Triglyceride -         163 mg/dl     (<150)
HDL Cholesterol - 35 mg/dl       (>40)
LDL Cholesterol -  143 mg/dl    (<130)

I was glad that my total cholesterol was down from around 230 earlier, but I still wasn't satisfied. I decided to eat less fattening foods, exercise more and take fish oil tablets. I'd eat more fish but it's just too expensive to eat a serving everyday, and although I love to eat tuna I don't want to introduce heavy metals (within reason) to my body. In addition, with the nuclear power plant in Fukushima continuing to spew radioactive cesium, iodine and even more harmful isotopes into the Pacific Ocean I'm even more wary of eating seafood. (I just hope that the fish oil tablets come from fresh water fish.) I had changed my daily regimen and it looks like it had a positive effect! My results that I got today are as follows:

                                                  normal

Total Cholesterol - 205 mg/dl     (<200)
Triglyceride -         85 mg/dl       (<150)
HDL Cholesterol - 46 mg/dl       (>40)
LDL Cholesterol -  142 mg/dl    (<130)

I can't be sure which change to my lifestyle brought about the most change, but I believe that the dramatic drop in triglycerides and slight rise in HDL are due mostly to taking the fish oil tablets.

BUT!

The physician who saw me had the foresight to order a variety of tests on my blood while I was getting my cholesterol checked and I found out that I have my first deficiency! (At least that I know of.) I don't know why I'm excited over it. It must be because I'm always looking to improve my health and now that I know about it I can do something about it.


It turns out I'm quite deficient in vitamin D (20.6 ng/ml, normal 32-100). We just covered vitamin D on our endocrine physiology test so I know quite a bit about it still. Vitamin D mainly comes from our skin when we're exposed to ultraviolet radiation, but it can also be found in fish, eggs and some meats. Well, I don't really get much sun exposure because when it's cold here (everyday in the Spring, Fall and Winter) I wear a sweater and pants. I also don't eat much fish (too expensive), eggs (too much cholesterol), or meat (too much other bad stuff).


My deficiency is such that I have a prescription for vitamin D now. I'll pick it up tomorrow in between my studying for microbiology.


Vitamin D deficiency is usually associated with impaired intestinal absorption and renal re-absorption of calcium and phosphate which are needed for your bones. I'm glad that it was caught before it developed over the course of many years and I suffered an unexpected fracture. In the end, I've got to thank having all of these extra requirements for going to Pittsburgh. There's a bright side to everything.

Brrrr.

This month the weather has taken a turn for the colder and with it my vigor to study hard has been sapped. I've always disliked the cold because it just paralyzes my muscles. It's bad when the weather is close to freezing and you want to go for a jog, but it's even worse when your hands are so cold you can't write with a pencil or type on a keyboard very well. So, I've moved my studying from my desk and into my bed.

Studying in bed is great and now I have an excuse to do so. My electric blanket keeps me comfy, my stretched out legs have plenty of room to move around and my bed isn't too cluttered because I'm on a queen sized mattress. At night I share my bed with my binders, textbooks and notebooks by my side. How very fitting for the life of a graduate student.

Tests are a constant presence in my mind. We have been having at least one per week and it seems that as soon as we finish one we barely have time to draw breath before turning our attention to the next test. Next year during our rotations we're only supposed to have one test per month, so it will give us more leeway to study what we'd really like to. For example, right now I'd like to review some anatomy that I learned during the spring semester and create some more digital flash cards. But I realize that if I turn my focus towards anatomy, it's not going to help me on my microbiology test in three or four days from now. It's like learning or relearning old material kicks out the new material  in my head. Wouldn't it be great if our minds had the storage capacity of a computer? As long as I wasn't stuck with a 1.4MB floppy disk for a brain, I'd be able to absorb and recall all of the information that I wanted to.

Among all of our classes this fall semester, I'd have to say that my favorite has been our microanatomy course. It's not easy and there's a lot of memorization, but looking through the microscope is like delving into another world. Histology is quite bizarre when comparing what's on a slide to what we see in our everyday life. Pathologists have quite the imagination when they say something like a cell pattern has a 'starry-sky' appearance or a nucleus has a 'Pince-Nez' appearance. (Usually they don't look anything like their descriptors. Perhaps these pathologists breathed one too many formalin fumes during the discovery process.) Anyways, this class is starting to affect my everyday life. Whenever I see something that has a strange pattern to it I'm reminded of all sorts of diseases. The wallpaper in my room looks hemorrhagic and papillary with nests of poorly demarcated cells surrounding capillaries. I'm surrounded on four sides by a huge inverted papilloma covering the walls of my room.

Dress Code and Other Thoughts

I can't remember where but I learned a saying a long while back that goes something like, "The clothes that you wear are a reflection of your heart." Since then, I've tried to dress more appropriately for each situation. It's not a requirement at WVU that you dress formally, but my daily attire is usually a dress shirt with black slacks and black dress shoes. I probably dress more formally than other students here, but I've never felt the need to wear a tie as part of my daily routine. Many people here wear t-shirts, shorts or jeans to class, which is just fine with me. It's definitely more comfortable attire than what I wear. Students wearing scrubs or white lab coats are also commonly seen.

Friday we had two tests and tomorrow, Monday, we have another one. I'm about all studied out. It always seems that once you reach a threshold no amount of further studying is going to help you. I think of it as diminishing returns for each extra hour invested past your limit.

I never realized how big football here was until this summer. Walking around town on a game day is like entering another world. The sidewalks and parking lots become crowded with people dressed in blue and yellow and the smell of hot dogs permeates the air. Tailgating is almost like a religious ceremony here. I've never really been interested in watching sports or attending a sports game. My father follows sports intently, so I'm not sure why those genes weren't passed down onto me. Rather than watching other people play a sport, I'd rather just play the sport myself. I can't live my life vicariously through the players on the field. I enjoy my life too much to be concerned about whether a player can catch a ball 70 yards down the field with two opposing players trying to tackle him. Getting together with friends and family and enjoying watching a football game is perfectly fine. But I'd rather get together with friends and family and just have fun over a game of Texas hold'em, hearts or Egyptian War.

Just School As Usual

It's been awhile since I've updated but you can all rest assured that everything is going as smoothly as things can go here in West Virginia. Last week we had quite a number of tests but this week has been more relaxing thus far.

Last week our online course on educational methodologies started and I was glad to quickly get our first assignment done and over with. Every laboratory has a procedure manual for how to do everything that needs to be done in the lab and it was our assignment to write a procedure for a specimen of our choice. As PAs, we may find ourselves in supervisory roles and it seems more and more that my feeling of responsibility is increasing. Which is good. It's also partly due to our class on laboratory management. Throughout my life many of the jobs that I've had were ones in which a person was frequently looking over my shoulder and I was following what ever they ordered me to do. It was simple and I didn't need to think very hard. It wasn't necessarily to my disliking because I like being able to focus on my work and to do a good job at it. My first job related taste of being in a position of leadership was during my time as an English teacher in Japan. It was more stressful having to 'make orders' than to 'follow orders' for me, but I did find satisfaction from my pupils looking up to me. I can only hope that acting in a leading role in the pathology laboratory will be just as rewarding.

I've said it before, but one advantage of studying pathology is that you can correlate a lot of what you learn with your own personal life. I'm always looking for ways to avoid getting cancer and other diseases. I had always wondered whether artificial sweeteners, like aspartame, are actually bad for you or not. My wanderings on the internet brought me across "The Carcinogenic Potency Project". They have a good section on 'Misconceptions about the Causes of Cancer'. After reading the article I realized that I too was guilty of some of them. If you've ever had questions such as whether eating 'organic' is really healthier or not, then you should find it an educational read. Bruce Ames, if you know who he is, also helped to write the article.

That reminds me. I need to go get some more fruits and vegetables the next time I'm at the supermarket.

How to Find an Apartment in Morgantown

This week we've had three tests and I'm glad that they are finally over with. I've been busy studying as usual, but so far this semester seems more easy going than the spring semester. I can't tell if it's because I've gotten used to living here or if the course material is actually easier to understand. This fall semester, on most days our classes finish at around 3PM, which is nice to get out early and head home for a little relaxation before studying.

I'd like to make a post about housing while studying in Morgantown. I am by no means a housing expert, so I'll just go off of the limited knowledge that I've gained over the past year. When I was first thinking about this post I was considering actually naming different housing complexes, but since I've never personally lived at those places I can't really give a good impression of them. I hope to instead give some resources on housing in general and things to consider just for Morgantown.

Before I start, it's best to know what the layout of the area surrounding the campus looks like. I've made this small map here. I know, I know, my skills with paint are enviable.

I've taken this image from Google Maps and added a few notes. You'll see the Health Science Center (HSC) right in the middle. To the west, north and east, I've put three black circles. These areas are preferable when choosing an apartment. They are relatively close to the campus and are quiet neighborhoods. I've placed a red circle with an 'X' in it towards the south. These houses are where mostly the undergraduates stay. The housing there can be really cheap if you are strapped for money, but it will be hard to concentrate on Friday and Saturday nights. Also, this part of the campus is a bit isolated from the HSC and you may have trouble getting to classes in a timely manner.
I've also added a bar at the lower left. I left my car back in California so I walk everywhere I go. If you intend to walk to class I would recommend keeping within 25 minutes walking distance of the HSC.

From my experience, average housing costs in Morgantown will be $550-$600 monthly. This includes all utilities and trash service. Cable and internet are usually separate. I've seen some places go for as low as $350, but they are usually located downtown and you need to share the apartment with two or three other people. I currently pay $450 for my place that I found on Craigslist, although I am roommates with my landlord.

On-Campus Medical Center Apartments
http://housing.wvu.edu/graduate_student_faculty_and_staff_housing/mca
The first place I looked into before I moved to Morgantown was the on-campus Medical Center Apartments for graduate students. The location can't be beat because it's right next to the Health Science Center where nearly all of your classes will be held. You can get from your apartment to class in under 5 minutes. However, there are a few drawbacks to staying here. From what I understand, you need to be on a waiting list to get in. It might be 6 months before you know for sure whether or not you've gotten in. The other drawback is the higher than average cost, which ranges from $627 to $758 per month.

WVU Off-Campus Housing Resource
http://studentlife.wvu.edu/OffCampusHousing/roommateswanted.htm
The WVU website has an awesome bulletin for people who are looking for or advertising a room. Students who have a place but want to find roommates commonly post on here. The number of advertised places usually goes up during the end of the semester when students are graduating and need someone to take over their leases.

Google
Just go to Google and type in 'Morgantown Apartments'. You'll find a list of commonly advertised places such as 'The District', 'West Run' or 'The Ridge'. I personally don't know any specifics of these places. Look to see if they fall within the black circles on the map I made above and if they do, then compare their rates.

Craigslist
http://morgantown.craigslist.org/
You might be hesitant to try Craiglist, but it has worked for me so far. Well, I've had mixed success. As you may well know from reading this blog, the first place I went to had bedbugs. I expect that no matter where you go, there will always be undesirable things that landlords will not tell you about. I believe that my place was an anomaly and since none of my classmates had that problem, I assume that Morgantown is relatively bedbug free.
There are two places that you'll want to check out on Craigslist. Under 'Housing' you'll find a link for 'apts / housing' and 'rooms / shared'. Both will have plenty of places to choose from. As always, use your judgment and check the address to find out if the location is close to campus or not.


There are just a few other things to note while living in Morgantown.
-If you are bringing your car, you need to know that driving can be a harrowing experience in winter. The roads can get a thin layer of ice on them and people routinely crash or get fender benders. In addition, there are some major hills with steep inclines. In the winter, going up and going down those hills can get scary. Traffic during these times can come to a standstill.
-Roads can also become clogged during the morning rush hour and afternoon rush hour traffic.
-If you are walking to school, during the winter you'll need boots and a good windbreaker.
-Public transportation in Morgantown, while nice, is not always available or on time. I've used the bus system plenty of times. It's usually on time, but there have been times where I've waited at a stop for 45 minutes and the bus has never come. So, I would suggest that you not rely on the bus to commute to school. Using the bus is better for getting to the Morgantown Mall or the University Town Center.
http://www.busride.org/
-The Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) is useful for getting around to the different campuses, such as going from the HSC to Downtown, but it's not all that useful for commuting to and from school.
-Bicycling in Morgantown is tough. The various hills make it difficult unless you have legs of steel. The HSC is located on a giant hill and it's a monster to climb. I would say that it's better to bike for recreation than to integrate it as part of your commute.

That's all for now. If I think up of anything else I'll be sure to post it here. You'll need to use a variety of resources to find your ideal place. There is no 'magic' place that is going to be super cheap, close to campus, quiet and furnished like a king's throne room. None of my classmates nor I have had a terribly difficult time with our living conditions, so there's no reason to fret about finding the perfect place. Happy house hunting!

A Trip to the Pathology Laboratory / Gross Room Part 2

I've been wanting to post about my experience in the gross room this week and I've finally found the chance to do it. Each of us students are assigned a week in which we'll go to the gross room everyday from Monday to Friday. So, in addition to regular classes and studying (well, lack of studying really) I spent a total of 21 hours in the gross lab at Ruby Hospital this week. It was a busy week to say the least, but I really got a much better feel for grossing than what I had before.

Before this week, the only grossing experience I had was observing the pathology residents and the 2nd year PA students do grossing and dictation. It was great to finally get some hands on experience and try it for myself. By Friday, even though I was still going much slower than everyone else, I had gotten the pattern of dictating down in my head. Of course, I only worked on the most simple of cases, but it was still really satisfying to make those first baby steps.

The easiest and most common cases that I encountered were the GI (gastrointestinal) biopsies. This is when the doctor looks down into your throat or into your bowels for any polyps or growths, cuts them out (they are mostly smaller than the size of a bb) and sends them to the lab for you to gross them. Typically, you'll receive 2-4 small formalin filled containers with tiny pieces of tan tissue from either the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine or rectum. I'm proud to say that I encountered so many of these that I can now give a simple dictation off the top of my head! This is an example of how a simple dictation is done here at Ruby.

Let's say we got some GI biopsies from Mr. John Smith:

Part A is received in formalin, labeled "Smith, John" and "esophagus." It consists of a 0.3 x 0.2 x 0.1 cm tan-white irregular soft tissue which is submitted in toto in cassette A1.

Part B is received in formalin, labeled "Smith, John" and "duodenum." It consists of two tan irregular soft tissues measuring 0.3 x 0.1 x 0.1 cm and 0.4 x 0.3 x 0.2 cm which are submitted in toto in cassette B1.

Part C is received in formalin, labeled "Smith, John" and "rectum." It consists of seven tan irregular soft tissues ranging from 0.1 x 0.1 x 0.1 cm to 0.3 x 0.3 x 0.2 cm which are submitted in toto in cassettes C1-C2.

What's really interesting about dictating is that you aren't necessarily typing all of this on a keyboard. An experienced PA can both cut open specimens and speak about what they are seeing at the same time so they use a microphone to cut down on the time it takes to gross. Plus, when you're cutting open some specimens your gloved hands will get a bit... messy, and although it's not a problem to get the keyboard dirty I like to keep my workplace as clean as is reasonable.

So really, when you're speaking into the headset, what you're saying in the dictation is really this:

part a is received in formalin comma labeled open quote john comma smith close quote and open quote esophagus period close quote it consists of a zero point three by zero point two by zero point one centimeter tan hyphen white irregular soft tissue which is submitted in toto in cassette a one period

.....


Now we're getting into some foreign language skills! Learning to speak like this brought back some memories of when I was studying Japanese. It seemed awkward at first, and it was, but within a week I was able to get the hang of it and decrease my time by about half. Of course, the other more experienced PAs were still going twice as fast as I was, but it was good to finally be able to do it on my own.

In addition to GI biopsies, with the help of the other PAs and residents, I was able to work on skin biopsies, liver biopsies, bone biopsies and breast biopsies, but the biggest and most difficult one I worked on was the placenta. There are a lot of parts to the placenta that each need their own dictation. The parts that need to be looked at are the umbilical cord, the amnion, the fetal surface, the maternal surface and the parenchyma inside the placenta. It took a long time, but with the assistance of a PA working there I was able to gross it. Now, I can look back on it nostalgically and think, "Ahh, my first placenta."

So, that is how my week went. I didn't get a chance to do much studying, but I lucked out because this is a three-day weekend. I'll definitely be able to catch up thanks to Labor Day.

Also, I received an email back from the AAPA. Unfortunately, they said that I could not use any data from the job hotline, as it is exclusively for members only. So, I can't write a post about in which states are PA jobs opening up.

But, I do have other great news. Our program director, Cheryl, came back to the university after having attended a couple of conferences and at one of those places she met a representative from the place that I briefly shadowed at in Fresno/Clovis CA, called Pathology Associates. The representative was on the lookout for new PAs to hire and she did me the favor of mentioning me. Since I'm originally from Fresno/Clovis, it would be an ideal place to start working as a PA as soon as I graduate. Could it be that I'll already have a job lined up before I even finish my first year in PA school? I'm really excited for this great opportunity.

So, thanks to all of the PAs, residents and our program director, I've had a busy but awesome week. PA school is great! (Did I just say that?)

First Impression of the Fall Semester Classes

Now that the first two days of class have come and gone, I'd like to write some initial thoughts on each class.

Path 693 - Advanced Microanatomy
In this histology course we will be looking through microscopes to be able to identify types of tissues and eventually recognize different pathologies of tissues. This class seems like it's going to be pretty interesting. It's almost like the microscopic counterpart to our anatomy lab during the spring where we dissected cadavers, but this time we are looking at the microscopic world instead. If given the choice of either studying from pictures or from texts, I'd choose pictures every time, but that doesn't mean it's going to be easy. This first class we just had a review of what most of the tissues in the body look like under the scope and we will be expected to identify them based just on looking at the slide. Some of them are pretty tricky, such as differentiating between thymus and parathyroid. Just as with the gross anatomy lab, I'll probably come in on the weekends to review for this class by looking at the slides in my free time.

Micb 702 - Microbiology
I'm lucky to have taken both a basic microbiology course and a medical microbiology course during my undergraduate years, so this will be my third time taking a microbiology related course. So far, the lectures have been a lot of review for me, perhaps even basic. The course is broken down into 4 sections which we'll be covering in order; immunology, antibiotics, "systems" approach to disease and oral microbiology. We share the class with the dental students, so the last quarter of the semester will focus on the oral bugs like Candida albicans.

Psio 743 - Fundamentals of Physiology
This so far looks to be a very intensive and in-depth class on physiology. Many of the topics that we've covered so far I had already learned during cell biology; things such as homeostasis, microtubules, organelle function and nutrient transport. But, the pace of the class has been blistering fast. This class would probably be better aptly named as, "Esoterics of Physiology" because later on in the semester if I can't keep up I am sure I will get lost.

Path 620 - Clinical Pathology
This class also looks to be challenging for me. It is a class that explores many of the tests done by clinical instruments. I'm sure that my classmates who are medtechs will have little difficulty with this subject. We will need to know given reference values, procedures and understand what results mean for all sorts of laboratory tests such as urinalysis, clotting tests, Pap tests, genetic screenings and so on. There is a ton of data for this class and I may have to rely on some more intensive memorization sessions for this subject.

Mtec 465 - Clinical Laboratory Management
Although it's not technically a science class, it still looks like an interesting one to me. As PAs, we will often be put in supervisory positions or move on to management positions and this is a class on how to manage a laboratory. Things like how to hire a person, how to get through all the various paperwork of running a lab, how to comply with regulations and how to make a budget for a laboratory will be covered. As of right now, I'm more interested in learning how to gross tissues, but there is a certain allure to working as a manager. I've never taken a management course before, but it seems that many of the topics that we'll be covering on paper we already do in our daily lives without thinking about it.
For example, we covered in class today about the concept of Management by Objectives, or MBO. It's a step-by-step process in which one sets specific goals to be accomplished so that everyone knows what their role is and how they can achieve it. Every step needs to be documented on paper such as; 1) what the objectives are, 2) a way to measure the degree to which the objectives were reached, 3) when they were reached and 4) how well did everything work out. We do all of this in our heads everyday without thinking about it. Take for example buying a computer. You need to ask yourself, why you need a new computer? (eg. because the old one broke down.) How are you going to get it? (eg. look online for the best deal that suits your needs.) How are you going to pay for it? (eg. stop eating out at restaurants for a couple months.) How are you going to become proficient with it? (eg. use it right after you buy it so you can get used to the new version of Windows-omega) When were you able to use it proficiently? (eg. two days after buying it.)
Anyways, the above scenario is just something that we automatically do every day, but in this class we are going to be putting those thoughts onto paper. This "must write down on paper" mentality must be one of the reasons for rampant bureaucracy, but it will be interesting to finally learn it.

There are two other classes that we also have but they haven't begun yet, so I'll write about those when the time comes.


It's interesting to note how even though all PA students in all of the programs across the country are awarded a Master's Degree upon graduation, there seems to be some variability between the types of courses between each program. Even at WVU the courses that previous students took here isn't exactly the same as the ones we are taking now. It seems that previous graduates didn't always used to have an advanced microanatomy (histology) class, but those previous students were eager to correlate what they were seeing grossly with the microscopic world, and so the teachers were kind enough to create this class for us now. As awareness of the role of pathologists' assistants becomes ever greater, programs are growing and evolving all the time to keep up. If any of you readers have attended or are attending a different PA program from another school, I'd be interested in hearing what your classes were and how they are similar or different from the ones here at WVU. Feel free to leave comments!

Tomorrow will be the first day of the rest of my life.

It will also be the first day of the fall semester. It's about time we got back to work. I was becoming tired of filling my days with mind-numbing time wasters like internet surfing and getting lost on youtube.

Today I was reading all of the schedules and syllabi for our classes online and I can tell that this semester is going to be busier than the spring semester. I'm not opposed to being busy, I just don't want to be so busy that it begins to affect my performance negatively. (*cough* summer semester *ahem*) So while I am enthusiastic to begin our studies anew tomorrow, a part of me is filled with mild trepidation.

In an effort to preserve my sanity, I will try to change my studying methodology. In the spring, I made hundreds and hundreds of flash cards using a program called "Flash Card Manager". You can do a simple google search to download a trial version. Flash cards really helped me out for the anatomy course and even the anatomical techniques course. The drawback of having made so many flash cards is that the process of making them took up about the same amount of time for ice to melt in the Antarctic. I'd wager that as much as 1/3 of my studying time during the spring semester was spent just on creating those cards. They proved to be worth it though, not just for my test scores, but now I have a personalized flash card resource for whenever I need to look up something that I had already studied. This semester, instead of focusing on flash cards, I'll make an effort to add my own notes and scribbles to the powerpoint lecture handouts. It won't be as refined as before, but it should be able to pull me through while maintaining some semblance of a work/play balance. (90% work / 10% play is good enough for me.)

As mentioned earlier, I was looking through the schedules of our fall semester classes and one seems to have piqued my interest. Our clinical laboratory management course will have us working on quite a few reports and projects, such as trying to balance a budget and how to choose which laboratory tools and software to use. I think that this course in particular will offer us some interesting role-plays to work through. Upon graduation, most PAs begin their careers working at the bench. After a couple of years they may move on to higher supervisory or managerial positions. In the off chance that we accept a rural position and we are the only PA in the laboratory it's good to know that we'll be better prepared to deal with how a laboratory is run in addition to all of the usual things that PAs do at the bench.

Still no word back from the AAPA about my request to list states with PA job opportunities. I'll need to get on their case.

Fall Semester Schedule

Well, I was really looking forward to writing a post about which states that PAs are especially needed, but honestly I don't have the material yet.

As a student of the PA Program at WVU, one of the first things that we did at the beginning of our matriculation was to become members of the AAPA, the American Association of Pathologists' Assistants. Us instant-cup-ramen eating students are given a lucky break in that application fees are lower for us, but I can't remember the figure off the top of my head. Anyways, the AAPA website has a very useful page that only members can see which is a job listing specifically for pathologists' assistants. Laboratory managers from across the country can post an advertisement on the AAPA Job Hotline page for a fee and have quick access to every potential pathologists' assistant applicant. Right now, there has got to be a little over 2 dozen job listings. (If you come from a nursing background you are probably laughing, but it's quite a good number for how few PAs can be accepted into and graduate from these programs.) I wanted to report which states these advertisements are coming from, so I sent an email to the AAPA. I requested their permission to post on my blog how many advertisements per state were there, but unfortunately I haven't received a reply yet. When it comes to private information, one can never be too careful, so I'll try sending them another email within a week if I don't get a reply.

Now that we have successfully registered for the fall semester, I had the time to write out a simple schedule of our classes. Looks to me like it's going to be another busy semester, as expected. 

I'm sure you are all in awe of my prowess with Excel. The Path 610 course won't begin until September 19th so it isn't listed here. We will also be attending pathology conferences with the medical school residents from time to time, so I expect those will be scheduled Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings. Wednesdays look to be a little lighter in load, but I know already that we will be using that time for catching up on studying. Unlike the first semester where some of our classes ran until 6PM, this semester, all of our classes finish by 3PM. I think of it as a mixed bag. We will be finishing classes earlier but our mornings are going to be more compacted. Altogether, it's 17 units, but they are going to be some pretty tough units. School starts on August 22nd, so I should study ahead of time during this final week of vacation.

---------------------------------------------
Update 8/20/2011

Looks like my original schedule was just a tad off. For those of you who are really interested, here is the actual schedule for this year.

Interviews galore this week.

Well, just a little over one week of vacation has passed since the final exam. I'm spending my time here in Morgantown, incidentally, to the benefit of my school's PA Program. The professors here are completely swamped with interviews for next year's class and lucky for them, I and a few other students have volunteered to help out.

Some of you who are reading this might actually be one of the candidates to come for an interview. Many of you so far have commented that the directions for getting to room 2149 were really helpful, so I'll post a convenient link to it for you all right here.
http://pathotoko.blogspot.com/2011/06/interview-process-for-wvus-pa-program.html

I'd like to mention my thanks to all of the applicants who have come so far! It's always my pleasure to introduce a little of the PA Program at WVU to you all.

This week I'm volunteering to help out with 1-2 interviews per day from Monday to Friday. I'm sure that I'll get many more chances to meet some of our aspiring applicants.

Aside from the interviews, I must confess something. I've fallen into temptation once again. That is, it's only been one week off of school and already I'm reading textbooks again, even though it's our break time. I can't seem to help it. It must be in my genes.

So I ordered some of the textbooks that we'll be using for the fall semester and I've read a couple of chapters into our microbiology text. This class, I believe, is going to be surprisingly interesting. We PA students will be mixing with the dental students to take a microbiology course which has an emphasis on the oral flora. So far, the text has been very basic. It's either that or my experience in microbiology during my undergraduate years
must have somehow stuck in my mind. In any case, the text is an easy read and a great refresher for all the basics that I learned back then.

As much as I love pathology, it needs to be said that I have a soft spot for microbiology as well. My mother was the one who introduced me to the laboratory sciences. I would accompany her to her workplace at the Fresno County Public Health Department during the summers of my elementary school years and it really impressed me. What 6th grader wouldn't be awed by bacteria? I even did my science fair project on it. Later on in college I volunteered to help with research at the microbiology lab at Fresno State University and then moved on to working at the microbiology department at Fresno Community Medical Centers, so microbes and I go a ways back.

I must say that it was always fun working with the clinical laboratory scientists/medical technicians, but there was always the nagging feeling in the back of my mind that if I screwed up I'd contaminate the whole lab with a lethal pathogen causing the evacuation of our entire city and leading to the destruction of the world as we knew it. Nonetheless, good times were had.

Alright! The summer semester has finished!

And none too soon. My head was beginning to go bonkers from the non-stop studying.

But, it also feels strange to have stopped studying, if that can be believed. My schedule up until Friday at 10AM (the time of the final exam), had been filled solely with studying pathology. I always knew what I would be doing in the mornings, afternoons and evenings of everyday. My daily calendar was filled with studying and my life revolved around it.

Now, with the conclusion of the final exam, all of the sudden my daily schedule seems to be out of synch. Where once I never had to plan on what to do (as it was always just studying), now I am actively looking for ways to fill my time. The whole world seems to be open with possibilities for these next four weeks until the fall semester starts. I wonder if this is how people feel when they retire. It's almost as if something inside is missing. It must be that habits are hard to break and once a person who has been ingrained in a certain way of life is taken out of their familiar environment, they feel out of place and perhaps even empty. If I'm already rambling-on about this subject after only 7 weeks of intensive pathology studying, I wonder how it's going to be when I finally retire 30-40 years down the road. I'm done for. I can understand a little bit now why some people choose to never retire. I'll just have to wait and see if I'm one of those people.

But in the meantime, I as well as all of my classmates have plenty of things that we need to catch up on. I've decided that I won't be going back to California this vacation in an effort to save money. Although a big part of me would like to see Hanako and my family, my previous experiences living away from home have given me the fortitude to live independently. I'll be just fine here in Morgantown and I'll find plenty of things to do. Or, I might just start studying again in preparation for the fall. Oh, I wish that were a joke. I'll give myself two weeks.

One Last Dash

Only two more days to go until our final test! I'm giddy with excitement. Only a little bit more and we can kiss goodbye to days defined by "all day studying", for now.

I'll say, this has been the most challenging course so far in my entire educational experience. The sheer amount of material to know in such a small amount of time is mind-boggling. I earnestly salute the medical school students and residents who are able to do this for years on end. I would suffer from burnout long before the end of a single year, which is actually what I'd like to talk about after this final exam is done and over.

Thanks as always for your support!

Studying Pathology and Hypochondria

Now that the summer semester is nearly over, our progress through Robbins is rapidly coming to an end. Even though I'm certain that we've learned a lot, for some reason it feels like there is always more that we don't know than we know.

One of the things that I've come to enjoy about studying pathology is that the things that I learn here can also be applied to improve my own personal health. Just as a mechanic usually knows what's wrong with their car when it is having problems, a person studying medicine (especially pathology) usually knows how their body works and what to do to avoid, diagnose or treat disease. However, studying about cancers and  fatal diseases day in and day out can really begin to have an impact on how you view your body and how you take care of it.

For the layperson, taking care of your body consists of eating healthy and getting regular exercise. But, for medical professionals and students who know every single cancer, syndrome, disease and infection that can afflict the human body, just eating healthy and getting exercise isn't going to be enough to allay your troubled mind.

I've always been conscientious in taking care of my body. I don't smoke, I don't eat or drink in excess and I try to go for a jog as often as possible. But now, I've noticed that perhaps I am taking too many unneeded precautions while I go about my day.

1) Lately, whenever I've gone outside on a sunny day I always either wear a long-sleeved loose shirt or I apply sunscreen to my face, ears, neck and arms. Wouldn't want to get skin cancer.

 2) Whenever I walk by a person with a cigarette or a car that has a lot of bad exhaust I hold my breath. Wouldn't want to increase my risk for atherosclerosis, chronic bronchitis or emphysema let alone one of the countless lung cancers.

3) Whenever I buy groceries, if it's available, I choose a product that is sugar-free, non-fat or reduced calorie (sugar-free syrup or sugar-free jelly for example). Wouldn't want to develop Type II diabetes and all of the associated pathologies that go along with it.

4) Whenever I go into someone's basement or attic I always wonder if there's radon present. Wouldn't want to develop bronchogenic carcinoma.

The four types of bronchogenic carcinomas are squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, small cell carcinoma and large cell carcinoma.

5) When I'm studying in bed for long periods of time, I constantly move my legs around. Wouldn't want to develop a deep vein thrombosis.

The patient's right leg is edematous due to a clot in one of the deep leg veins.

6) Lately, I've taken up the habit of avoiding cheese and any milk that isn't non-fat milk. Don't want to increase my risk for prostate cancer with all the hormones that companies inject into chronically lactating cows nowadays.

The white spots you can see is the cancer, probably an adenocarcinoma.

7) I've also stopped eating butter and most greasy foods like fried chicken. I don't want my coronary arteries or aorta to get clogged up like this.

In this aorta, all of the yellow debris are plaques of cholesterol due to atherosclerosis.

So as you can see, with knowledge comes a bit of apprehension. There are many more bad things that I haven't shown because I don't want you to lose your lunch. You don't want to know half of the things we study when it comes to venereal diseases.

I realize that, to some people, I may be going a bit overboard in how I conduct my life now. It's somewhat similar to the person who watches crime and courtroom dramas on TV all the time and then they worry about their house being the next to be burglarized.

So how should one conduct their life when they know about all of these bad things that can happen to their body?

The answer, for me, must lie somewhere in-between the extremes. I'm in no hurry to become the archetypal doctor who smokes, nor am I in any hurry to starve myself and start a diet of caloric restriction to live longer. I'll continue to mostly eat healthy and enjoy my occasional apple pie. (As a matter of fact, I'm eating just that right now as I type this. Now I need to run off the calories before my arteries start clogging. There goes my thinking again. See what happens when you study pathology?)

Busy As Usual

It has been a while since I've written about this summer course, and now that half of it is over, I have a fairly good grasp on how to pass. It consists of lots and lots of studying.

It's an online course, so there are no classes that you need to physically attend, but studying takes at least 8 hours a day starting Friday afternoon and ending Thursday night. My perseverance has allowed me to get grades in the high 'B's so far. I'm fairly certain that I'll be getting my first B in a class in a very very long time.

Studying straight through in one whole sitting is impossible. It's much easier to study in blocks of 2 hours or so. Despite all of the information we are jamming into our heads, for me, the worst part isn't the stress. It's the lack of getting outside for fresh air. I can feel my body wasting away as I spend most of my day in my pajamas laying on my bed writing notes, reading textbooks and watching video lectures. I'm still able to get out and do a quick 15 minute run, but my days of working out are long gone.

Yesterday was Independence Day and I was lucky to be invited by my roommate to spend the holiday with her family in nearby Cheat Lake. There was a huge barbecue and everyone, myself included, brought a mountain of food. The company was friendly and the fireworks were spectacular. Although nearly everyone was a stranger to me, I'm sure they'll all never forget me. I'll be remembered as the guy who watched fireworks while reading from a pathology textbook in his lap.

Happy belated 4th of July!

Off Topic - Aftermath Pictures of My Old Apartment

As many of you who have read this blog know, I spent three years teaching English in Japan. I taught in a small town called Shinchi in Fukushima Prefecture at Shoei Junior High School.

Shinchi is located on the coast and suffered terribly during the tsunami that struck on March 11th. My fiancee, Hanako, drove with her dad to Shinchi to visit the place where I used to live. She took some incredible photos that shows the damage that the tsunami did to my house. I was pleased to see that it was still standing, as I had thought that it had been completely swept away like so many other houses. Nonetheless, the damage was total and it's now uninhabitable.

My nameplate in front of my house. It says "Forrest Merrill" in katakana.

What a mess! You can see on the wall how high the water level got. I'd estimate a good 5 feet.

The kitchen, laundry room and shower.

The living room.

My old bedroom. Can't sleep here anymore.

View from outside my house.

My house and some of the neighboring houses.

The view down my street. Looks like they cleaned up the roads pretty well. There are some houses in the background that are missing.

Another view down my road.

It's very strange and surreal looking at these photos. These scenes are more suited for apocalyptic movies. I'm sure the people of Shinchi are still pulling things back together. As soon as I get the chance, I'm flying over to pay my respects.

The Interview Process for WVU's PA Program

One of my commenters, PA Supertammy, has requested that I do a guest post for her blog "That Girl With The Scalpel" but the topic that I'd like to discuss today was too good to pass up posting on my own blog as well.

The other day, I had the pleasure of participating in an interview, so the process is very fresh in my memory. You may be one of the many who will be applying to West Virginia University's PA Program this year or even next year so I'll do my best to outline how it works.

Once you have been accepted for an interview, you'll need to fly or drive to Morgantown. If you come by plane, you'll be coming in from Washington Dulles International Airport. I believe that the Morgantown airport only offers service to Washington Dulles, but there is a Grey Line bus running between Morgantown and Pittsburgh. If you come in by plane, you can call a taxi at the airport. The only regional taxi service is called "Yellow Cab". If you are driving, be warned that the roads can be confusing for first time visitors. Morgantown's roads are not set-up in a square grid pattern and the beautiful rolling hills can block your view of where you are really going. A good map or navigational system will help you.

With a campus as big and diverse as WVU it's expected that finding one's destination can be intimidating. As of right now, the interviews are held at the Health Science Center which is located on the Health Sciences Campus (east of the Evansdale campus and north of the downtown campus). If you can see a huge brick-red hospital (Ruby Hospital), then you are very close. Just north of Ruby Hospital on a large hill is the Health Science Center. This is where the schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing and pharmacy are located.

When coming by car, the easiest way to get to the health science center is to turn off from Van Voorhis onto Elmer Prince Drive. There is a parking garage and it does require a fee to park there, but if you're willing to walk a little farther you should be able to find Ruby Hospital Parking at the bottom of the hill. You'll want to come in from the front entrance, which I've marked with a red circle above the parking garage on the map.

Now the Health Sciences Campus looks small on a map but when you get there in person it can be a labyrinth. Interviews are typically held in room 2149 and it can be a bit of a mouse maze to get there, so I've provided you with some directions to help you all out. Of course, once you've been here for a while most places here are easy to find.

Here is the entrance to the Health Science Center. It's really a beautiful campus. Soon after entering you will see the four huge pylons as shown in the next picture.

Here's what you'll see soon after entering. You'll need to go to the second floor by going up these stairs.

At the top of the stairs, you'll see this. Make a right.

This is a long hall. As you are walking, keep your eyes on the left side. You will turn left at the next passageway.

Now we're getting closer. Turn left after entering the passage way. From here on, the hall twists and turns like a snake, but if you keep going you can't get lost.

After passing the class pictures of the PA students and MT students you'll come across a 4-way intersection. Turn right here.

And you've made it! Just in time for your interview in room 2149.

The interview itself takes about 35-40 minutes and consists of 3-4 interviewers. The interviewers are usually PAs who are working at Ruby Hospital, some pathology professors, some PA students and most often the director herself, Cheryl.

Now, I know exactly what you're all wondering. "What questions do they ask at the interview?"...

I'm not saying.

But, I will tell you that it is a standard interview and you can expect the usual questions that are asked at interviews to be asked. My advice is, if you haven't already, to purchase a book regarding common questions asked at interviews and come prepared with your responses in your head. There are plenty of books available on amazon.com. As goes with Murphey's Law, you can't prepare for everything so despite your practice you may be asked a question that you hadn't expected.

This is graduate school, so you should dress professionally and be punctual in arriving. After the interviewers have asked their questions the interviewee will get a chance to ask their own questions about the school and the program.

You will be happy to know that there is no essay question to be completed after the interview. There was an essay portion of the interview in years past, but it is no more. The professors thought that the essay responses just did not add much weight to the applicants overall score, so it was eliminated.

After the interview, you will be given a brief tour of the health science center campus and all of the places relevant to PA students. You won't be graded once the interview is over, so you can feel free to relax. One of the students in my class will escort you to the health science center library, the morgue, the gross room and so forth. You should use this opportunity to ask some more questions about classes, studying, etc... After this, you may return home! I'd recommend that once you get home you write a thank you letter to the program director, Cheryl.

The competition to get in is high, just like anywhere else. I don't have any figures on how many applicants there are every year, but your acceptance depends on many factors. The interviewers really do look at the whole picture and spend hours and hours selecting which applicants can matriculate. It's really a tough process because there are so many qualified applicants but so few spaces. Things that they look at include, but are not limited to, your gpa, the classes you took in college, your work experience, your volunteer experience, your personal growth, your letters of recommendation and your interview score.

Because the competition is so high, you may be turned away even though you would have become a perfectly fine student. The PA Program at WVU is still expanding and more spaces are opening up, but at the same time, the number of applicants has also risen. There is no waiting list at WVU that I'm aware of, so if at first you don't get in, you should apply to as many other PA schools as possible and don't give up on your love for pathology.

For those of you who do get in, welcome to graduate school! You'll find yourself quite busy once classes start, so enjoy your remaining time at home and get a head start on studying anatomy. You can thank me later.

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Update 6/23/2011

There actually is a wait list. Please see Cheryl's comment for when you can expect to be notified of the results of your interview.