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!