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.