Pathology

Sorry I haven't posted since my new job started, but I'm exhausted. The learning curve has definitely been steep. I'm working in pathology, so the transcription has some terms and formats I'm not used to which has made the work taxing and nerve wracking. Going into day 3, I think I have the hang of it. My biggest problem is with doctors who have thick accents and whose English isn't the greatest - I read back over the dictations and often they don't really make grammatical sense so I need to do some re-working to make it make sense. My favorite are short dictations which are only 5 lines - I can whip through them really fast.

I think this experience has definitely crossed pathology off the list of specialties for me. I wasn't planning on doing an elective in path and I'm still not! I find it really depressing - lots of metastatic cancer to several organs, lots of autopsies of obese people with coronary artery disease, and lots of fetal demise. I know that it's a necessary part of diagnosis, but I couldn't do it.

Anyways, it's Wednesday, yay! The week is half over! I'm looking forward to sleeping in this weekend (I've been getting up at 6 every morning this week to drive into the city - yes, I'm now one of those people who contributes to global warming through commuting, but it's only for a month and a half and I'm staying in the city a few days a week with my parents who live down the street from the hospital).