Monday, June 20, 2011

Week 1 - Karin

I've been paired up with a breast cancer pathologist, Dr. Sandra Shin, who was kind enough to take the time out of her busy schedule to show me around the breast pathology lab and to introduce me to some people I will be interacting with at the tumor bank. She wants me to help extract data from Copath and Epic (hospital databases) to add to their Breast Tumor Bank. However, her request for me to have access was not yet processed, as such I wasn't able to do much of anything except twiddle my thumbs.

I attended a Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Grand Rounds, in which Dr. Shin presented a talk on "Evolving Concepts of Lobular Carcinoma in situ (LCIS). It was an interesting talk with a riveting discussion afterward, but due to the medical jargon I was unused to - most of it went straight over my head... To help remedy my situation, I was directed to Robbins and Cotran's textbook, Pathologic Basis of Disease, and spent my next few days reading up on the pathology of the breast and familiarizing myself with the associated jargon.

I also attended a Breast Pathology Working Conference in which Dr. Shin and another doctor presented interesting cases and worked through the diagnosis of said cases. Again, this I found myself interested but barely following along. So... I got another textbook to look through: Wheater's Functional Histology. I see a pattern beginning... But I don't mind, the knowledge I'm gaining is useful and interesting.

I can't wait until July, when Dr. Shin's new residents arrive and then we all rotate through her colleague's surgeries and clinical rounds!


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