For the past two weeks I've been rotating through the pathology department; one of the top specialties on the "Chris is gonna be an adult someday" list. I have some preliminary observations:
1) It's increasingly difficult to "shadow" a pathologist. Let's face it, they're looking in microscopes so you can't really see what they're doing most of the time. Unless they have a multi-headed scope you're kind of out of luck. That being said you can learn how to make frozen sections and gross specimens from the OR if your resident is nice.
2) Pathologists are friendly and quiet. The absence of people yelling is a welcome change from surgery.
3) Reading is a daily occurrence. There are very bulky books all over the workroom that fit awkwardly on shelves. Before this rotation, I had no idea that you could write thousands of pages on a single organ.
4) There's sitting. Lots and lots of sitting.
So there isn't so much glamor in pathology. There's no rushing to a sick patient's room (unless you're in blood banking). There's no stethoscope or reflex hammer. You frequently refer to other doctors as practicing "clinical medicine." So if you can't tell I've got a little anxiety about going into a field that has no patient contact. Before med school I had no idea that I enjoyed seeing patients. Now I'm on the cusp of going into something that will let all those clinical skills go to waste. On the other hand I'll be one of those doctors that has a near encyclopedic knowledge of disease.
But hey, who said making decisions about the rest of your life was easy?
