Starting pathology (entire handbook): Difference between revisions
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The goal of this handbook is to make a new pathology trainee able to properly handle at least 80% of cases that are expected at an average general pathology department, including the exclusion of the most pertinent differential diagnoses thereof. | The goal of this handbook is to make a new pathology trainee able to properly handle at least 80% of cases that are expected at an average general pathology department, including the exclusion of the most pertinent differential diagnoses thereof. | ||
It is recommended to scroll quickly through this handbook to get an idea of its content, and then keeping it at a known location for whenever information is needed for a corresponding patient case. It is not recommended to memorize its content indiscriminately. Other doctors and even laypersons can look up diseases and conditions themselves, including pathology characteristics, without the need for a pathologist consultation, so the expertise of memorizing such readily available information is expendable. In a world where diseases and conditions can readily be '''looked up''', a major skill that distinguishes a pathologist from any person with Internet access is mainly the ability to identify and put '''words''' to findings on microscopy or other non-written results. Another major skill is to be able to deal with '''unusual or equivocal''' presentations. Unusual or equivocal presentations of very common diseases and conditions are still generally more common than rare diseases, and constitutes a major workload in everyday pathology practice. However, most textbooks still give disproportionately large room for rare diseases compared to such presentations. Nevertheless, strive to '''master the common''' conditions (including the most common pitfalls) before diving into the uncommon. | It is recommended to scroll quickly through this handbook to get an idea of its content, and then keeping it at a known location for whenever information is needed for a corresponding patient case. It is not recommended to memorize its content indiscriminately. Other doctors and even laypersons can look up diseases and conditions themselves, including pathology characteristics, without the need for a pathologist consultation, so the expertise of memorizing such readily available information is expendable. In a world where diseases and conditions can readily be '''looked up''', a major skill that distinguishes a pathologist from any person with Internet access is mainly the ability to identify and put '''words''' to findings on microscopy or other non-written results, and to conceive most likely diagnoses based on both verbalizable and more abstract appearances. Another major skill is to be able to deal with '''unusual or equivocal''' presentations. Unusual or equivocal presentations of very common diseases and conditions are still generally more common than rare diseases, and constitutes a major workload in everyday pathology practice. However, most textbooks still give disproportionately large room for rare diseases compared to such presentations. Nevertheless, strive to '''master the common''' conditions (including the most common pitfalls) before diving into the uncommon. This handbook is therefore written with the intention to teach you what to do in various situations you are expected to encounter during your first years of pathology training, at least until the point that you are usually fairly confident about what disease or condition you have at hand, because then you know what words to use to look it up in the vast literature out there. | ||
===What a pathologist needs to memorize=== | ===What a pathologist needs to memorize=== | ||
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[[File:What you need to memorize.jpg|350px|right]] | [[File:What you need to memorize.jpg|350px|right]] | ||
* '''Dealing with Internet denialists and their exams.''' With the ease of access to pathology information on the Internet through smartphones and computers, those studying to for everyday practice as a pathologists '''should not''' spend time memorizing what can essentially always be conveniently and timely be looked up in times of need. The topics listed above are already immense enough to cover a lifetime of learning. Nevertheless, the path to pathology certification includes one or more exams, whose questions are largely made up of people who still do not acknowledge the access to the Internet in everyday pathology practice, and therefore this curriculum also includes this chapter. | * '''Dealing with Internet denialists and their exams.''' With the ease of access to pathology information on the Internet through smartphones and computers, those studying to for everyday practice as a pathologists '''should not''' spend time memorizing what can essentially always be conveniently and timely be looked up in times of need. The topics listed above are already immense enough to cover a lifetime of learning. Nevertheless, the path to pathology certification includes one or more exams, whose questions are largely made up of people who still do not acknowledge the access to the Internet in everyday pathology practice, and therefore this curriculum also includes this chapter. | ||
===What a pathologist generally doesn't need to memorize=== | |||
*Any information that can conveniently and timely be looked up when needed. This includes most of the content of books that are sorted by titles of diseases and conditions, because if the name of a disease is already known, it can relatively quickly be looked up when needed. | |||
==Emergent pathology== | ==Emergent pathology== | ||