“Open different doors, you may find a you there that you never knew was yours. Anything can happen.“
-Marry Poppins
Welcome to the Pathologist's Assistant program at West Virginia University. One of the doors that you can open to find out what really makes you, you. Literally. If you have been accepted to this rigorous, but rewarding program, or are thinking about applying, I am here to help guide you through this program from a student's own eyes.
My name is Alex Krohn. I am 26 years old, I recently started this campaign into this unique program in order to become a Pathologist's assistant (PA). A PA's responsibilities covers two fields: surgical pathology and autopsy pathology. Generally surgical pathology deals with post-op specimens where a PA would gross them in order to be made into a microscope slide for a pathologist to read. They also deal with freezing specimens and having a slide made up while a patients is in surgery. In autopsy pathology, a PA performs the autopsy under the pathologist's guidance. PA's play a crucial role in the health care setting, working with both the surgeons and the pathologists. This is a great field to get into at this time, and it is one that I knew that I wanted to get into for a long time.
I grew up in the metro Detroit suburbs, did my undergrad at Michigan State University (Go Green) and graduated in 5 years with a BS in biomedical laboratory diagnostics. It sounds fancier than it is. I knew that I didn't' want to go through with becoming a clinical lab scientist, because it was more working with machines. Everything is automated these days. I wanted to get my hands dirty. I had connections with a pathologist where I got to sit in on an autopsy and right away I knew that this was what I wanted to do. "You want to work with dead people?", I am always asked. Even though when it's phrased like that, my answer is still yes and the fact that it sounds a little weird to the average person, makes me like it even more. Knowing that I can handle something that most people can't, makes me feel like this is my place in this world.
I knew I wanted to go to West Virginia University right away when I started doing my research to apply to grad school. But, I didn't think with my grades, that I could get in right way. So I went to Spain to solidify my Spanish minor, and when, I came back, I got a job as a necropsy technician in Kalamazoo, MI. A necropsy tech does what would be described as an autopsy on animals that are being tested for pharmaceuticals. This was the best job experience I could get in order to get me into school. After 2 years of working there, I applied and my plan came to fruition (somehow). This program is really difficult to get into, and I thank my lucky stars that I am given this opportunity. I hope that those who are thinking of applying are as lucky as I am. And to those that are in and getting ready to start, don't ever take this for granted. We get through these rigorous two years, and we get to solidify our place in this world and make a real difference.
Over the next two years, I will be adding to this blog, hopefully every two weeks or so. I have read all of the other blogs myself when I was applying to this program, so I know what I would like to share with you in order to get you well prepared for life in this field. I hope you enjoy and share in this journey with me as I learn to become a Pathologist's Assistant.
Editor's note: The publish dates on this page are dated strangely, because that is the only way I could order my posts in descending order.
