What cassette printers do you all have?? The one I have (thermo printmate) is absolute dogshit. If it doesn't jam, it's because the cassettes didn't feed right. It always prints light so I get held up trying the play the print lottery so the cassettes scan for the HTs on their end. So we got new machine (that we can't use because of a dispute between our IT person and the company) but the person who maintains our current machine says the one we got is one of the worst in the market. So my question is, are there any good cassette printers??? Or are they all terrible? Or am I being lied to by the person maintaining our current machines???

I’m really interested in becoming a pathologists assistant and I’m wondering what a work day is like for someone in the field.

Hello! I am considering applying to Quinnipiac's pathologist's assistant program for Summer 2025 and I was wondering if anyone would be able to share their experience with the application process as well as their experience and credentials that they had prior to being accepted.

I am currently working as a medical laboratory technologist in New York and I graduated from college last year. I am planning to ask the pathology department at my hospital if I could shadow one of their PAs and an autopsy if possible.

I got a full ride for undergrad and maintained a 3.8 GPA throughout. What was the financial situation for you guys/did you receive any scholarships/grants?

Thank you!

I am just wondering if anyone has heard anything from any of the Canadian PathA programs about interviews for this application cycle??

hi everyone, for those who applied to Loma Linda - I hear you get a phone call about the decision of your application. Is this only if you are accepted? If you are rejected, do they still call? and in both instances, do you get an email as well or just a phone call?

Hi! My sister is super interested in becoming a PA - she recently graduated with a BSc in forensic biology and has done a few hours of shadowing, though hasn't really had the opportunity to shadow a full autopsy just yet. Her GPA is 3.9 on the OMSAS scale and she just applied to Western this year. If she was interested in coming to the US, how would she pursue PA shadowing in Canada? and what would her chances be? She's already submitted her app but she's quite nervous since she still hasn't heard back from Western - Thanks in advance :) Also anyone who has gotten into Western (or any PA school), do you have tips to upgrade her application on the off-chance she doesn't get in this time? Much Love!

I'm trying to get a better picture of what's "normal" for one PA to gross daily. Obviously some days are just chaotic with super complex cases, frozens, dealing with problems- and some days are just straight up slow. So let me ask you:

1. Average block count?
2. Type of lab (large academic, private, community hospital, etc.)
3. Do you have gross techs that do smaller ditzels and bxs?
4. Number of GTs and PAs
5. Yearly estimated case volume?

Thanks all!

Hi all, I'm a med student who is 5 months pregnant and I'm starting a 1-month pathology elective next week (hoping to become a pathologist in the future!). I'm trying to get as much input as I can on this topic from women who work in labs with formaldehyde/formalin.

Did you modify your PPE or workflow at all during pregnancy to reduce formalin exposure? My parents are panicking about me doing a pathology rotation while pregnant and want me to cancel it.
I'm planning on wearing an N95 in the frozen section lab, and of course an N95 and appropriate PPE during autopsies. My impression is that the exposure is relatively low risk if you follow appropriate PPE and avoid inhalation. Can any ladies share their experience of being pregnant while working with formalin/formaldehyde?

I am hoping to get connected with a Physician Assistant who can allow me shadow them for some time before applying to PA school next cycle. I graduated Texas A&M university with my Bachelors' degree in Biomedical Sciences and I join enlisted in the national guard. I'll be going off to basic training soon but I was hoping I could get some shadowing done prior to getting shipped off.

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I’m 22 years old and I recently made the decision to leave my current field because I want to be a PathA. I am one year away from getting my bachelor’s degree in early childhood education but I’ve been working with kids for years and I’m so burnt out and completely done with the field. It wasn’t something I truly wanted to do anyway and was never something I was initially interested in. I made the decision to change my major to biology and get my bachelors in biology and then apply to a pathologists assistant school program from there but I just want to make this this is the right path and I’m not making it take any longer than it needs to. I know that I will have many years of schooling ahead of me and it’s really unfortunate I have to pretty much start over with my degree. Any advice is greatly greatly appreciated!

Hi everyone,

I’m finalizing my list of schools I’d like to apply to and I’m waiting to hear back from some locations that I’ve called regarding shadowing (mostly emails, left voice mail with some managers).

A place that did get back to me is a pathology laboratory near where I live. They get specimens from hospitals in the area which I thought was kinda cool.

But does that count towards the schools’ surgical shadowing requirements? I was under the impression that the shadowing has to come from a Pathologists’ Assistant that worked at a hospital, not a for-profit laboratory situation.

Also, how little is too little? I’ll have about 8 hours with the lab once I’m done, and I have about 160 hours doing autopsy. Is that enough hours or do I need to cry some more?

Thanks for your thoughts!

I didn’t get any interviews to any of the programs I applied to. I’ve gone back to see what I could’ve done better/different and I’m at a loss. My prerequisites/requirements all passed and I did over the amount of shadowing the programs required. They only asked for 10 hrs and I did 40+ and only 1 or 2 autopsy cases and again I did a few more than that. Are there some of you that got in the second time around and what did you do differently? Do I still have a chance to get in if I apply again? Does it get easier? Please

Has anyone met a Pathology Assistant with this type of background and schooling?

Hello everyone!!

I am 22 years old about to graduate with my bachelors degree in mortuary science. I currently have a 3.1 GPA and I was planning on entering into tissue recovery and then autopsy technician work for at least one to two years before applying to grad school to become a pathologist assistant. Is that a realistic timeframe or what work needs to be put in an order to be excepted into a school. I know every university is different with requirements but I'm just curious because of my GPA. What would be the best route? What routes have you guys taken or jobs did you have prior to entering into grad school? What helps getting into a PA program

If anyone could shed some light on the situation it would be greatly appreciated!

Hello!

I was trying to find some shadowing experience in the Dallas region during Summer 2024 but most of the clinics either said no or either told me to send a message through voicemail. I would be utmost grateful if anyone could find me a connection to shadow at UTSW. Thank you!

Can anyone give me a couple examples of questions similar to what you saw on the board exam? I am going through the AAPA study guide however I am worried that the questions on the exam are worded a little more complex/tricky. I'd really appreciate some insight on how the questions of the exams are worded, etc.

Hey all.

Ive been working with students rotating at our hospital for a bit now, and lately I've been really frustrated. Our current PA student is very under experienced (apparently had two grossing rotations prior to us but had never touched a cancer case and has issues with basic anatomy) and is basically unable to answer questions that aren't in multiple choice format.

Being one of multiple teaching PAs in our lab, there have been mixed reviews re: student's performance. There's no excitement or true interest when we have interesting specimens and the overarching theme seems to be apathy.

I really, really want to help this student succeed because I believe they can if they commit, but there is such a disconnect and gap in where they should be when about to graduate.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

We recently got a temp who referred to herself as a Pathologist Assistant (red flag #1) but listed experience and specimens that were only gross tech level. I told leadership I felt weird about it but they hired her anyway. So she shows up and doesn't even know how to gross a polyp. But she kept saying she had extensive experience grossing "smaller complex cases like gallbladders and appendices". So we gave her a gallbladder and it took her about an hour and a lot of questions. Now leadership is shocked and is going to contact the agency and is probably going to end the contract (hopefully). The agency is Aureus btw... I don't think I'd suggest them.

they have a lot of Path Assist job postings but I can’t tell if it’s scam lol. anyone have any experience with them?

I'm glad my job has knees and hips on the exemption list.

Hey everyone, recently me and the PAs I worked with talked about what specimens we weigh and it's caused some debate.

Some PAs say only whole organs should be weighed (radical nephrectomies, whole lungs, etc) and other PAs say they weigh whole organs as well as partial ones like partial nephrectomies, lung lobectomies, etc.

Then we were also talking about lumpectomies, which we all weigh even though they aren't a whole organ, but no one knew why we weigh these. Anyone know?

I feel like we tend to see the worst case scenario every day in our jobs, with little exposure to the side of medicine without cancer and/or serious illness. Perhaps because of this, I find it extremely difficult not to immediately jump to the worst case scenario when a loved one is ill. For example, my mother was hospitalized a few months ago following a heart attack and was incidentally found to be severely anemic, without obvious bleeding. I immediately thought that she must have colon cancer (she doesn’t, although they never did find a cause for the anemia). Currently, my husband is experiencing an alarming increase in frequency of illness. Since the beginning of 2024 he has had COVID, strep, a UTI, a GI virus, and now an upper respiratory infection. He hasn’t been sick this many times in the 10 years we’ve been together before 2024. So obviously I’m terrified that he has Multiple Myeloma or something equally horrifying.

How does everyone stop themselves from spiraling and thinking the worst? Is it because of our jobs or is this just a me problem?

Writing this in a bit of a panic bc I’m having a crisis considering my future plans so I apologize if this is all jumbled together… I have a learning disability that causes me to take longer to learn and understand things and I also struggle with mental health issues (I call them “roadblocks”), I graduated college with degrees in bio and sociology but I received accommodations, found what worked for me, and took low course loads each semester so it took me a bit longer to graduate because I got overwhelmed with all the different classes and information and couldn’t understand what I was learning in my classes because it was way too much at a fast pace and I couldn’t keep up or retain information like my classmates could (even with hours of studying/tutors/office hours/etc.) and in turn that also affected my mental health; I’m wondering if it would it be possible to attend path a school, take lighter course loads and just take longer to graduate? I was an autopsy tech for a bit and I’m a licensed EMT and after extensive research, I found that this route is what I would love to do and is my dream. It’s not that I lack in knowledge, it just takes me longer to get there. Would it be possible for me, or would I just have to give up on my dream because of my “roadblocks”?

Hello everyone. I am desperately looking for some answers, was wondering if you guys could please help me !

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1. If you go to a school that has not been accredited, what does this truly mean? Can you still sit for your final exam and get a job ?
2. What is the salary looking like right now for a PA
3. The only school near me in NY is Touro Harlem, has anyone been ?
4. How hard is the first three didactic semesters of pa school.

thank you so much for your help in advance.

How hard was it to land your first travel PA assignment? I'm considering switching to travel and had a recruiter submit me to a few hospitals but have not heard back yet. Not sure if I should be applying to many different agencies for a better chance at landing something..

be lost without her and want to make sure she knows she is appreciated come PA day. any ideas? also plz direct me to the right group if this is the wrong one for this question.

I just wanted to post and say your feedback had results and many facilities have raised or adjusted the bill rates they were posting to reflect what would actually make travel assignments worthwhile for P.A.s who would be interested in becoming travelers. I'm already seeing success and finding quality candidates. Thanks so much to those of you who were able to share your thoughts with me!

This career has been my goal since high school and I'm finally getting to the point where I can apply to schools!! I am a more "alternative" person as some would describe it, I have very unnatural-colored hair, and lots of piercings, 6 of which are facial piercings (eyebrows, nose, lip). I am VERY emotionally attached to my hair color and facial piercings especially and I am just curious what would be acceptable. Of course, I am willing to change anything necessary but it'd be cool if I could change as little as possible lol. Also, after school, how strict appearance-wise are jobs? I know rules are different between each hospital, private practice, etc. but what has been y'all's experience? Would it be possible that I could dye my hair back or get any piercings again that I may have to get rid of for school?