WEBVTT - External Exam - Friends That Filet Together, Stay Together with Pathologists' Assistant, Kristy Salapata 0:00:04.720 --> 0:00:09.600 Mother Knows Death Presents External Exams with Nicole and Jimmy. 0:00:16.640 --> 0:00:19.400 Hi, everyone, welcome the Mother Knows Death. On this week's 0:00:19.400 --> 0:00:22.159 External Exam, we will be talking with one of my 0:00:22.320 --> 0:00:28.639 best friends. Her name is Christy Salapata Salapata, and we're 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:31.120 just this is how our friend Ken used to say 0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:33.680 her last name. He used to call her Salapata and 0:00:33.720 --> 0:00:36.600 we missed him. He was an investigator at the medical 0:00:36.600 --> 0:00:39.720 Exammer's office while we were in school, and we loved him, 0:00:39.760 --> 0:00:43.879 and unfortunately he had two heart transplants and ended up 0:00:43.960 --> 0:00:46.720 dying before he was forty years old, and it was 0:00:46.760 --> 0:00:47.800 really sad. 0:00:47.880 --> 0:00:49.240 So, yeah, he was a good dude. 0:00:49.320 --> 0:00:53.080 Yeah he was. So. I first met Christy in two 0:00:53.120 --> 0:00:56.800 thousand and seven in PA schools, and the reason we're 0:00:56.800 --> 0:01:00.440 interviewing her today is because she's a PA like me, 0:01:00.760 --> 0:01:06.640 but she specializes in pediatric pathology, which we have to 0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:09.640 ask her why because I just don't understand why she's 0:01:09.640 --> 0:01:11.600 interested in it. So we're going to talk about it. 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:14.959 And let's so let's talk about first when we met 0:01:15.120 --> 0:01:19.919 when we were in PA school two thousand and seven, right, two. 0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:22.600 Thousand and seven, we met actually before starting because remember 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:24.160 you reached out to a couple of us and we 0:01:24.200 --> 0:01:26.039 wound up going out to what was it lunch or 0:01:26.040 --> 0:01:28.200 dinner or something like that. Oh yeah, and that place 0:01:28.240 --> 0:01:29.080 is no longer there. 0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:32.640 That was Oh yeah, that place was this swing that's right. 0:01:32.880 --> 0:01:33.600 Yeah. 0:01:33.760 --> 0:01:36.920 Yeah. So before we started PA school, our program director 0:01:36.920 --> 0:01:39.480 had sent an email out to us welcoming all the 0:01:39.520 --> 0:01:41.959 new kids in the class or the adults I guess 0:01:42.000 --> 0:01:44.120 you would say, and we all reached out to each 0:01:44.160 --> 0:01:46.959 other so we could meet each other because it's it's 0:01:47.120 --> 0:01:49.920 kind of cool when you're starting a program like this 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:52.560 that's so specific and you want to meet everyone that 0:01:52.560 --> 0:01:54.520 you're going to school with because you're like, how is 0:01:54.560 --> 0:01:58.560 everybody like into this same zech field as me? So 0:01:59.280 --> 0:02:02.920 that really, I would say, like when I met Christy 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:04.720 and the other girls in my class, we were such 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:08.680 a tight knit group of people, and that's when I 0:02:08.760 --> 0:02:11.760 really like made a best friend for real, Like, and 0:02:11.800 --> 0:02:14.120 it wasn't until I was like, what was I twenty 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:16.400 six or twenty seven years old when I started school, 0:02:16.480 --> 0:02:21.320 So but that like we've been kind of inseparable since then. 0:02:21.760 --> 0:02:23.240 That's when the love affair began. 0:02:25.600 --> 0:02:29.239 Yes, So let's talk. She she's a little bit of 0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:30.880 a wild one, so we're gonna have to real her. 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:34.800 So one funny story that that I do have is 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:38.160 so when so Christy used to live in the city 0:02:38.600 --> 0:02:41.720 and I lived in Jersey. So I would drive over 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:44.960 from Jersey every single day and pick up Christie because 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:48.760 we were rotating in West Philly at similar like different places, 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:51.880 but a lot of the hospitals were in the same area. 0:02:51.960 --> 0:02:54.880 And I was at Children's Hospital at the time and 0:02:54.919 --> 0:02:58.120 you were at the m a yes, vice versa. Yeah, 0:02:58.480 --> 0:03:01.839 it was. It was something like that. And so I'm 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:03.560 going to pick up Christy in the morning, and all 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:05.919 my way to pick her up, I stopped at Wawa 0:03:06.000 --> 0:03:08.520 to get coffee, like I did every day, And that 0:03:08.760 --> 0:03:12.080 was when I met Gabe, actually, right, So I'd meet 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:15.760 Gabe in wah Wah in the morning and I sat 0:03:15.800 --> 0:03:18.280 there and talked to him for like a couple hours 0:03:18.320 --> 0:03:20.680 out front of Wahwah the day I met him, and 0:03:20.720 --> 0:03:23.840 I just totally didn't call Christy, didn't tell her, like I. 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:25.680 Wasn't picking up for school. Nothing. 0:03:26.639 --> 0:03:29.079 Yeah, So it was really it was just really funny. 0:03:29.480 --> 0:03:32.000 So like she missed school that day, she just couldn't 0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:33.720 get there, Like it was just all this stuff, and 0:03:33.760 --> 0:03:36.640 I called her and it's just like I met the 0:03:36.640 --> 0:03:39.400 love of my life. Like, I'm just gonna like you 0:03:39.760 --> 0:03:42.720 have to miss school today because I and she she understood, 0:03:42.760 --> 0:03:44.520 you know, that's what a good friend does. 0:03:44.840 --> 0:03:47.080 Yeah, at first I was upset because my abandonment issues 0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:49.600 came up, and then once she told me that, I 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:52.240 was like, Okay, this is way better. I'm like totally acceptable. 0:03:52.600 --> 0:03:55.200 Yeah, so it was really cool that she's like part 0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:58.840 of our story like that. So before we talk about 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:02.920 what you do now is PA, let's talk about what 0:04:03.160 --> 0:04:07.040 were you you decided to go to Obviously, so when 0:04:07.040 --> 0:04:09.120 you go to PA school to master's program, so you 0:04:09.160 --> 0:04:11.800 already have to kind of have a college degree before 0:04:11.840 --> 0:04:15.280 you even start PA school. So what what did you do? 0:04:15.360 --> 0:04:17.120 What did you go to college for? Initially? 0:04:17.279 --> 0:04:20.920 So initially I went for biology, just did a standard 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:24.400 biology degree because you know, in high school, nobody tells you, hey, 0:04:24.680 --> 0:04:26.960 with this degree in college, you can do X, Y 0:04:27.080 --> 0:04:31.240 or Z. No offense to guidance counselors back then, but 0:04:31.320 --> 0:04:33.640 you were either a doctor or a researcher, and that 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:36.880 was it. So I knew I loved science. I kind 0:04:36.880 --> 0:04:38.599 of liked math, but I was like I don't know 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:41.400 what you do with math other than be a math teacher. 0:04:41.400 --> 0:04:43.560 You're a teacher, And I was like, now I'm good. 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:47.800 So I wound up deciding biology was the way I 0:04:47.800 --> 0:04:50.240 wanted to go because I was interested in like animals, 0:04:50.279 --> 0:04:52.719 and I was interested in the human body. And that's 0:04:52.760 --> 0:04:54.480 how I wound up with a biodegree. 0:04:55.000 --> 0:04:57.520 And what So, how old were you when you graduated, 0:04:57.520 --> 0:04:59.599 like twenty two or you went right from college? Right? 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:02.880 Yeah? Yeah? Or from first high school? Yeah? For undergrad 0:05:03.080 --> 0:05:05.160 I don't know. That was a long time ago, nineteen 0:05:05.200 --> 0:05:07.240 ninety nine. I think I graduated high school. 0:05:07.680 --> 0:05:11.000 So when you so, when you graduated from college, were 0:05:11.000 --> 0:05:12.279 you able to get a job? 0:05:12.880 --> 0:05:16.039 So well, that's so that's an interesting story and actually 0:05:16.160 --> 0:05:19.039 ropes into like how I wound up here. But so 0:05:19.240 --> 0:05:21.040 I was an undergrad. I was like, I don't want 0:05:21.080 --> 0:05:24.240 to be a doctor, and I really wasn't into research, 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:26.440 but I found a fascination with genetics, and it was 0:05:26.480 --> 0:05:30.760 more so aside from the obvious, you know, learning how 0:05:31.000 --> 0:05:33.599 genetics actually works and plays a role in diversity for 0:05:33.839 --> 0:05:38.440 human the gene pool, I wound up also being intrigued 0:05:38.480 --> 0:05:41.599 by dys morphology, which should have been my first clue 0:05:41.600 --> 0:05:45.159 that this was like the calling something abnormal is what 0:05:45.279 --> 0:05:48.480 struck my interest versus just the typical day. 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:51.880 Okay, so that's how you started kind of finding out 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:53.320 about pathology and stuff. 0:05:53.440 --> 0:05:56.400 Well kind of. But when I was like, hmmm, I'd 0:05:56.440 --> 0:05:59.440 say around like third grade age, I was watching PBS 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:04.799 and there was a doctor once again, a doctor on TV, 0:06:04.880 --> 0:06:07.480 and she was showing slides these pink and purple images, 0:06:07.520 --> 0:06:09.240 and I was kind of fascinated by what she was 0:06:09.279 --> 0:06:12.520 talking about, and she was a pathologist, and that's when 0:06:12.560 --> 0:06:13.520 it all started. 0:06:14.040 --> 0:06:16.320 Oh really, that's that's cool that you did, like got 0:06:16.360 --> 0:06:18.560 into that so early because people asked me. 0:06:18.480 --> 0:06:20.120 That, Ye when I was like nine or ten. It's 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:24.240 really cool that I was into weird, freakishly weird things 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:25.919 and diseases. Cool. 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:32.039 So you're undergrad So once you graduated college and you 0:06:32.080 --> 0:06:35.720 so you started working in a genetics lab, right, So. 0:06:35.760 --> 0:06:38.719 No, what happened was I didn't want to do research 0:06:38.800 --> 0:06:41.960 I knew I did in undergrad. We did an internship 0:06:42.000 --> 0:06:45.640 and it was fun. I worked you know, with like 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:48.640 Western blots and I was working on that and just 0:06:48.839 --> 0:06:50.680 wasn't my thing, Like there was too much like it 0:06:50.720 --> 0:06:54.440 was too boring for me. No offense to researchers, but 0:06:54.520 --> 0:06:58.000 it was just too boring for me. So genetics I 0:06:58.040 --> 0:07:01.800 wound up discovering genetic counseling field and that's when I 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:06.880 started to apply to grad school for genetic counseling. And 0:07:06.920 --> 0:07:09.400 then on that interview basically said I also have an 0:07:09.400 --> 0:07:13.640 interest in forensics, and they were kind of like, well, 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:16.320 do you have any experience in genetic counseling. I said no. 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:19.160 I was like, I just think it's really cool what 0:07:19.200 --> 0:07:23.640 they do. So on that interview, needless to say, I 0:07:23.680 --> 0:07:26.840 didn't get into that program, but they set me up 0:07:26.880 --> 0:07:30.200 with a job my first job out of college, which 0:07:30.240 --> 0:07:33.160 was working with genetic counselors, which is where I found 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:38.080 out genetic counseling wasn't for me. It was interesting in 0:07:38.080 --> 0:07:40.560 the fact that they were basically offering support to these 0:07:40.600 --> 0:07:44.160 families that had new diagnoses in what their kids had 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:47.760 as far as like a genetic disorder or syndrome. And 0:07:47.800 --> 0:07:51.600 then that was like the extent of what I liked. 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:54.720 I wound up going to clinics seeing the patients, finding 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:56.800 out a little bit more about the dys morphologies and 0:07:56.840 --> 0:08:00.320 like what problems arise in the life of these shows Ldren. 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:05.080 But I was creeping up to pathology to go check 0:08:05.120 --> 0:08:07.880 out the lab, and I think that's when it was 0:08:08.000 --> 0:08:08.520 very clear. 0:08:08.680 --> 0:08:10.440 I was going to say that like the whole time 0:08:10.480 --> 0:08:12.880 where you like, I want to see what these genetic 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:15.080 disorders look like. I don't want to read about it, 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:17.440 Like what does this look like? You're saying all these 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:21.840 different things, like remember you had that one song for like, 0:08:22.360 --> 0:08:23.160 oh god, it. 0:08:23.080 --> 0:08:26.560 Was that for Edwards it was Edwards and Pitaw we 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:29.040 were doing it was like Rocker Bottom feet and then 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:31.360 I can't remember the rest and I've been trying to 0:08:31.480 --> 0:08:34.360 remember it. 0:08:33.240 --> 0:08:35.360 But that helped us. When we were taking our tests 0:08:35.400 --> 0:08:36.000 and stuff, I. 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:38.000 Was like small jall and I'm like, what else was it? 0:08:38.080 --> 0:08:42.280 Yeah, exactly, that's funny. So so then, so how did 0:08:42.280 --> 0:08:45.559 you find out about our field? Because like this is 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:48.640 kind of there was internet, but it was kind of 0:08:49.200 --> 0:08:50.040 It wasn't great. 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:52.160 That was the problem at the time. You couldn't find 0:08:52.160 --> 0:08:54.520 out about anything other than, like I said, being a doctor, 0:08:54.559 --> 0:08:58.320 a nurse, or doing research. So while I was in 0:08:58.360 --> 0:09:01.839 genetics and I saw this, anytime the doctor had something 0:09:01.880 --> 0:09:04.720 that had to go up to pathology, I was like 0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:07.080 volunteering left and right. It was like anything to just 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:10.920 go up there and see what was going on. So 0:09:10.960 --> 0:09:12.600 I started thinking, you know what, I need to get 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:14.200 back in a lab setting because it was more of 0:09:14.240 --> 0:09:16.720 like a secretary's type of position I was in. Although 0:09:16.720 --> 0:09:19.400 it taught me a lot and exposed to me, exposed 0:09:19.400 --> 0:09:23.839 me to a lot, it definitely wasn't where I wanted 0:09:23.880 --> 0:09:26.360 to be. So I wound up going back and working 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:30.680 at my undergrad as their lab assistant, and there I 0:09:30.760 --> 0:09:33.880 was doing like setting up chem labs, biolabs, et cetera. 0:09:34.880 --> 0:09:37.120 During that time, they must have saw that I was 0:09:37.160 --> 0:09:42.240 getting bored and decided to have me teach anatomy lab 0:09:42.240 --> 0:09:45.320 in microbiology lab to the nursing students. Oh that's fun, 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:48.840 which was a lot of fun. And then met one 0:09:48.880 --> 0:09:50.960 of the professors said to me, you know, I know 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:53.200 you're itching to get out and you're looking for something 0:09:53.200 --> 0:09:56.560 to do. But I know this woman who works at 0:09:56.559 --> 0:09:59.959 a hospital and she does adutopsies and she does organism. 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:02.120 He's like, I think that's something you would really like. 0:10:02.240 --> 0:10:04.640 Well he said that, and I almost fell on the floor. 0:10:04.960 --> 0:10:07.080 I was like, my dream job. Yeah, I just like, 0:10:07.880 --> 0:10:09.959 no one tells you that this field is out there. 0:10:10.040 --> 0:10:15.320 So after that I started looking into the field the program. 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:18.120 He told me her title Pathologists Assistant, and I was like, 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:20.120 this is it, this is what I want to do. 0:10:20.200 --> 0:10:21.800 I was like, I didn't want to be a pathologist. 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:24.200 They look at slides all day on bored I'm not 0:10:24.240 --> 0:10:27.960 going to enjoy that. I want to get in there, eviscerate, 0:10:28.080 --> 0:10:30.959 to sect and cut shit up. 0:10:32.760 --> 0:10:36.000 Exactly that. And that's actually part of the theme of 0:10:36.040 --> 0:10:39.200 my lecture for crime con is just like, because you know, 0:10:39.240 --> 0:10:41.600 I always get that question, you know, why don't why 0:10:41.600 --> 0:10:44.120 aren't you a doctor? And you're just like, there's a 0:10:44.200 --> 0:10:47.480 little bit more to it than just to just that, right, 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:51.280 So you start PA school and that's how we met. 0:10:51.320 --> 0:10:54.160 And another thing I wanted to add is that when 0:10:54.280 --> 0:10:59.040 our PA program at Drexel started two years before we did, 0:10:59.280 --> 0:11:01.560 so it was we were the third class of a 0:11:01.600 --> 0:11:05.280 new program. So when we were looking into the field 0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:08.640 of pathology, because I already worked in psychology, so I 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:11.240 knew a little bit about it because we had PA's 0:11:11.280 --> 0:11:14.160 working at the hospital, but there was no program for 0:11:14.240 --> 0:11:16.880 it in Philly. And then the word started getting out 0:11:16.920 --> 0:11:19.839 around it and we were I believe our program wasn't 0:11:19.880 --> 0:11:22.800 even accredited when we started, or or at least when 0:11:22.840 --> 0:11:23.559 we signed up. 0:11:23.800 --> 0:11:27.120 Yeah, I think so it was kind of risky to go. 0:11:27.320 --> 0:11:30.240 Into a program that's not accredited because basically they wouldn't 0:11:30.320 --> 0:11:33.080 let we wouldn't be eligible to take the PA exam 0:11:33.160 --> 0:11:37.400 if it didn't become accredited. And that's happened before. It 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:40.439 happened at Hanuman with the with some of the programs 0:11:40.480 --> 0:11:42.800 back in the day. So and then we would just 0:11:42.840 --> 0:11:45.360 basically pay for that whole college degree and they'd say 0:11:45.400 --> 0:11:49.559 you can't take the test and you'd be screwed. So 0:11:49.559 --> 0:11:53.640 so we start PA School and so PA School is 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:56.040 a master's program and it's two years. The first year 0:11:56.200 --> 0:11:57.760 is was the classroom work and that. 0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:00.840 Was just blood, sweat and tears, but it was it. 0:12:00.760 --> 0:12:02.719 Was fun though, Like we got through it and it 0:12:03.120 --> 0:12:05.840 was fun. And then the land we we had such 0:12:05.880 --> 0:12:09.040 a good group of God, there was what six of 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:11.439 us that were just kind of very close in seven 0:12:12.280 --> 0:12:18.000 well so yeah, including ourselves, yes, six other people, but yeah, 0:12:18.040 --> 0:12:20.520 we and we still we still talk, were actually trying 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:26.760 to get together for like old Lady Reinga at this point. Yeah, 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:29.760 but so, yeah, we had a good time and everything, 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:31.600 and then the second So the second year we do 0:12:31.920 --> 0:12:35.640 our internship, which we just basically have to rotate at 0:12:35.720 --> 0:12:39.960 different hospitals and morgues in order to get the certain 0:12:40.000 --> 0:12:42.560 requirements that we need for graduation. So we had to 0:12:42.600 --> 0:12:49.920 do autopsy rotation, surgical pathology rotation, forensic rotation, and children's 0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:54.120 hospital rotation, and so all of us had to do 0:12:54.840 --> 0:12:56.920 just to And it's also good because it kind of 0:12:56.960 --> 0:13:00.600 gives you a feel for like what you would like. 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:03.520 As a PA, right and seversity of this. 0:13:03.720 --> 0:13:07.240 Yeah, and some labs that you work in have a 0:13:07.320 --> 0:13:10.200 mixture of it, but other ones are, like you could 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:13.880 get a specific autopsy job, a specific children's job, specific 0:13:13.960 --> 0:13:18.760 search path job. So when I went to Children's hospital, 0:13:18.880 --> 0:13:21.280 I loved the pas there. I had a blast. They 0:13:21.280 --> 0:13:25.640 were really really fun, But I hated the pathology part 0:13:25.679 --> 0:13:29.959 of it. I thought it was very tedious and sad, 0:13:30.000 --> 0:13:32.920 and just like I just I didn't like it. So 0:13:33.040 --> 0:13:35.920 you you went and you loved it, Like what why? 0:13:37.800 --> 0:13:40.400 So it's funny because I was thinking about that answer 0:13:40.640 --> 0:13:44.040 to that question because I don't necessarily think, like when 0:13:44.040 --> 0:13:45.600 I came into the field, I was like, ooh, let 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:47.520 me do pediatrics, this is what I want to do. 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:51.440 And then I think over time just seeing how quote 0:13:51.520 --> 0:13:58.200 unquote tedious, how detail oriented, how how much was involved 0:13:58.200 --> 0:14:00.920 with a pediatric specimen or even the autopsy. It just 0:14:00.960 --> 0:14:05.360 took another level of expertise to be in the field, 0:14:05.920 --> 0:14:08.760 and I think that's what drew me to it. First. 0:14:08.840 --> 0:14:11.480 I'd like to say, the people that we rotated with 0:14:11.559 --> 0:14:14.960 at the pediatric hospital amazing pas, and I think that 0:14:15.240 --> 0:14:17.800 also helped with it. Yeah, I mean I. 0:14:17.800 --> 0:14:20.280 Could see you would want to work with them because 0:14:20.320 --> 0:14:23.440 they were so much fun. But like if they offered 0:14:23.440 --> 0:14:25.920 me a job, I'd be like, no, I'm not like, like, yes, 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:28.880 we did an autopsy one time on like a sixteen 0:14:29.040 --> 0:14:32.040 week fetus and it was it took from like nine 0:14:32.040 --> 0:14:34.880 in the morning until four at night on one fetus. 0:14:35.160 --> 0:14:37.480 But in there now, I always say this though, like 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:40.000 if I ever had a miscarriage, or if I had 0:14:40.000 --> 0:14:43.880 a child, God forbid that ever died, there's no other 0:14:43.920 --> 0:14:46.080 people in the world that you want in charge of 0:14:46.680 --> 0:14:51.000 them besides a pediatric PA, because because they do put 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:53.360 so much attention and they know how important it is 0:14:53.400 --> 0:14:55.960 not only to give you answers as to why your 0:14:56.040 --> 0:14:59.680 child died, but also if you're deciding to get pregnant 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:02.320 again or something like that, that they can figure out 0:15:02.320 --> 0:15:05.680 if you have some kind of underlying genetic thing that 0:15:05.720 --> 0:15:08.080 you're passing on and that this might happen again in 0:15:08.120 --> 0:15:13.800 another pregnancy. So your job is super important. And I 0:15:13.840 --> 0:15:16.000 think that a lot of times as pas, we don't 0:15:16.040 --> 0:15:20.080 get this like recognition of doing because we don't ever 0:15:20.160 --> 0:15:22.560 have family saying like thank you so much and stuff. 0:15:22.560 --> 0:15:25.040 You just you have to be a person that's confident 0:15:25.120 --> 0:15:27.880 and don't need the recognition all the time, but know 0:15:27.960 --> 0:15:30.119 that you're doing something good. 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:32.480 Right absolutely, And I think that's true, Like you know, 0:15:32.560 --> 0:15:36.320 even just trying to even when I teach students right now, 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:40.040 or just thinking about what I do on a day 0:15:40.080 --> 0:15:42.440 to day basis, I take for granted how much we 0:15:42.560 --> 0:15:44.800 actually know, and I take for granted how much we 0:15:44.880 --> 0:15:48.640 actually do because it's just something I do. It's not 0:15:48.720 --> 0:15:50.600 something I think about. And like you said, there's no 0:15:50.680 --> 0:15:54.120 recognition really outside of maybe your department, and sometimes depending 0:15:54.120 --> 0:15:57.400 where you work, that's not always something you get. You'll 0:15:57.400 --> 0:16:01.760 always get feedback, but yeah, you kind of lose touch 0:16:01.800 --> 0:16:05.520 with that. And interestingly enough thinking about it, you know 0:16:05.600 --> 0:16:09.440 you go through these autopsies on these children, and it 0:16:09.520 --> 0:16:11.760 kind of goes hand in hand in genetic counseling. I 0:16:11.840 --> 0:16:14.600 never made the association, but in genetic counseling, that's what 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:17.080 you're doing. You're aiding some kind of guidance and help 0:16:17.120 --> 0:16:19.840 to the family with their new diagnosis of their child. 0:16:20.440 --> 0:16:24.600 And on the flip side, if the child passes, you're 0:16:24.640 --> 0:16:29.200 now adding that new perspective or giving them some kind 0:16:29.240 --> 0:16:32.360 of insight on what happened, which then leads to possible 0:16:32.480 --> 0:16:36.480 genetic counseling after the death of their firstborn or one 0:16:36.480 --> 0:16:37.200 of their children. 0:16:37.680 --> 0:16:40.680 Yeah, and just and you even noticed that with adults 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:44.880 like you, when you explain to families really in depth, 0:16:44.960 --> 0:16:48.240 like what happened, it helps bring a such of closer 0:16:48.360 --> 0:16:52.000 to these people that at least they could understand what 0:16:52.160 --> 0:16:55.840 happened rather than just like not knowing. And even if 0:16:55.880 --> 0:16:58.720 you lose a child like that, like imagine having surviving 0:16:58.800 --> 0:17:01.520 children and just always being scared that something's going to happen. 0:17:01.560 --> 0:17:04.919 And just or sometimes you could have an autopsy on 0:17:05.520 --> 0:17:08.239 a child and then find out that they do have 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:11.240 this underlying health condition that like they could test the 0:17:11.280 --> 0:17:14.560 other kids for and prevent it. Maybe, and there's just 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:17.960 a lot that you do that you don't really most 0:17:17.960 --> 0:17:21.600 people don't even realize that you have this job, right, 0:17:21.600 --> 0:17:23.680 it's just like this hidden thing in the least. 0:17:23.600 --> 0:17:25.919 Or if you say, hey, I'm a pathologist assistant, they're like, oh, 0:17:25.960 --> 0:17:28.520 in autopsy and that's about as far as it goes 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:30.040 with some people, and they're like, oh, it's just like 0:17:30.080 --> 0:17:32.280 on TV. And I'm like, yeah, every day, go high heels, 0:17:32.560 --> 0:17:35.640 make up address, I'm like completely to the nines, ready 0:17:35.720 --> 0:17:37.480 to do it, and then covered in blood by the 0:17:37.560 --> 0:17:38.440 end of the day. Perfect. 0:17:40.440 --> 0:17:46.760 I get that, Okay. So when we graduated, so this 0:17:46.840 --> 0:17:49.520 is one of the disadvantages of being a PA because 0:17:50.359 --> 0:17:53.240 we were in Philadelphia, and how many of us ended 0:17:53.320 --> 0:17:58.480 up graduating eight maybe we ten or yeah, like nine 0:17:58.960 --> 0:18:01.640 sticks enough just from one person a lot just from 0:18:01.680 --> 0:18:05.520 one year. And there's definitely not nine PA openings in 0:18:05.520 --> 0:18:10.520 the Philadelphia area a year. So what happens is when 0:18:10.920 --> 0:18:13.800 we a couple of us already had jobs prior to graduation, 0:18:13.960 --> 0:18:15.840 but like you and LP and stuff, that they had 0:18:15.880 --> 0:18:19.280 to move after we graduated to get a job, because 0:18:19.320 --> 0:18:21.359 you don't want to just wait around and like pray 0:18:21.400 --> 0:18:24.280 that something opens. If you know you want to work. 0:18:24.200 --> 0:18:25.240 You have student loan debts. 0:18:25.640 --> 0:18:30.600 Yeah exactly. Back in the day, Yeah exactly. So you 0:18:30.920 --> 0:18:34.440 moved to Tennessee and you didn't get a job at 0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:38.840 a children's hospital, but you did do some children's so yeah. 0:18:38.640 --> 0:18:40.960 So when I so initially how I started off with 0:18:41.160 --> 0:18:44.000 the whole entire moving out of the area. I lived 0:18:44.000 --> 0:18:46.400 in Philadelphia my entire life, So I was like, all right, 0:18:46.720 --> 0:18:49.320 this is a point where I can actually go somewhere, 0:18:49.359 --> 0:18:53.560 afford to live somewhere, and start a whole new career, 0:18:53.560 --> 0:18:56.480 maybe a whole new life. So I applied out of state, specifically, 0:18:56.520 --> 0:18:59.600 I didn't even apply anywhere in Philadelphia, and wound up 0:18:59.640 --> 0:19:04.080 in ten See in a number one trauma hospital that 0:19:05.160 --> 0:19:07.840 also had a children's hospital attached to it, so I 0:19:07.880 --> 0:19:10.639 could get the best of both worlds. Because being a 0:19:10.680 --> 0:19:13.200 new graduate, I didn't want to lose anything that I 0:19:13.280 --> 0:19:17.119 learned in school. And I feel me personally, I just 0:19:17.160 --> 0:19:19.480 feel that when you first come out, that's when your 0:19:19.520 --> 0:19:21.719 knowledge is the strongest, so you want to solidify as 0:19:21.760 --> 0:19:24.199 much as you can. And I'm a hands on visual person, 0:19:24.600 --> 0:19:26.480 so I wanted to be able to be exposed to 0:19:27.000 --> 0:19:30.240 everything I possibly could and that's how I wound up there. 0:19:31.560 --> 0:19:34.200 I taught residents when I was there, which was even better, 0:19:34.240 --> 0:19:37.719 which was intimidating at first until I realized how much 0:19:37.800 --> 0:19:40.879 I actually knew and how easy it was to do that, 0:19:41.160 --> 0:19:46.280 And it just solidified everything from school that was in 0:19:46.359 --> 0:19:48.239 the back of my mind that I never put two 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:50.360 and two because you're just trying to get through the program, 0:19:50.400 --> 0:19:52.720 trying to get through your rotations, learn everything you can, 0:19:53.280 --> 0:19:55.520 so it really solidified everything for me. 0:19:56.320 --> 0:19:59.160 I find that with pathology residents too, that even though 0:19:59.200 --> 0:20:03.320 they're technically doctors, they don't they don't really learn stuff 0:20:03.359 --> 0:20:06.080 the way that we learn stuff in path as far 0:20:06.119 --> 0:20:09.800 as pathology, especially like gross findings and what to look 0:20:09.840 --> 0:20:12.960 at like when you're actually that's like my macroscopic like 0:20:13.000 --> 0:20:16.000 what things look like with your eyes. They just don't 0:20:16.040 --> 0:20:19.320 really they're not taught that, and they're not taught their 0:20:19.359 --> 0:20:22.080 purpose of being right, like you have to prove why 0:20:22.119 --> 0:20:25.199 the surgeon took this out kind of thing. So I 0:20:25.240 --> 0:20:27.919 think that we offer like a really good role for 0:20:28.040 --> 0:20:31.679 them because if they're learning off another pathologist, they're just 0:20:31.720 --> 0:20:32.959 not going to get that. 0:20:33.160 --> 0:20:35.000 I feel like, and I think, like I was just saying, 0:20:35.000 --> 0:20:37.679 you know, you're just trying to get through everything. And 0:20:37.720 --> 0:20:41.040 like being a pathology resident, you're now specializing pathology, coming 0:20:41.040 --> 0:20:44.680 with the background that every other clinician has, So how 0:20:44.680 --> 0:20:47.040 do you tailor it down to the specific field that 0:20:47.080 --> 0:20:49.320 you're in, Like how do you actually get that focus? 0:20:49.359 --> 0:20:51.919