PA "resource"

I was disappointed and dismayed by the publication of a URL (http://idisk.mac.com/seligl-Public) in the Spring 2008 Canadian Association of Pathologists Newsletter. As many of you know, Canadian PAs own a Section within the CAP and thus, the CAP is, or should be, acquainted with what a PA is, and does. The supposed resource alludes to a PA's most import responsibility being the maintenance of supply inventory in the gross room. The reference is incomplete, superfluous, site-specific and, in fact, insulting to any PA I have ever known, Canadian or American. If, as I suspect, the author is dissatisfied with the performance of his "PAs," he should not be surprised given the low expectation placed upon them and the lack of resources provided to them.

I can only imagine that the editor of the Newsletter did not read the content. My fear is that others may get a skewed idea of that which constitutes a PA. The Key Competencies for PAs, also published on the CAP site (www.cap.medical.org), clearly enumerate the many responsibilities placed upon PAs; illustrating the fact that PAs provide an important part in the care of patients in North American hospitals.

PA "resource"

I was dismayed and disappointed by the inclusion of a URL to supposedly helpful "Pathology Assistant Software" in the

Happy Spring....and Tazers

Hello everyone! Happy Spring. We survived another winter! Sorry (as I have apologized SO many times before) for the long hiatus between posts. I find myself rejuvenated with the lenghtening days and general spring energy (might it be ... hormones?!).

I have purchased a home in the Okanagan. I ran the BMO Vancouver Marathon on May 4th. All's good.

I hope to have enough cash left over so that I can go to Ottawa for the Can. Assoc. of Pathologists, PA Section meeting in July but quite frankly, I am digging SO deep for the down payment on my new abode that I am somewhat doubtful as to whether I'll be able to afford the air fare, the various fuel surcharges, airport improvement taxes, PST, GST, car rental, etc. I WILL try very hard to go to Ottawa, as much as to attend the meeting as to visit with family and friends.

OK...to the point: what the heck is happening in this country in regards our constabulary? I simply cannot believe the crap that is being flung at the public (roughly equal quantities from the RCMP and the manufacturers of the tazer) regarding the use of these...what are they called?... Directed Energy Weapons. The problem is NOT with the weapons; the problem is with those who use them. The problem is NOT with training; the problem is with the individuals who we, as a society, hire to protect us. We are to blame; not the individual RCMP officer who, first consulting with his superior officer, uses the weapon. I do not profess to be acquainted with the RCMP's criteria for using the weapon but I can't help but think that there is some considerable room for refining the list. What ever happened to simple restraint and disarming the perpetrator using physical force (something which gets used in ample amounts anyway)? Surely the public agrees with me that three RCMP officers tazering an 80 year-old patient IN THE HOSPITAL is grounds for wondering whether we may have given our police too much leeway in the use of these weapons. What, if the poor guy had died (and he may yet die), would the Coroner have to say, I wonder? How about we have the police check their weapons, tazers included, at the door when they come into the hospital? How about we refine the criteria for the tazer's use? How about we train the police (and their superiors) better (they are clearly NOT thinking for themselves and training with clear rules is obviously needed).

How is this issue different from the exposure of our troops treating detainees in questionable ways (if not killing them)? I contend that our police and military behave in exactly the manner in which we permit, if not encourage, them to behave. We, the public, are responsible (not Tazer International; not the RCMP) for how our police behave. Make your feelings known. Call your MP.

a PA for Vernon, BC (continued)...

We seem to have dodged a bullet, so to speak. As it turns out, we aren't in a panic to get an experienced PA for Vernon immediately BUT we are definitely interested in someone who would like to spend a year in Vernon relieving a maternity leave there. You'll see the job posted on the Interior Health website www.interiorhealth.ca Please feel free to give me a ring at (250) 862-4300 (ext. 7273). I look forward to hearing from you.

lung mass - image of the month

This unfortunate middle-aged woman was found to have developed this lung mass a number of years after having had a skin malignant melanoma excised. The mass invaded a lobar bronchus and compressed a number of peri-hilar vessels; together causing local atalectasis (symptoms of which prompted the chest X-ray).

Dr. Smith, continued...

From a more PA-centric view, what harm did Dr. Smith cause to those who assisted him? As PAs, we learn most of what we learn (and tenaciously cling to it as if it's gospel) from those who we assist: the pathologists. I'm sure the PAs who assisted Dr. Smith are searching their soles and are wondering just what to believe. I sincerely hope that there are no PAs who are involved to the extent that they are found culpible in any of the cases in question; are required to appear at the Gouge commission or are forced to defend their own actions during Dr. Smith's infamous "reign."

Untruth uttered unintentionally???

Can someone please explain to me what the heck Dr. Smith is saying here when, confronted by those to whom he caused irreparable harm, he refused to admit lying but insists repeatedly that he told 'untruths unintentionally'? I equate an "untruth" with a lie. Am I mistaken? Is an untruth any less fabricated than a lie? I have greater difficulty however with the fact that they (whatever they were) were supposedly "unintentional." What does that mean? 'Not deliberate'? ' Not meaning to cause harm'? I don't get it. The statement contradicts itself. Was he coerced in some way at the time or is he not willing to admit that his actions were motivated by hubris and peer (not that there were any -- or so he, and the Ontario legal system, thought) pressure?

I wonder whether or not there were any other pathologists who recognized back then that Dr. Smith was talking through his hat; who knew that he had minimal formal training as a paediatric forensic pathologist and who realized that he had no right to render expert opinion in infant death cases. Perhaps the inquiry will unearth the fact that some brave individuals attempted to 'out' this incompetent (by his own admission) individual. It'll be his superiors, the Ontario Coroner's system, not Dr. Smith, that allowed him to continue who will be at fault.

locum in Vernon NOW

I have had very few posts lately and you've probably adopted the habit of not bothering to check this blog. It is probably grossly (pun intended) unrealistic of me to expect a response...however, I shall continue while thinking positively (and hoping and maybe even praying).

If anyone (any skiers out there who'd like to experience the wonders of British Columbia's slopes?) is interested in coming to the interior of BC to work all of part of the next 3 weeks, please give me a call ((250) 862-4300 (ext. 7273) or email me (william.stinson@interiorhealth.ca ) as soon as possible. The position will be in Vernon (not far from SilverStar ski resort - www.skisilverstar.com ).

Vernon does about 11,000 surgical pathology cases per year. This means that on a daily basis, the PA performs all of the grossing, is finished by mid-afternoon and then helps out in the Histology lab for a little while. Thus, the ideal applicant would be one who's Histology skills are not too rusty but, if yours are not, please don't let that prevent you from calling.