One Semester Left!

      Today was the last day of classes for the semester, and even though I'm excited, the semester is far from over - finals are lurking around the corner.  Adding to my excitement is the promise of a spring semester with many classes that I'm looking forward to taking, as well as a Christmas break full of work and a family trip to Florida!!  Many of the classes that I will be taking are directly related to my schooling as a medical technologist; they are microbiology (with lab), biochemistry II, immunochemistry (with lab), two med tech seminars, cancer biology, and biomedical ethics.  The other class that I am taking is called Age of Cicero, I choose it in part to complete my core requirements.  Canisius is not offering micro, so I will be taking it at Medaille College, a smaller private school that shares a border with the Canisius campus.  Below, I detail the way in which the various classes I am taking will prepare me for my clinical year.

Looking Ahead: My Plan for After School.

      Let me start this post by saying that I am operating under the assumption that I finish the program at Rochester General Hospital (RGH) and pass my ASCP certification test, which hopefully isn't too brash an assumption to make.  I think that having a clear, definite goal in mind is very helpful when working through things, especially school.  For me, the goal is to get a job at the Lipson Cancer Center, a division of RGH.  While I think that any sort of work in the medical technology field would be very satisfying to me, I feel that working in a place like that would be particularly so.  I feel like the work would be very fulfilling and that it would not get repetitious since treatment and detection methods are developing rapidly and will certainly continue to do so for the foreseeable future.  I realize that it will require hard work to get there and that I may not be able to work there straight out of the program, but I hope that one day in the not-too-distant future I can work there.  Below, I talk more about the cancer center.

Cancer Tests and New Treatment Methods.

      Cancer is responsible for the deaths of millions of people around the world every year.  It can attack virtually any organ in the body from the skin to the lungs to the brain, and it can spread throughout the body and infect other organs and body systems.  The causes or risk factors for cancer can also vary to a high degree, with the leading agents that either cause cancer or make it more likely being carcinogenic chemicals, certain lifestyles or diets, genetic defects, and infections.  When a doctor wants to screen for cancer, they have a variety of tests at their disposal and, like most other medical diagnoses, they usually employ many of these tests to determine if a patient has cancer, what stage the cancer is at, and what kind of cancer it is.  The most commonly used tests include blood work, various imaging techniques such as CT scans or MRIs, and biopsies.  Treatment options usually include surgery to remove the tumor, chemotherapy, and anti-cancer drugs.  Recent developments in tumor-targeting methods provide much hope for treatment options that do not have many - if any - side effects.  Both tests and treatment almost always involve blood work or tests of some sort, meaning that med techs are involved in all stages for most cancer patients.

The Potential Dangers of Genetic Engineering.

      The debate over the dangers and merits of genetic engineering has raged ever since the first experiments were done.  Shortly after they began working with these techniques, the scientists involved called a moratorium on their own work so that they could establish standards to ensure that such research was done in a safe and ethical manner.  Still, concerns have lingered over what could happen if an experiment went wrong, what might happen if a genetically engineered organism was intentionally released into the wild (a common practice, particularly in agriculture), or if an altered organism fell into the wrong hands.  More fuel was recently added to the fire with the development of a strain of bird flu, or H5N1, that can easily be passed from person to person and is just as lethal as the original strain.  The difficulty of passing the virus from one person to another played a large role in preventing the initial outbreak from becoming a global pandemic.  The exact way in which the virus was altered to allow easy transmission is unclear, but likely involves some sort of recombinant DNA technology that added a gene that allows the virus to be passed through the normal methods of transmission, such as inhaling airborne particles or touching contaminated surfaces.  Currently, the paper is under review for publication and is also being reviewed by a federal biological security board to ensure that it does not provide the means to creating the deadly virus to groups with nefarious purposes.

The Adventures of Chemistry Cat!

      Being a college student, the internet plays a large role in my everyday life, both as an educational tool and as a form of entertainment.  I have several sites I frequent, including Facebook for finding out what my friends are up to, several sports outlets, a few news sites, and a couple standbys that are always good for a laugh or a smile.  The last group mainly consists of sites in the Failblog network, including I Can Has Cheezburger, which is all about funny and cute pictures of cats (if you're one of those people who like dogs, they have a site for you too), Failbook, which has fails and other funny instances collected from various social networking sites, and Memebase, a collection of the weird and (usually) funny internet fads called "memes".  Memes are a strange beast, varying from people or things photographed in funny situations to people who have gained a larger-than-life reputation for no apparent reason.  They are a sort of inside joke for web junkies, but explanations for particular ones can be found on the aforementioned Memebase, Wikipedia, or by just searching it on the web.  My favorite is Chemistry Cat, a dapperly dressed scientist cat who tells awesomely nerdy jokes.  He can be found on Memebase, other sites across the web, and on the doors of great science professors everywhere.  Below are some of my favorites; you may want a periodic table handy to get some of them.

How to Avoid Turkey Trouble.

      The last few leaves are falling from the trees, the nights are getting colder, and families are making plans to reunite over a table spread with all sorts of delicious, traditional foods - that's right, Thanksgiving is coming!  It's one of my favorite holidays of the year and, since I enjoy cooking, I am always interested in making the food, from the turkey and stuffing to the cranberry relish.  In fact, my interest in making the food is only surpassed by my interest in eating it.  Recently, my education in the medical field has started playing a larger role in my life, so the potential risk of salmonella is a topic that I can relate to and understand, but fortunately it can easily be avoided.

Is knowledge dangerous?

      Last week I developed a sore throat and started getting a few white patches on the back of my throat, along with a runny nose.  It didn't turn into anything major (thanks to the tried-and-true remedy of warm saltwater gargles), but before I was better someone in one of my classes asked me if I was getting sick so I mentioned it to them.  It turns out that they too are interested in a medical career, and made a comment about how, once you start learning about different diseases, you turn into a hypochondriac.  I was somewhat taken aback by this, but didn't pursue it further since class was about to start.  Later, I gave it some thought, and realized that there was some validity to it, but that it misrepresents the reality, at least for me.