Awesome Nerdy Comic

     Here's a quick post with an awesome comic for all us science nerds out there. Mouse over the comic for bonus fun!!

Starting Back Up Again

      I'm gonna try and start posting again some, depending on my work load.  My internship has been going well, the introductory 10 weeks were busy and now I am finishing up my 10-week microbiology rotation.  We have rotation 4 days a week and on Wednesdays we have lectures on the full spectrum of lab topics, as well as a test most weeks on a single topic, most recently, antibiotics.  In micro, each week is dedicated to one type of culture, such as urine, stool, and respiratory.  This last week we covered blood cultures, a very important type of culture as it is used to detect bacteremia and septicemia.  Bacteremia is the presence of bacteria in the blood that does not cause a disease and is usually not a threat to a patient's health.  Traditionally, the bacteria are present but not actively dividing.  The main risk is that, in those with heart valve defects, bacteremia can lead to the seeding of the heart valves, particularly the mitral valve, with bacteria and lead to endocarditis, a serious and potentially fatal condition.  Septicemia is the presence of bacteria in the bloodstream that causes disease and is a potential issue for the patient.  In this case, the bacteria are usually dividing and thriving in the blood.  Septicemia can be caused by a wide variety of conditions, including abscesses, untreated UTIs, and, ironically, endocarditis.  The complications of septicemia are numerous and many are potentially fatal.

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.