Faculty and Staff

To My Future Students

The first time I was asked to “gross a colon,” I stood over the surgical specimen at my gross bench as if I had just stepped out of a rocket ship on a far-away planet. I flipped the tissue over, flopped it back, and then I flipped it over again…each time it looked even more foreign. I felt lost and disoriented. This was the earliest memory as a Pathologists’ Assistant student in surgical pathology clinical training that I felt alienated from my education. While I had (indeed, very vigorously and thoroughly) studied and prepared for this moment, I did not feel adequate to pick up my surgical scissors and begin searching for cancer. I had been well prepared by my graduate school instructors, but this felt different. This was real human tissue, with real cancer, awaiting a real diagnosis and it was now my turn. It was in this moment that I faintly recalled one of my professors stating, “…at some point you will have to transition from theory, into practice. Trust what you have learned.” I jotted down some notes, took a deep breath, confirmed the orientation of the tissue, picked up my surgical scissors and made my first cut.

The intentional tissue dissection done by a pathologists’ assistant is deeply rooted in understanding the anatomical relationships of the organs in the human body and the diseases that affect them. The workload and pace of a practicing pathologists’ assistant is often never ending and hurried. Often, the challenge that awaits preemptive students is not the amount of didactic material to learn or the fast pace at which it is introduced, but the transition from theory to practice. It is easy to memorize the different segments of colon and the diseases that affect them but being able to critically think one’s way through the gross dissection of those tissues requires very specific psychomotor skills, mentorship, critical thinking, and knowledge.

As a student of mine, I ask that you arrive early to your classes well-rested, focused, and ready to enthusiastically absorb the curriculum. I will embrace your questions as I lecture and demonstrate laboratory concepts. I feel that it is my responsibility to guide you through your graduate school journey in such a way that everything we do together will prepare you for and emulate your gross groom experience. It is the teachers/mentors who have actively engaged with me and provoked critical thinking that have had the most positive influence on my educational and professional development. I intend to do the same with you.

I love to engage in active, intentionally directed, and knowledge-seeking dialogue with my students. Some of my most fulfilling student engagements have happened in the human cadaver laboratory when a student will be partially completed with a dissection assignment and discover “something” unanticipated. Quickly, they will curiously call me over and ask, “what is this?” fully anticipating a direct response from me. I peer over the cadaver and if I can identify it, I often respond with, “what could it be?” Surprised, the student often responds with some variation of, “I don’t know…that’s why I called you over.” “Ok, let’s look at it together.” 

At this point, I take the opportunity to employ techniques used in the gross room to identify a yet-unknown component of the human body. I ask questions that the student might not have thought to ask themselves yet, like: “Which organs are located in this region of the body?” “Can you describe the appearance of this tissue?” “Which organs in this region of the body have an appearance like this?” Once, the student arrives at a conclusion (either correct or incorrect), I do not confirm it. I encourage them to carefully continue dissecting and call me back when they have more definitive information. 

“It’s “this”!” they often declare when I am called back to the cadaver table. To which I respond, “What evidence supports your claim?” I listen as they describe how they arrived at their conclusion. If their critically thought-out answer is correct, I take a moment to tell them why I went through all that trouble, “…this is the process which you must learn to utilize daily in the gross room when you encounter complex tissue resections.” As my student, it is my goal (in everything I do) to set the standard of using independent critical thinking to work through a complex question and arrive at an evidence-based conclusion; this learned skill makes for an excellent pathologists’ assistant and I hope to instill it in you in our classroom and laboratory interactions.

As a student of mine you will be closely and regularly assessed while under my tutelage. Assessments will cover cognitive ability, psychomotor skills, professionalism, and the ability to effectively communicate verbally and in writing. Formal and informal assessments will happen regularly, in person, and at the end of each course.

 An important component of the evolution of my curriculum and professional capabilities includes embracing honest and constructive feedback from you. Years ago, a student offered constructive criticism about how to organize the laboratory schedule for a course I taught. Her recommendation was a radical way of thinking about the laboratory experience. I thought her recommendation through and asked her to meet and discuss her idea further; I listened as she explained her experience and I quickly became convinced that her recommendation was a much better approach than what had historically been done. She never got to experience the new laboratory sessions because she passed the course, but her constructive feedback has benefited all my students that followed her. Her recommendation, and the recommendations of other students before you, will benefit you too. I welcome constructive feedback and trust that your recommendations may have the ability to enhance the quality of my curriculum and program, help me improve as an instructor and create a better learning experience for my future students. Our ability to be honest and trusting of each other will be the foundation of our professional relationship.

I want you to feel safe in my learning environment. I hope to cultivate a welcoming and inclusive place for all students I interact with. My intention is that you may thrive and be successful in your own unique way. I commit to continually identifying and rectifying my conscious and subconscious biases, privileges, and prejudices to facilitate safe and meaningful interactions for all of my students of differing cultures, social identities, values, beliefs, perspectives, and experiences. I hope that you will feel welcomed, equal, and valued while in my classroom and in the Pathologists’ Assistant program at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

Received fresh, labeled “UTHSC Pathologists’ Assistant Program Student”, is a brand-new student measuring up to the high standards set in the competitive application process. The outer surface of the student is nervous to begin their graduate school degree in a demanding, condensed professional program. Dissection reveals the student is open to the experience and prepared, remarkable for a commitment to becoming a skillful, conscious, and ethical healthcare practitioner. Upon opening the door to the classroom, the student is welcomed into an engaging, inclusive, and active learning environment that is tailored to learning the knowledge and skills they will need not only to practice clinically at the bench, but to also be a valuable member of the Pathologists’ Assistant community and the field of pathology throughout their career. Throughout the student’s time here, the instructor will be transparent, adaptable, and always supportive, providing encouragement every step of the way and beyond their time at UTHSC. The student is entirely submitted, prepared to enter the field, in two short years.  

While that might not have made sense to anyone outside my profession, I could not think of a more appropriate way to describe my teaching philosophy as a Pathologists’ Assistant than to provide a gross description following the careful dissection of my goals and beliefs as a teacher. To translate for those not in the pathology field, my primary goals as a teacher are to prepare students to take on the challenges and responsibilities of an entry-level Pathologists’ Assistant, to encourage lifelong learning and community engagement throughout their career, and to foster an inclusive and engaging learning environment that reinforces the ethical principles befitting a future healthcare professional.

My primary goal is ensuring our students are prepared for the responsibilities of their day-to-day work as a Pathologists’ Assistant (PathA). This includes a hands-on, psychomotor skillset, as well as a foundation of knowledge for how, what, and why we do the things we do at the bench and in the autopsy suite. It is not enough to hold a blade and make a cut – using their knowledge of anatomy, as well as of the particular disease process affecting the organ, where exactly should that cut be? At what angle and in which plane to best demonstrate the pathology, or the lack thereof? I recognize that I cannot possibly teach them about every single specimen and pathology they will encounter, so students will be encouraged to build strong critical thinking skills based on the knowledge I have taught them, so that they can make informed decisions and defend every action they take on the job. I don’t want my students to just come away with a step-by-step guide to grossing that they follow like a robot – I want them to have the background knowledge to build the steps as they encounter the specimen depending on what they see in front of them and what they have been taught is important to describe and sample.

Since we can’t teach our students absolutely everything they will encounter in our short time together, the preparedness to continue learning and expanding their skills throughout their career is my secondary goal. Lifelong learning is necessary in the healthcare field to keep up with ever-changing trends in patient care and pathology diagnostics. I will give them the tools and empower them to seek out the answers they do not know. I have seen students struggle with the fact that we will not teach them everything, and the fear that they will receive a specimen they will have not studied before. I let them sit with that feeling for a moment… No, I have not taught you how to proceed with this exact specimen. However, I have taught you what you need to know to get started. You know how to apply your anatomy to orient yourself, you know the important components of a specimen to describe and submit no matter the pathology. You actually do know how to proceed!

In our field, lifelong learning goes hand in hand with sharing their knowledge beyond the bench, and I also encourage my students to be champions for the profession. Pathologists’ Assistants are a young and relatively unknown field, but we have a meaningful and important role in patient care. During my classes, I enjoy sharing content that my fellow PathA colleagues have produced, including case studies, articles, videos, photographs, and other resources, even the Etsy shops of PathAs creating fun goodies for those in our field.

As the role of any healthcare professional requires a commitment to ethical principles and serving everyone in the community no matter the individual, my final goal is to foster an engaging learning environment. This starts with setting an example in the classroom, where I create an environment where everyone’s perspectives are valued, and in my course material, where I include various examples and inclusive language where applicable. In the lab, whether we are using clay, fruit, human or animal tissues to simulate specimens, I encourage students to behave as if there is a real patient on the other end. If they learn in the classroom to have an ethical patient-care-centric mindset from the beginning, I believe they will continue when they have a real human patient specimen in front of them during their clinical rotations and future jobs.

Through these goals, I believe by the time my students are graduating, they will be prepared to take on the challenges of an entry-level Pathologists’ Assistant, be critically-thinking, lifelong learners, and be compassionate members of their communities and ethical healthcare providers.”

My personal goals and priorities for teaching in this Program are to inspire my students to be patient focused and well-developed professionals that will enter the medical field as Pathologists’ Assistants.  These are two aspects of my career that I am very proud of developing, so I hope to instill these in all my students over the two years that I will be teaching each of them.  I aim to be an honest educator through applying these goals to my students’ career pathways, as that is a big part of my newly developed teaching persona.

I plan to teach my students to be patient focused by telling them stories and experiences of when I was a working Pathologists’ Assistant.  When I receive specimens on my bench, I like to think of each patient that I work on, and that can be difficult when you work on over 50 patients in a day.  I believe that when my students get to their clinical year, they will get to work on this quality because they will finally be working on real patient cases.  I think the best way to ensure that my students gain the ability to be patient focused is by having consistent reflection moments.  By sitting down at the end of the workday and thinking about working on your patients, maybe writing out your thoughts, you will be able to think about how you assisted in diagnosing multiple patients’ cancers and diseases.  An example question is “in what ways did your actions in the gross room help you recognize the importance of accuracy and empathy for the patients’ care?”  Throughout this Program, in both the first and second year, there are many opportunities built in for the students to be able to reflect on themselves.

Becoming a professional person in this world is a huge wish of mine for the students who are under my instruction.  I have worked in quite a few different jobs myself and have interacted with many different types of people in this world.  When you choose the right attitude for the day, and select how you dress around others at work, you give off a sense of showing that you love what you do and that you respect yourself and the others around you.  You will make people believe in you because you can take care of yourself, physically and mentally.  It is important to be able to provide the best environment for my students to learn professionalism.  I believe that the small cohort size assists in cultivating a social and interactive environment.  I want them to be able to ask questions at any point of me giving my lecture.  I often pause to allow for discussion and stories.  Assessing someone’s professionalism can be easily done through the form of evaluation feedback from a preceptor.  An example question is “how would you rate the student’s professionalism considering factors such as punctuality, respect for others, communication skills, and adherence to guidelines?” I believe that receiving valuable, constructive feedback will help the students grow into professionals that would be hired by any employer.

To be able to accept these goals of mine, my learner needs to be in their best surroundings.  Their best way of learning is attending all the lectures, learning from many photos in PowerPoints, and listening to me teach so it goes along with what they are reading in the textbooks.  They will strive during the hands-on laboratory part of the course, and they want to be able to teach the material to someone else one day, so they know that they fully understand it.  If my students are not naturally in this environment, or need assistance getting here, I will provide a wide-ranging atmosphere where I will be available and openly listen to their needs.

I took an assessment on what my best trait is as a person, and the answer came back as honesty.  I was pleased that it was honesty because when I reflect on myself over the years, it really makes sense.  I have always been one to want to speak reasonably and I want to give the most honest feedback to others.  I think my students will build trust in me as their educator when I show them that I will always be extremely honest when grading their assignments and giving them regular feedback.  My students can learn honesty from me by enjoying my welcoming environment, and they can apply it to their work as a Pathologists’ Assistant because I have shown it them by example.  Sometimes you make mistakes in the workplace, and it can be difficult and embarrassing to let others know that you did that.  When we have patients’ lives in our hands, it is imperative that you switch to the trait of honesty and let someone know if you make a mistake.

Teaching someone to be patient focused, professional, and honest can be tough when you only have two years with them, and you have so many other topics in didactics to teach them.  I hope to keep these qualities instilled in myself and continue to develop as the best person and instructor as I can be, especially throughout my time as an Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences.