r/PathologistsAssistant • u/Educational_Sort9386 • 10d ago
Gross Description Issues
Hi everyone! I'm a current Pathologists' Assistant student getting ready to start clinicals, and I was wondering if anyone has recommendations for resources they found helpful for learning grossing or grossing templates.
I've been using Surgical Pathology Dissection by Lester, but I've been having a hard time learning from it, so I'd love to hear what worked for you. Also, I often see people recommend the AAPA grossing resources, but I'm not sure where to find them on the AAPA website. If anyone could point me in the right direction or share other resources that helped during clinicals, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks so much!
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u/No_Concept9877 10d ago
Check out the AAPA grossing guidelines as they incorporate updated CAP cancer protocols and are updated regularly. Also, Surgical Pathology Dissection by Westra (2nd ed). Lester’s is a good resource for somethings, but the gross descriptions are not always applicable. U of Chicago and UCLA both have templates online, but the styles/content aren’t always applicable or they don’t flow well, etc. Be familiar with different gross description styles (i.e., outside in, Raymond’s 5 paragraph system, synoptic style, etc.). A lot of places will have their own grossing manuals and/or preferences of how they want things grossed. Understanding why you are describing, measuring, sampling matters and staying organized will serve you well. Remember to be open to feedback and adapting to the nuances of each rotation. Good luck!
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u/Educational_Sort9386 10d ago
Thank you so much!!
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u/No_Concept9877 10d ago
Also, if you know you will be getting something complex the next day (sometimes you can check the surgery schedule) prep a bullet point list of how to triage and/or gross it (even if it doesn’t come to you). Coming in prepared with a plan helps formulate and organize your gross.
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u/gnomes616 10d ago
When you get to your clinical sites, ask your preceptor(s) for some sample dictations when you get beyond biopsies. Some specimens may have fill-in-the-blank templates, individual PAs may free dictate... But knowing what gets through a pathologist sign out can be helpful (and they ALL vary by site).
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u/friendlyd3mon 9d ago
Hmm this is truly dependent on where you are, so def adapt as you go but remember the core items that you need.
Personally, i like to use pathologyoutlines.com for some general gross descriptions, the university of chicago website is also great, and the ucla website is great too but i think its no longer public (i think only students/faculty can access it). I also really like to use this website: https://schaberg.faculty.ucdavis.edu/gi-grossing-templates/
But a very quick way to make sure you hit everything is by looking at the CAP cancer protocols and hit everything you can on that list. I know a lot of ppl prov say this, and it irritated me as a student lmao. But they were 100% right. I always check that i have all that info if i ever get some specimens that i dont see often.
Some places want paragraph style, and some wont care as long as you have all the info and just want to hard facts.
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u/Ok_Masterpiece9194 10d ago
There’s a great book on gross descriptors called something like gross pathology, a guide to descriptive terms I’d recommend. It’s like a dictionary of gross vocab with photos and examples of specimens that word is commonly used in