Four-leaf clover

I just realized that it’s been four years (and one day) since I started this blog! I feel so lucky to be able to connect with so many smart people from so many different countries on our website and through our email lists (check them out over on the left). I hope it’s also fun (and even more important, educational) for you too.

Pathology Student has grown a lot in four years. Here’s some numbers (because it’s fun to measure things):

  • We’ve gone from 0 visitors to about 2,500 unique visits per day.
  • As of 1:15 today, we’ve had a total of 1,793,358 page loads (59,691 in 2009, 212,297 in 2010, 417,716 in 2011, 777,938 in 2012, and  325,724 so far this year)
  • We have 280 posts on everything from general path to specialized hemepath stuff.
  • We have 6 books (including a nice free one) that are used a lot by students
  • Our two email lists (Path Bites and our Blog Post email) have well over 5,000 subscribers
  • We have 6,504 likes on Facebook, and 4,351 followers on Twitter

I’m sure there are some other numbers that I could list, but I’m getting bored with numbers. What really makes me happy is to get emails from readers saying that they get a lot of use out of the website and/or books, or that there is some pathology question they would like help with. Just one nice comment makes my day – and students studying pathology seem to be way up there on the nice scale. So thanks to everyone who has written in with comments or suggestions!

I’ve got some fun stuff planned for this year, including:

  • a cool t-shirt
  • two more books
  • some wild ideas that I will reveal in due time. 

I thought I’d share a list of the posts that have been the most popular over the years. Thanks for visiting!

1. Nephrotic vs. nephritic syndrome

2. Conjugated vs. unconjugated bilirubinemia

3. A quick summary of the 6 types of necrosis

4. Identifying normal leukocytes

5. 10 things to be sure you look at when you read a blood smear

6. What is an M spike?

7. A monoclonal immunoglobulin is present – now what?

8. How to study for boards, part I, part II and part III

9. How can you differentiate between iron-deficiency anemia and thalassemia?

10. Iron-deficiency anemia vs. anemia of chronic disease

11. The Little Orphan Annie tumor

12. Owl’s eye nuclei

13. Teardrop red cells

14. Coagulation quiz

15. A beginner’s guide to the endocrine system

16. What’s the difference between ischemic and hemorrhagic brain infarcts?

17. How to differentiate between acute and chronic inflammation in sections

18. The four main types of rosettes in pathology

19. Does “differentiated” mean it looks different?

20. What’s the difference between pemphigus vulgaris and bullous pemphigoid?