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. 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
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
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?
Well, it’s been two to three months since I came in contact with this delightful webblog. I have incorporated it to my internet routine: every time I turn on the pc and surf on the net I tend to end up reading some path-stuff here.
What attracts me here are my (of course) love for pathology and the simplicity of how this subject is approached, always keeping the ‘big picture’ as the biggest concept and helping us achieving knowledge.
My sincere Thanks for your work! And congratulations for everything that you have achieved so far!!!
Auguri, Kristine! Lei è una docente davvero in gamba! Un saluto dalla Sicilia.
Francesco Venuti
Thank you, Francesco!! Greetings back from Minnesota!
Thank you for you amazing web-resource! It helps me significantly in my studies of pathology and the whole medicine as well!
Congrats!!!
Thank you!!
I’m in my 5th and final year of med school. I discovered this blog in my 2nd year, while struggling with path… this site really helped me to get here (I passed my hematology course solely because of the top 10 anemias book :P). As I prepare for finals in 2 weeks, I just wanted to say a public thank you for taking the time out to keep up this blog. You’re great ^_^
Wow – thanks, Vicki!! I’m so happy you found some useful stuff here! Best of luck in your finals – let us know when you are all done. 🙂
congratulations. Thanks so much for this website. I learned so much from you in little time. i am getting ready to take step 1 and i must say when i do well, most of the credits will go to you clearing concepts. you are the best teacher and physician. Can you please when you get a chance let us know about secondary hyperparathyroidism? i don’t understand the concept behind hypercalcemia and hypocalcemia. I know hypocalcemia will cause this because of chronic renal failure. please explain this to me when you get a chance.
Hi Ali – thanks so much for your wonderful comments! I’m so glad you learned something here. Best wishes on step 1!! Regarding secondary hyperparathyroidism – you’re right, it’s usually due to renal failure. In chronic renal failure, phosphate isn’t excreted well. Serum phosphate goes up, leading to a drop in serum calcium (the two tend to go in opposite directions). Also, the kidneys are less capable of producing the active form of vitamin D, which leads to even lower serum calcium levels. The hypcalcemia stimulates the parathyroids to grow and secrete PTH. I probably should write a whole post on this!