As I reflect on this program and what it has done for me professionally and emotionally, I can’t help but smile. I persevered through a tough and challenging academic year which led directly into exciting and challenging work experiences. In last twenty one months, I have exceeded the goals that I set for myself when I began my journey as a graduate student. I have learned so many new things about myself and my interactions with people and how they reflect my professional life. I am so fortunate to be a part of the exciting and growing field of pathologists’ assistants.

My classmates and I have spent the last nine months on clinical rotations, learning different techniques that have shaped our own surgical and autopsy pathology techniques. Throughout this course, we have also had the pleasure to reciprocate all our teachings in the form of teaching the first year class on a particular aspect of pathology as it relates to an autopsy case that we have worked on throughout our training. I based my CPC, clinical pathologic correlation, topic on a case of metastatic disease of a salivary gland neoplasm. I was able to work on this project during the course of my rotation at the Mayo Clinic. I worked with the wonderful staff of pathologists’ assistants that work at the clinic and with a pathologist who specializes in head and neck pathology. I don’t think I could have created the presentation without the help of those people.

Currently, I am on my fifth rotation at Hartford Hospital. My last rotation was in Texas, and it was just amazing. I was able to enjoy my home state, work on my improving my skills and my speed and reconnect with friends from undergrad. Hartford Hospital creates a comfortable and fast paced work environment which has allowed me to build confidence in my abilities.

Not only has the pathologists’ assistants program at Quinnipiac University allowed me to grow, learn and experience graduate student life to the fullest, it has also afforded me the opportunity to, interview for and, accept an amazing job in my home state. The name that this program has created for itself based on our passing rate for the national board certification exam, experiences in the field and overall happiness of employers with our students, has contributed to our job placement success as a class.

-Nancy Mendoza Pathologists' Assistant 2012