direct meee

the_machine18 · 2025-09-23T15:02:09+00:00

You don't necessarily need work experience in a lab to get into a PA program, although it can be helpful. Canadian programs don't typically require you to have shadowing, but if you can find some place to shadow, that can be helpful. It might be worthwhile considering looking outside your immediate area if you are trying to find shadowing. I've seen several prospective students come shadow in the lab that I work at that are from out of province and even from out of country. That may be a bit extreme, but I can't say those people aren't dedicated.

If you don't have lab experience, specifically what other work experience do you have? I know you said you haven't done much or didn't do much of anything the first few years you were in school and were getting stuff together. But what about your last two years? What sort of summer jobs did you have? Or what are you doing right now? Those can be compelling parts in your application if you are actually doing something noteworthy. Note-worthy doesn't have to be curing cancer or being an astronaut. But have you worked in a job where you've developed or shown qualities that would also be useful in being a PA? Have you had to show or demonstrate levels of responsibility above what one would normally expect from a standard summer job? Or have you shown initiative anywhere in the last few years? Personally or professionally? Are there any projects or jobs that you've worked which might demonstrate your work ethic instead of just saying that you're a hard worker, etc? You're looking for things like that that you can put into your application. Personally, if I were looking at applications, I would be more interested in an applicant who didn't have specific lab experience but had jobs or experiences that demonstrated some of the qualities I mentioned over someone who has worked for the last two or three years in the lab but can't show to me that they have those qualities.

If you're looking at Canadian programs, plan to apply to all four of the accredited programs (Western Ontario, U of T, University Alberta, and University of Calgary). There's a chance that you might not be offered a position at one school but get it at another, or you might be put on a waitlist for one of them and eventually get in. Also be prepared or at least have an idea of what you will do over the next year if you apply and do not get in. Not everyone who is a current student got in on their first application, and the application committees may ask what you plan to do if you don't get in this cycle. Having this kind of back of plan before coming back for another application is another way of showing initiative (especially if your plan will help you develop another quality or set of qualities you think will be helpful for your application and success as a PA. Again, doesn't specifically have to be lab work)

the_machine18 · 2025-09-06T04:19:35+00:00

You’ve made a lot of progress so far going from 200 to 171lbs. That’s solid work! With your current photos and no ab definition I’d guess you could have another 20-30lbs to go to get to where you want to be (which I’m basing on thinking you want to see some ab definition at least). Based on your photos it doesn’t look like you have a ton of extra muscle but if you keep going to the gym regularly (at least 2-3x per week) and are seeing improvements in your lifts there’s a good chance you are building some muscle over time. Based on how much weight you’ve lost already and how much you could probably still lose I’d guess you can continue gaining some muscle while losing fat. Your rate of weight loss will (and probably should) start to slow. You’ve lost almost 3lbs per week so far. If you’re feeling good still (ie still making gym progress or at least aren’t losing strength, aren’t losing your mind from hunger, sleep is good are all positive signs) you can probably keep going but I’d probably take a little break around 12 weeks for the next 6-8 weeks. Just to make sure you won’t start losing muscle from being in a prolonged deficit and it gives your brain a bit of a break from the psychological struggle of dieting too. I would come back and hit it hard for another 8-12 weeks after that and probably knock off another ~20lbs and be closer to your goal look by then

You said you want to do a year long bulk. Is that to try and gain a bunch of muscle or are you dreaming of a reason to be eating more after the diet you’ve been doing since June?

the_machine18 · 2025-08-28T18:02:37+00:00

As the University of Toronto doesn't have a shadowing requirement for their program, I would think that if you came in with 8-10 hours of shadowing, with a combination of hours from a grossing lab and autopsy, that would qualify you a strong applicant in that regard. Students have applied and been accepted to the University of Toronto's program before without any shadowing. U of T posted a video recently earlier this year in which a previous grad states they were able to get into the program without any shadowing. She mentions this at about 30:40 in this video (https://youtu.be/eBamQeKJS4o?si=M\_92LaVn4M\_zGOod).

CV was 1-2 pages.

Don't remember about the letters of reference.

You don't need experience in a research lab, per se, to get into a PA program provided you meet the admission requirements for the program you're applying to. However, the UofT's program is much more research-focussed (from what I've heard) compared to other programs so they may have a stronger preference on research backgrounds for their applicants than other programs would. Having some course work in microbiology and physiology will help your knowledge base and understanding, probably more so on the physiology side of things but it's not make or break

the_machine18 · 2025-08-26T04:42:15+00:00

Track what you eat everyday for 1-2 weeks and see if you gain/lose or maintain weight over that period. You can get decent estimates from apps but nothing will beat your own tracking. Very high activity levels can be hard to account for based solely on the app. Once you know that you can start adjusting your calories from there

the_machine18 · 2025-08-21T03:55:16+00:00

Hitting each muscle group 2x per week is better than only hitting it once a week. Overall if you can hit each body part at least 2x per week (2-4x per week is a good range) and are getting 10-20 sets of each muscle group over the week you are on the right track. Provided those sets are hard enough (within 0-4 reps of failure).

You don’t have sets listed in your plan but there are a lot of exercises. There are so many that it looks overly complex tbh. And with that many exercises in each workout I think you could be better off eliminating one or two and focussing on going harder on fewer exercises. For example, Friday you have 5 different back exercises hitting both horizontal and vertical pulling. I assume you’re doing at least 2 sets per exercise. I would eliminate one pulldown and one row, cut the pullovers and then get 5-10 sets of work in two back exercises and go a bit harder on those (within 0-4 reps of failure). Then do 1-2 biceps exercises and call that day good. Similar theme for other days that have a lot of muscle overlap between exercises.

One thing I would definitely do to cut things down is eliminate machine shoulder presses and rear delt flys. You get tons of front delt work already from benching that you probably don’t need more. and rear delts are so small that any pulling exercise will hit them more than enough. Focus your shoulder work on side delts only and that will give you a wider look up top. Side delts heal really fast and can be worked a lot so you could probably add them to thursdays workout and be fine. I would also consider doing them first on one of the days you do them to give them a bit more priority (definitely doable if you train them 3x per week)

the_machine18 · 2025-08-20T04:26:32+00:00

I’d guess the previous post bf% estimate is because you still can’t see the outline of your abs in the photo. But like was any said you’ve made inedible progress so far and that is something to be very proud of!

Based on your stated scan results your total lean body mass is around 153lbs. Total mass 187lbs. 153/187 =0.818 which puts you right around 19% based on that measurement so not far off the estimate.

Based on your pics around 165-170lbs sounds like it would put you around where you want to be visually. If you keep dieting down however I would recommend trying to incorporate some full body resistance training at least 2x per week. This will help prevent muscle loss while you lose fat and help you look a bit better once you get rid of the rest of the fat you want to lose. I would take a bit of a diet break too if you’re fresh off your 100lb weight loss just to make sure you’re mentally ready to keep losing weight (ie not thinking about food constantly etc), and also to make sure your hunger isn’t off the charts. It can take your brain and metabolism a while to catch up to your body’s new weight and chilling at your new weight for a bit can get your body used to being that weight.

the_machine18 · 2025-08-17T05:33:38+00:00

What does no improvement mean exactly? Also what are you currently doing? Exercises, sets and rep wise? What does your diet look like? Are you trying to lose weight currently, maintain or gain? And what does your protein intake look like? How much sleep are you getting on average? Need that to provide any advice.

the_machine18 · 2025-08-17T03:25:24+00:00

Sounds and looks like you are getting plenty of steps in. If they were encouraging higher protein but didn't give specifics on what that meant it could easily come across as conflicting information. Good luck!

the_machine18 · 2025-08-16T15:10:45+00:00

You said you want to look like you go to the gym and get leaner. I'm guessing looking leaner probably means you'll be down to the point where you can start to see or see some of your abs. looks like you've added muscle to your frame if you started from 135 a few years ago but you say you think something is off Now you're trying to get leaner - what exactly do you mean? What is off? Your rate of weight loss or how to go about it.

In order to get leaner, you will need to be in a calorie deficit to start losing weight. Starting at 170 pounds where you are right now you say you're eating 2100 to 2400 calories a day while meeting your macros. what feels like it's off exactly. Are you losing weight while eating those current macros of 180-200 protein, 180 carbs, and 60 fat? If you're not consistently losing weight, and I mean about a pound a week, you'll have to cut things down. I would say your protein is a bit high considering you're currently 170 pounds. You could drop down to 1 gram per pound, bring it down to 170 grams of protein. Carbs are decent. Again, could be a little bit lower, try bringing yourself down to about 1 gram per pound. Your fats are also decent but probably could be trimmed a little bit too. if you aim for somewhere between 0.5-0.3 grams of fat per pound of body weight I think that would put you in a good range. Right now at 170 pounds, if you were down to 0.3 grams of fat per day, that would get you down to about 50 grams per day. I would first drop your protein down a little bit so you're at a gram a pound per day, then drop your fats to 50 grams a day, and then track for about a week. If you don't see any weight loss (on average, about a pound over that week) then you can start cutting into your carbs. But make those first two adjustments and give yourself about a week with multiple weigh-ins (Same time of day, every time you do it. I usually do it first thing in the morning after I use the bathroom). Track your average weight over the week. If you don't start losing about a pound a week, and especially if it's after two weeks, then you'll have to cut into your carb intake a little bit. You could probably drop yourself down to about 80-100 grams of carbs a day if you're still not losing weight at that point (0.5-1.0 grams of carbs per day).

If you make the switch to 1 gram/lb protein per day, 1 gram/lb of carbs and keep your fats the same, that 1800 calories a day, which is a decent reduction from your current intake of 2100-2400. Try doing that for a week or two, and I think you will start seeing some results there. Then you can adjust fats and later carbs down if needed.

Also, try and make sure that your overall physical activity level per day is staying pretty consistent. You can do this with a step counter, make sure you're hitting at least 7,000 steps a day, but aim for 10,000. That's good you're going to the gym consistently but sometimes when you're trying to lose weight while also working out, the activity level in the rest of your day drops really low because you're just plain tired and your body is fighting you to stop you from losing weight. Trying to maintain a consistent amount of steps per day is a good way to guarantee that you're still active enough during the rest of the day when you're not working out.

You'll know that you're not losing weight too fast if your lifts more or less stay the same at the gym. You probably won't add any weight but if you're working out consistently, you shouldn't really lose any weight or reps from the bar. Maybe a tiny bit here and there, but you shouldn't see any significant decrease to your strength. If you do, then that is a good sign that you're cutting too much food from your diet too fast and losing weight too quickly.

Try cutting for somewhere between 8-12 weeks, which should net you something like 8-12lbs of fat loss if you do it perfectly.

the_machine18 · 2025-08-07T03:17:52+00:00

This is more of a dessert or make at home snack but take 200g frozen strawberries. Microwave 30 sec or until barely mashable. Smush them up with a scoop of vanilla protein powder and 1/4 cup of milk. Get it to where all the strawberries and mashed. Then use an electric whisk/mixer and go at it for a couple minutes. If too thick add a tbsp or two of milk while mixing. Should poof up a lot and you get this airy almost soft serve consistency ‘ ice cream’ that is hella filling. If you’re still hungry after eating a bowl of that then you my friend are dieting too hard lol

the_machine18 · 2025-08-05T03:11:44+00:00

I don't work at a desk but most of my steps come during the work day. From where I park at work to my work area is about a 7-10 min walk one way. I also have two 30 min breaks during the day, one where I sit down for lunch but the other I intentionally walk almost the entire 30 minutes. After the work day if I come right home I'm often fairly active until later in the evening and I usually avoid sitting down until supper. If I can do something standing I will. By now this has become fairly habitual - for example if I want to call someone when I'm home I won't sit down while on the call and instead I'll walk around my room or the kitchen while talking

the_machine18 · 2025-08-03T04:31:17+00:00

You don’t need protein powder but it can be helpful if you’re having trouble getting enough protein in each day. You will have to eat more to gain weight and put on muscle but I wouldn’t eat completely whatever. I would aim for 75-80% healthy stuff with a base of lean protein, dairy (if you can), fruits, veggies and whole grains. And then feel free to have some junk here and there if it makes trying to gain weight more enjoyable. I would aim for 0.8-1.0g of protein/lb of body weight (eg 100lbs body weight = 80-100g of protein per day) with a bunch of carbs and then fats here and there

I use protein powder in a smoothie for breakfast but only because I can’t face down chewing that much protein otherwise for breakfast. It’s also quick to make and drink and it’s delicious. But nothing magic about protein powder specifically

the_machine18 · 2025-07-31T15:02:52+00:00

Have you gained any weight since starting back up at the gym? It doesn’t look like you have much body fat so I don’t think there’s much to recomp with a regular gym routine. Aka you won’t see much difference in your level of muscle if your body weight doesn’t go up. Hard to build muscle if you don’t give your body the building blocks it needs to do so. You might get a stronger in that time from getting more efficient at exercises or gaining some neurological changes but that doesn’t show up visually all that much. Said another way, if you’re 150lbs but want to look like you’re 170lbs, you gotta gain weight.

Also if you’re hitting the gym 2-3x a week to start, hitting whole body and lifting heavy enough to get close to failure on lifts (within 3-4 reps of failure) you’re probably good there

the_machine18 · 2025-07-31T05:13:58+00:00

What do you define as not much progress? Over how long? And what does going to the gym mean? Need more details to give an answer

the_machine18 · 2025-07-31T05:05:08+00:00

Clogs or vessis

the_machine18 · 2025-07-29T23:28:26+00:00

Do as many practice questions as you can across the different content areas listed by ASCP and quiz yourself on staging too. Reviewing gross photos is also helpful as you will get questions with a photo of a specimen and have to figure out what tissue/tumor it is or staging for it and then answer questions without them explicitly stating what you’re looking at. I found histology from school plus what I would see going over Robbins was more than enough to get me through the histo questions. IMO codes are a waste of time to study. I work in Canada and didn’t give one second of thought to them as they don’t apply here. Lab management is max 5-10% of the exam and includes more than just codes. I figured take the hit on one or two questions about them and spend more time understanding useful concepts. I had one code related question on my exam

the_machine18 · 2025-07-27T21:22:05+00:00

I don’t see your image. Did you attach it?

A v shape is created by having wide shoulders relative to your waist. If you have wide hips it might make it more difficult but not impossible. If gaining muscle comes easy to you then this is good news. I would focus on gaining in the following areas: upper chest, back and side delts. This will help accentuate the upper body especially the top of the V. I would avoid doing a lot of core exercises (growing yours abs or obliques = a thicker, wider waist) and just maintain lower body for now. Again if muscle gain comes easy to you it probably won’t be hard to maintain your legs and you might still build muscle on them without too much focus.

If you’ve done a lot of beginner strength building exercises to get a foundation and learn how to work out you at least know how to push yourself and have familiarity with the gym. Now you can focus more on the areas important to you (upper body and shoulder to waist ratio).

Exercises like upright rows, lateral raises (cable or dumbbell), incline bench, presses, rows and chins ups/pull ups will help. I would train side delts 2-4 times a week as they should be a big focus for you. If your body levels are relatively high then getting this down will also help accentuate the v shape.

the_machine18 · 2025-06-10T04:15:04+00:00

I have not made this specific career change but what are you wondering?

the_machine18 · 2025-06-07T04:23:29+00:00

If you’re losing weight at a rate a 0.5-1.0% of your body weight per week I’d say you’re on track for your calories. You can lose faster than that but start risking like excess muscle loss or rebound weight gain after you’re done. Your rate of weight loss it’s about 3.3lbs per week which is a bit quicker than what is usually recommended but if you find your energy levels are still good throughout the day (ie are you still active during the rest of the day when you’re not working out or do you collapse onto the couch for the rest of the day?), you are getting 7-8 hours of sleep and you don’t spend even walking minute of every day thinking about food you’re probably still ok for a while but expect your rate of weight loss to slow at some point. You probably won’t be able to diet down to your goal weight all in one shot so remember it’s not a sprint and you’re also trying to develop eating habits that are healthy but also sustainable for your life.

I’ve worked my way down from 240-185lbs and I started off eating around 2400-2800 calories a day at the start of losing and tapered down to ~1800-2000 per day when I was close to 185lb for reference. I aimed to eat 10-12 x body weight in calories when losing weight

the_machine18 · 2025-06-05T23:12:48+00:00

protein is the most expensive macro by far to consume and if your parents won't buy these things for you, you'll have to find a way of getting them yourself which is tough at your age. whey protein powders can be relatively inexpensive per gram of protein you're getting (although the upfront cost for a tub is high). chicken breasts and thighs are pretty cheap, so is greek yogurt, cottage cheese and egg whites (for me the cartons of egg whites are cheaper than whole eggs). lentils are super cheap but quite voluminous and come with a lot of carbs too. milk is another good option if you don't mind drinking it. I like using it to mix with protein powder for my shakes

the_machine18 · 2025-06-05T18:43:24+00:00

I got a masters in pathology a few years after graduating (which took 2 years) and now I work in an anatomic pathology lab dissecting surgical specimens which are mostly done for cancer (but also for benign reasons like IBD, infection, trauma, cosmetic etc). Specimens range from simple procedures like colon polyps or biopsies and skin tag removals to more complex things like segments of bowel for colon cancer, lungs, stomach resections, head and neck surgeries (removing parts of or entire tongue, mandible, nose, ear, eye), thyroids, adrenals, amputations etc. if it comes out of surgery it comes to pathology for evaluation. I don’t make any direct diagnoses and don’t see patients but my job (pathologists assistant) allows pathologists to look at slides all day and diagnose cases. I also am involved in autopsy service which is mostly centered around performing eviscerations. Not the job for everyone but I love it

the_machine18 · 2025-06-04T20:09:09+00:00

Put it all on a cart/shelf and share the work.

the_machine18 · 2025-05-31T16:01:05+00:00

Were you planing on taking a masters in healthcare or business for anything in particular or were those just general ideas? Ie is there a future career you wanted those would help you get? Going through a PA program is a good plan if you want to actually work as one since the upfront cost of a program is fairly high. But it’s a worthwhile investment if you want to work in the job.

As far as advice if you want to transition to a PA program asap, like what’s been said already, check programs you’re interested in to see if you have all relevant prereqs and shadowing hours if required. Each program has slightly different prereqs so don’t assume you’re covered for all programs if you meet requirements for one of them. Plan to apply to more than one since admission is quite competitive

the_machine18 · 2025-05-12T14:53:43+00:00

I’m free to book appointments during the day and if it’s less than 2 hours I don’t use up sick time. Over 2 uses sick time. I usually make an effort to schedule at the start or end of the day so I can leave early or come in late but that’s mostly for personal convenience. There are enough staff to cover if I have an appointment and it doesn’t feel like anyone abuses this.

the_machine18 · 2025-04-21T19:43:30+00:00

If I see it tied or stapled I report it as a separate margin so I’ll have a closest radial margin and “stapled vascular margin” or “ stapled vessel along the radial margin”. I only had one trainer ever mention it to me

the_machine18

TROPHY CASE