Dr. Sanchez is a resident on the autopsy service with you (the attending) and has a case today.
He has verified the consent and spoken with the clinical attending, who had no questions of her own about this patient who died with advanced metastatic cancer. Dr. Sanchez expresses his lack of understanding of why we are doing this autopsy, so you explain that sometimes it is reassuring to the family in ways we may not understand. The resident utilizes appropriate personal protective gear and proceeds quickly through the external examination, although apparently without missing anything. He permits the autopsy attendant to do the evisceration and begins working apart on the block dissection immediately. You have to remind him at least to watch the removal of the brain, if he is not going to do it himself, so that he can describe the process and in situ findings. He samples tissue independently, although the histology laboratory later complains that his block sheet has blood all over it. His photographs are sloppy as well, poorly framed, with a bloody background and blood on the case label. He counters that you can always correct that with Photoshop later. He releases the body to the funeral home promptly after the case.
His Preliminary Autopsy Report is given to you at the very end of the day it is due, and you have to stay late to edit it (which includes expanding his diagnosis of widely metastatic carcinoma to say which organs were actually involved) and get it submitted before the deadline.
