Inside Stories

Jena Martin MD

May 25
4 min

I wish I knew...

I’ve seen recent Instagram posts going around about surviving intern year, which is when I have to confess my imposter syndrome. I’m not a real doctor, I’m j...

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Jena Martin MD

May 2
5 min

SNOUT & SPIN

Almost no one is good at evaluating medical tests. Not politicians. Not medical journalists. Not the general public. And often, not even doctors. That’s one ...

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Jena Martin MD

Apr 1
3 min

Homeschooling?

I’m a pathologist, and I’ve got some tips for effective home teaching! Want to get your kids enthusiastic about biology? I love to share information about bi...

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Jena Martin MD

Feb 3
5 min

Overdiagnosis - Part 1

I've been reading a lot about Overdiagnosis and it's usual progenitor, Overtesting. As a pathologist, I've got a perspective I could add t

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Jena Martin MD

Jan 29
1 min

Affirmations

Do you like affirmations? Read my essay published on Salon to see how I feel about them.... https://www.salon.com/2020/01/18/live-laugh-love-loathe-in-search...

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Jena Martin MD

Dec 16, 2019
4 min

When I was very little, a man lived inside my ear.

Oddly, he only made appearances to pound on a piano, usually as I lay in bed. I imagined him with long tuxedo tails that he’d ostentatiously flip out to sit ...

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Jena Martin MD

Oct 25, 2019
3 min

Halloween and the inevitability of death

Plastic skulls? Glitter-encrusted hatchets? Decomposing zombies at the door? Nothing matches the real thing.

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Jena Martin MD

Jun 22, 2019
2 min

Diagnosis Decision: The Great Imitator. ⠀

If there's a rash or alopecia with a pattern I can't explain, it's time to order this stain.

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Jena Martin MD

May 16, 2019
4 min

Margarine and the sun.

2019 has been quite the bad year for sunscreen and it's not yet summer in my hemisphere. Earlier this year I wrote a blog post about a then recent article fr...

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Jena Martin MD

May 15, 2019
4 min

Don't fall into the confidence interval.

How to feel good about your decisions when you don’t feel good about yourself. (A longer version of this essay appeared on Doximity - https://www.doximity.co...

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Jena Martin MD

Apr 20, 2019
3 min

Nosology

What is the name of your disease? Nosology is the act of naming and classifying disease. (No, I don't mean Nose-ology, which actually does exist 👃🏽) . Dise...

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Jena Martin MD

Apr 6, 2019
1 min

Diagnosis Decisions - Not Melanoma

***Great Moments in Pathology TM*** This is not melanoma!⠀ It is especially satisfying because it came in from the clinic as a suspected melanoma. (Have I m...

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Jena Martin MD

Apr 1, 2019
1 min

Diagnosis Decisions- Endocrine

***Great Moments in Pathology TM*** I knew instinctively what this disease was. It didn’t even feel like a decision. ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ That’s the best kind of case to h...

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Jena Martin MD

Mar 21, 2019
1 min

Diagnosis Decisions - Pagets

***Great Moments in Pathology TM*** This cancer carpets the underside of your skin. It grows over, up, down and sometimes out. ⠀⠀ ⠀ It’s called Paget’s disea...

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Jena Martin MD

Mar 19, 2019
2 min

Time looking at fences

Imagine if you will staring at a chain link fence. That’s it, usually a white background, nothing else to cloud your view. The light is good, your neck is n...

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Jena Martin MD

Mar 13, 2019
3 min

Study Prep

I have spent a lot of my life studying. One thing about studying - everyone has an opinion about how you could be doing it better. The simplest advice, that...

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Jena Martin MD

Mar 9, 2019
2 min

Visual Literacy

It takes a lot to impress a cynical med student, but that's what the pathologist did. I heard from her at the end of an 'M&M' conference (Morbidity and Morta...

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Jena Martin MD

Feb 25, 2019
4 min

Body Respect

I didn't start this blog to engage in the war on obesity. I'm not talking about healthy eating habits, fitness or weight loss. Remember? I'm a pathologist - ...

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Jena Martin MD

Feb 17, 2019
4 min

Melanoma Myths

#ReclaimYourPower with these facts about a mysterious disease. 🔬All of my posts are informational only and not meant to replace the advice of your physicia...

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Jena Martin MD

Feb 10, 2019
10 min

The pepperoni

It's late in the frozen section lab and things are getting goofy. The frozen section lab is located next to hospital operating rooms. It's where we patholog...

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