Opinions on Duke Program. Top 10?

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abc123puck

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Just wanted to get people's opinion on Duke. I have seen references on SD to the path assistant training program and how it affects the grossing load, but is the reduction large enough to have a significant deleterious effect on the training here? Also, just wanted to find out if they place a large emphasis on research like some of the top academic programs?

I know people hate this question, but is Duke considered to be in that 5-10 tier after the UCSF, JHU, MGH, etc?

Thanks for the help

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No. I think Duke is number 24. But you'll have to ask pathstudent, I think he's the one with the algorithm.
/sarcasm
 
No. I think Duke is number 24. But you'll have to ask pathstudent, I think he's the one with the algorithm.
/sarcasm

Wouldn't a better source to ask be the fellow that goes by "substance"?
/I see your sarcasm, and I raise you one.
 
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No. I think Duke is number 24. But you'll have to ask pathstudent, I think he's the one with the algorithm.
/sarcasm

In AP it is 19
In CP it is tied for 26

If you want me to break it down within the particular subspecialties, I can do that.
 
Aside from perhaps Robboy (CAP president) are there any prominent/well known faculty at Duke? I can't think of any. There aren't exactly a lot of Elizabeth Montgomery's at Duke from what I can tell.
 
Wouldn't a better source to ask be the fellow that goes by "substance"?
/I see your sarcasm, and I raise you one.

Substance is a radiologist by day, anesthesiologist by noon and internist at night. Then, when he is sound asleep, he dreams of being a pathologist. :love::love:
 
Served y'all up a softball here. But seriously, I just wanted to know if Duke is in the same breath as UPenn, WashU, etc. or in a tier below. Any input would be appreciated.
 
Served y'all up a softball here. But seriously, I just wanted to know if Duke is in the same breath as UPenn, WashU, etc. or in a tier below. Any input would be appreciated.

I don't know. What do you think?

I heard they are #6 in the preseason poll but they have a tough schedule and will have a tough time making it to the 4 program play-off.,
 
Served y'all up a softball here. But seriously, I just wanted to know if Duke is in the same breath as UPenn, WashU, etc. or in a tier below. Any input would be appreciated.

They're not gonna let up on this one, and can't really blame them. These questions are silly. What do you expect as an answer? It's Duke - it's a solid program, sure. Is it in the "same breath" as other places? Who the hell knows. What are you goals? Getting good training or having a big impressive name on your diplomma?
 
Both ideally, that is why I am asking these questions
Help yourself by accumulating some stats that may guide your decision-making process:
1. How many publications do the residents at Duke put out each year?
2. How many pathology textbook editors/authors practice at Duke?
3. What's the resident board pass rate?
4. What fellowships do residents pursue?
5. What practice settings do Duke trainees end up in?

Go get 'em tiger.
 
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Substance is a radiologist by day, anesthesiologist by noon and internist at night. Then, when he is sound asleep, he dreams of being a pathologist. :love::love:


Well played sir.
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Beyond getting good training, the only thing that matters is what future employers and colleagues think. I would not think of someone differently if they went to Duke vs. those other places. I would guess that neither would 90% of pathologists. Far more important are the personal traits that you have. Are you smart, communicate well, good to work with, well-read, physically attractive, etc.
 
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i will hire a personable person with excellent communication skills from Little Company of Agony Hospital who is boarded with 3 years experience before I will hire someone from JHU fresh out of residency and fellowship.
 
Help yourself by accumulating some stats that may guide your decision-making process:
1. How many publications do the residents at Duke put out each year?
2. How many pathology textbook editors/authors practice at Duke?
3. What's the resident board pass rate?
4. What fellowships do residents pursue?
5. What practice settings do Duke trainees end up in?

Go get 'em tiger.

Besides asking residents while on the interview trail, are there any websites that could provide information such as board pass rates, fellowship attrition, etc?
 
Besides asking residents while on the interview trail, are there any websites that could provide information such as board pass rates, fellowship attrition, etc?

I dont think the board pass rate is as much of an issue at bigger academic programs than at smaller programs.

If you go to a well known program, i dont think you should have a problem.

1. Go to a program with a large surgical volume where you are handling YOUR cases. Do not go to low volume surgpath programs or programs where you are a grossing biatch (attending takes your case after you gross it and signs it out without you having entered your own opinion). This, I've heard, has occured at a large, well known program. You don't want to be there to push meat.

2. Go to a program where attendings LOVE to teach and SINCERELY care about your education. I find this inspiring. Look for places that have GOOD didactic lectures. Anyone can present but to make a good interesting presentation is another thing.

3. Go to a program where you can see yourself for four years. Four years is a long time. If you can't see yourself at a particular program, you will be miserable.

4. Financial situation of program. Go to a program that has funding to buy whatever they want. You get nice microscopes, nice computers, plasma TVs at signout.

5. Programs with experts in their subspecialty. You will learn more from these folks in a week than in some programs over four years!

6. Programs where everyone seems happy. Not happy because they barely have anything to do and thus are happy but are happy because of the education they are receving and the overall environment of the program.

7. Fellowship placement. Larger programs have experts with connections. Connections are key to getting good fellowships. If your program is filled with attendings who never go to conferences and barely know anyone outside of the program, you will be able to secure fellowships of course but connections are key to being first in line.
 
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Besides asking residents while on the interview trail, are there any websites that could provide information such as board pass rates, fellowship attrition, etc?


Don't overthink it. Do a few rotations and places you think you might be interested in. Do your interviews. Then go with the program that is in the city/region you want to be in the most that vibed you the best.
 
Hi, I'm a new first year at Duke and I am very impressed with everything I've seen so far.

First year is 10 months AP/ 2 months CP. The AP is 4 months autopsy and 6 months of surg path. I've completed one month of both.

We get about 350=400 autopsy cases per year and we are currently on pace for about 50,000 surgical specimens. We do gross a lot but it's not excessive. The first month of surg path was orientation, where i had 1 week of frozens/triage training, 1 week of histology training, and 2 weeks of grossing training. I start on real services next week.

While on service, we preview in the morning (which i love because that's when im most awake), signout in early afternoon, and gross in the early evening. During the day, our 5 PA's and the PA students take care of the more mundane cases, leaving the more interesting ones for when we get there that evening. Each week you're on a service that specializes in 1-2 body systems. Each rotation is 4 or 5 weeks.

I cant answer all of your quetsions, but i wanted to express that i am extremely happy with my program and would recommend it to anyone!

I hope you choose to interview with us :)
Steven
 
Hi, I'm a new first year at Duke and I am very impressed with everything I've seen so far.

First year is 10 months AP/ 2 months CP. The AP is 4 months autopsy and 6 months of surg path. I've completed one month of both.

We get about 350=400 autopsy cases per year and we are currently on pace for about 50,000 surgical specimens. We do gross a lot but it's not excessive. The first month of surg path was orientation, where i had 1 week of frozens/triage training, 1 week of histology training, and 2 weeks of grossing training. I start on real services next week.

While on service, we preview in the morning (which i love because that's when im most awake), signout in early afternoon, and gross in the early evening. During the day, our 5 PA's and the PA students take care of the more mundane cases, leaving the more interesting ones for when we get there that evening. Each week you're on a service that specializes in 1-2 body systems. Each rotation is 4 or 5 weeks.

I cant answer all of your quetsions, but i wanted to express that i am extremely happy with my program and would recommend it to anyone!

I hope you choose to interview with us :)
Steven

350-400 autopsy cases!!!! Holy moly! How many autopsies do residents end up doing after four years? If a resident to reach their 50 do they have to pick up autopsies still?
 
Hi, I'm a new first year at Duke and I am very impressed with everything I've seen so far.

First year is 10 months AP/ 2 months CP. The AP is 4 months autopsy and 6 months of surg path. I've completed one month of both.

We get about 350=400 autopsy cases per year and we are currently on pace for about 50,000 surgical specimens. We do gross a lot but it's not excessive. The first month of surg path was orientation, where i had 1 week of frozens/triage training, 1 week of histology training, and 2 weeks of grossing training. I start on real services next week.

While on service, we preview in the morning (which i love because that's when im most awake), signout in early afternoon, and gross in the early evening. During the day, our 5 PA's and the PA students take care of the more mundane cases, leaving the more interesting ones for when we get there that evening. Each week you're on a service that specializes in 1-2 body systems. Each rotation is 4 or 5 weeks.

I cant answer all of your quetsions, but i wanted to express that i am extremely happy with my program and would recommend it to anyone!

I hope you choose to interview with us :)
Steven
Hey Steven, Thanks for posting and giving your impression of your training program. I am interested to know what exposure you have had to digital pathology there. Is there a slide scanner available? Also I know that there are Duke researches working on angle-resolved low coherence interferometry (a/LCI) for optical non-invasive biopsies. Have you had any exposure with this technology or heard much in terms of how the pathology department there views the realm of optical biopsies and the role of the pathologist in their interpretation? I am interested in Duke as a training program and I will be down there for a month rotation from Sept. 24th - Oct. 19th. Maybe I will see you there.
 
Just wanted to get people's opinion on Duke. I have seen references on SD to the path assistant training program and how it affects the grossing load, but is the reduction large enough to have a significant deleterious effect on the training here? Also, just wanted to find out if they place a large emphasis on research like some of the top academic programs?

I know people hate this question, but is Duke considered to be in that 5-10 tier after the UCSF, JHU, MGH, etc?

Thanks for the help

top 30.
 
Bump for Steven's answer to autopsy and digital microscopy questions
 
Hey Steven, Thanks for posting and giving your impression of your training program. I am interested to know what exposure you have had to digital pathology there. Is there a slide scanner available? Also I know that there are Duke researches working on angle-resolved low coherence interferometry (a/LCI) for optical non-invasive biopsies. Have you had any exposure with this technology or heard much in terms of how the pathology department there views the realm of optical biopsies and the role of the pathologist in their interpretation? I am interested in Duke as a training program and I will be down there for a month rotation from Sept. 24th - Oct. 19th. Maybe I will see you there.

Hey everybody,
Sorry about the delay in reply... i only check sdn every week or two :)
1) Someone asked about autopsies. We do four months as a first year, one month as autopsy chief during second year, and an OCME month during either 2nd or 3rd year. Most people are in the 40s by the end of first year so we have no trouble hitting the required 50. We also have wonderful support staff, PAs, and PA students to help us with our cases. Having an in house PA program really is amazing.

2) I havent seen too much digital pathology here, although to be fair i havent really looked for it. The upper years use a camera based microscope to send the overnight frozens to our attendings but i dont think that's what you mean? If the department has an aperio scanner, i havent seen it yet :)

3) No clue about the optical thingy. I'm still trying my best to keep my head above water with surgpath and havent gotten the chance to fully explore our research capabilities yet. I'll probably start looking for interesting projects in another month or two.

4) Cant wait to meet you! I'll be in surgpath that whole month so make sure to stop by and say hi! I'll also probably see you in morning conference each day. Come ready to learn :)

Steven
 
Hi Steven,
Thanks for your info, I'd like to know whether your program start sending out interview invitation for 2013 match? thank you.
 
Steven - I don't know you and don't have any specific interest here, but I strongly recommend you NOT post on here whether your program is sending out interview invites or not yet. If I were a program director and found out one of my residents was doing such things, I'd be displeased.

Applicants - let the process unfold as it does. Knowing if a program has or hasn't sent invites yet doesn't affect you unless you're starting to schedule interviews nearby. If that is the case, call the individual program coordinator to discuss your situation. SDN is not the place for such discussions.
 
Steven - I don't know you and don't have any specific interest here, but I strongly recommend you NOT post on here whether your program is sending out interview invites or not yet. If I were a program director and found out one of my residents was doing such things, I'd be displeased.

Applicants - let the process unfold as it does. Knowing if a program has or hasn't sent invites yet doesn't affect you unless you're starting to schedule interviews nearby. If that is the case, call the individual program coordinator to discuss your situation. SDN is not the place for such discussions.


I think you are over reactive, there's a thread called "Residency Interview Invites 2013" . If this kind of info should be kept as a secret, then such thread should be abandoned.
 
I think you are over reactive, there's a thread called "Residency Interview Invites 2013" . If this kind of info should be kept as a secret, then such thread should be abandoned.


Well, I think you're concerned more for yourself and knowing if you did or did not get an interview at Duke than you are about what could happen to this guy. Do you see any invites from Duke in that thread? What people choose to share about THEMSELVES on here is one thing, but posting info about what their program is or isn't doing at this point in time is different. Think about this from a perspective other than your own.

This guy Steven can post or not post whatever he wants. But he seems to be very forthcoming on here, and his identity is obvious. You ought to just chill and let stuff unfold as it does. Whether or not Duke has started sending out invites, you clearly haven't gotten one yet, and that won't change regardless of the answer to your question.
 
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