Pathology observership

[Egymed13]

Hello everyone,
I need advice from the Pathology residents and attendings in this forum. I am a US IMG with an average step 1 score (222). I will hopefully clear the CK and CS steps within the next 6 months. I am interested in Pathology as a career path. I did a Clinical Pathology elective earlier in the US and got 1 US LOR.
I have some questions please;
1- Would a good step 2 ck score compensate for my average step 1 score ?
2- Can anyone suggest a place to do an anatomical pathology observership (preferentially in Houston) / How to find a pathology observership in general as I am no longer a student ?
3- How can I make the best use of my 12+ months before the match to be a good candidate for pathology residency ?

Thank you!

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[jp123ok]

Your step 1 score is OK. As long as you have some US clinical experience and don't fail any of the board exams you will get a residency spot somewhere. Don't aim too high though and interview widely. If you are not offered a lot of interviews call programs and talk to the program coordinator; this is a good way of making your application stand out.

Once you get done with the boards, if you have time to kill before the match, try and do some research in order to get some pathology related publications. Johns Hopkins and Henry Ford offer observerships. Other programs may too if you contact them. You can probably do research as part of an observership; most academics will happily come up with a small research project for you if you ask them. That way you can get some more recommendation letters from US academic pathologists. It is also a good way to get a residency spot at that institution.

I really would advise you to think carefully about whether you want to do pathology though; as an IMG from (what will probably turn out to be) a mediocre training program you will have a hard time finding a job in pathology when you are done with residency training. You will probably end up having to do 2+ fellowships so you will be committing to at least 6 years of training at a low salary. Providing that you don't mind dealing with patients, you should think about doing family medicine or internal medicine instead. Either would be a much faster and less risky proposition.

 

[Autopsy101]

If you have extra time in your schedule, my advice is to clear your step 3 exam as well before starting pathology residency. That will allow you to focus on learning pathology in your residency. Nothing that you learn in pathology residency will help you pass that exam. Texas does not have any specific training requirements before you can register to take it. http://www.fsmb.org/state-medical-boards/requirements/texas/

 

[Egymed13]

Thank you very much for your advice jp123ok and autopsy.