Switching to pathology after starting residency?

[mdscuba]

Is there anyone out there who has entered/switched into path after starting a residency in a different specialty? What kinds of things made you want to switch? What were your experiences in the process of changing residencies?
Thanks.

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[ilovepath]

i've heard of a sugeon and an anesthesiologist--i'd be curious to see what other types of specialties switched to path.

 

[djmd]

I know of an ENT surgeon who switched into path.

And I know of a Family Med, Orthopedic surgeon who switched OUT of pathology.

 

[dermpathchick]

in my program we currently have 2 surgeons, 1 anesthesiologist, 1 internal med and 1 family med-- i switched mainly because of lifestyle, but i also did not want a future filled with non-compliant and litiginous patients.

not only am i 100% happier, my family and friends (and attendings) tell me that i made the right decision all the time. switching residencies was extremely easy, the path people all understood why i was changing and it didn't hurt me at all in getting a position.

 

[veo1]

I'm a current MS-IV applying to path this year. My home program currently has: 1 former general surgery resident (she quit after finishing year 3), one former anesthesiology resident, one family medicine physician (she had already completed residency and came directly from private practice), and one former internal medicine resident. One of the attending pediatric pathologists here was a practicing ob/gyn before doing a path residency. Actually the residency program director here was a practicing family physician and is founder of the largest pathology group in town. Go figure. All are very understanding of how crazy things are out there. Good luck.

 

[PunkRockDoc]

I'm currently a family medicine intern, and I'm applying to path this year. As I have posted around here before, path was my original goal in this crazy world of medicine. Last year I applied to both path and family, decided on family, and I am now realizing the my true interest in medicine is in pathology. So I got a bit sidetracked. Live and learn, I guess.

 

[cytoborg]

In my program we have ex-surgery and ex-medicine people.

 

[mdscuba]

I'm currently a family medicine intern. I had a difficult time deciding what specialty to apply to last year, and chose family because I liked the variety and am interested in public health. I didn't strongly consider path, partially because I stereotyped it (likely incorrectly) as sitting behing a microscope all day. However, I'm finding that fam med is almost too broad for my liking and that I have little patience for noncompliant patients. Second year was my favorite year of med school and I miss not having enough time to read about the pathophysiology of disease.

Anyway...It's stil very early in the year- I'm going to give it another month or two while trying to get more exposure to path before making a decision. My current program is strong is community and public health and I can see myself in fam med academic medicine as long as I don't miss the basic sciences too much. My concern about path now would be that I'm afraid of being alienated too far from the big picture of medical care...I guess you can't have everything. I may want to be separated as much as possible after a few more months, anyway.

In general, if I repeat ERAS could I use my application from last year? Would I need all new rec letters or could I use my old ones, assuming they don't say I'm a fam med applicant.

 

[dermpathchick]

i think one of the biggest misconceptions about path is that you have no role in medical care. path is one of the only fields where you really concentrate on medicine (no social issues to deal with) and my attendings are constantly discussing cases with the clinicians to help guide patient care.

as for your application, what is your goal? if you are aiming to get into a top tier program, you must get new letters. path is getting more competitive--a couple years ago, i used letters which were 3 yrs old (which stated i was applying for another field) and it all worked out fine. i'm not so sure that would fly now. our fam med transplant established a good relationship with our path director (she moved within the same system) and she didn't really have to deal with the whole stress of rematching.

 

[pisik]

I am a second year IM resident applying for path this year ( I know, I decided really late ) I have submitted my application this week and I am really nervous, continuing medicine is not really an option.
I have unofficialy spoken with some program directors and I believe quite a few people switch for surgery, gyn and others to path. They seemed happy about it.

 

[Patholog]

I am a second year IM resident applying for path this year ( I know, I decided really late ) I have submitted my application this week and I am really nervous, continuing medicine is not really an option.
I have unofficialy spoken with some program directors and I believe quite a few people switch for surgery, gyn and others to path. They seemed happy about it.

I know of people switching out of neurosurgery and ENT. I also know of a guy who finished peds and now is in path.

I know of someone who switched from path to FP. I understand why they did it. Why do path when you can work twice as hard for less than half the money?

Unfortunately, one of the consequences of people switching into path is that path sometimes gets the reputation for being the field for those that "couldn't cut it" in clinical medicine. Oh well, what can you do?

 

[pisik]

It's not necessarily for people who can't do clinical medicine. I just think that there is so much abuse in clinical medicine, some people decide that it's not what they want to do with their lives. I haven't seen too many happy internists (even with subspecialty training) while most pathologists I have spoken to seemed cool and pleased with their lives.

 

[DebDynamite]

It's not necessarily for people who can't do clinical medicine. I just think that there is so much abuse in clinical medicine, some people decide that it's not what they want to do with their lives. I haven't seen too many happy internists (even with subspecialty training) while most pathologists I have spoken to seemed cool and pleased with their lives.

This is why I have two meetings with Pathologists within the next week. One thing I am good at is observing who seems happy- because I am a basically happy person, and unhappy people are generally a drag (thus I went to class little the 1st 2 years). As I rotate through third year, the clinicians seem overall the least happy people I see. The janitors, security guards, cafeteria workers- they all seem happier as a group than the doctors! So far the least stressed out hospital docs I have interacted with are: the Pathologists, the Radiologists, and the 3 or 4 shifts-week Hospitalists. Some of my attendings seem happy, but they are about to retire.

 

[mendel79]

I'm a 4th yr who did a post-sophomore fellowship in pathology, and in our program there are people that switched from surgery, neurosurg, pediatrics, and anesthesia. These are all incredibly smart docs, not people that "couldn't cut it" in clinical medicine. Most of the people seemed to switch for lifestyle reasons and all seem very happy with their decisions. That being said, I'm not going into path, even though i loved it. So to each their own...

 

[ilovepath]

thank you for your stories. it does medical students a great service to see residents who have does a clinical residency and are able to articulate the contrast when they start their path residency. it's challenging, esp at my school who only alots 2-3 elective months to make up our mind.

 

[TPS report]

I am a second year IM resident applying for path this year ( I know, I decided really late ) I have submitted my application this week and I am really nervous, continuing medicine is not really an option.
I have unofficialy spoken with some program directors and I believe quite a few people switch for surgery, gyn and others to path. They seemed happy about it.

do you think you'll miss clinical medicine? I'm a 4th yr about to apply to go into Emed. But I have always like path too. Just never had exposure to it in med school except for class and Robbins. (which I loved). anyway, I am wondering if I'll have regrets halfway through my residency and wish I had gone in to path.

are you doing it for quality of life reasons or ciz you love path?

 

[pisik]

do you think you'll miss clinical medicine? I'm a 4th yr about to apply to go into Emed. But I have always like path too. Just never had exposure to it in med school except for class and Robbins. (which I loved). anyway, I am wondering if I'll have regrets halfway through my residency and wish I had gone in to path.

are you doing it for quality of life reasons or ciz you love path?

I honestly hate IM from the bottom of my heart. It's very little medical knowledge involved and a lot of social work and deferring responsability.
Now, I'm sure I'll have moments when I will think I shouldn't have switched but overall I will probably be happier. Yes, quality of life is important for my happiness, but it is not the only reason. I like pathology, I realize it can be lonely sometimes but it is such an interesting field and you have such an important role in patient care. Most people would agree that nowadays there isn't much satisfaction in seeing patients.
EM is different than IM, you don't really follow-up on patients which is good. If you like procedures I guess it's a good field- I just finished my ED rotation and didn't like it much but residents seemed happy. The ED attendings at my hospital seemed very stressed out and obnoxious.

 

[mdscuba]

Here is a question: Does it bother anyone that the pathologist is a consultant and does not have direct control over patient care? It bothers me to see things done incorrectly; or often I just have opinions about the way I think certain things ought to be done.

However, this same issue is one reason I am frustrated with my brief experience as an FP intern: I have to ask and rely on others (all the specialists, as well as social workers, etc) to do what I think needs to be done. As a pathologist I would give my recommendation and then be finished with the situation.

I agree with the previous post- primary care is not very intellectually stimulating. I want to help people, but I would like to use my brain to do it. Most people's problems are caused by their bad lifestyle, their psychological state, or their poor social situation, and won't or cannot make a change for for the better. I love the science of medicine, but the longer I stay in FP, the more disillusioned I'm afraid I'll become.