Path vs. psych-prestige (or the lack) issues
Started by kchan99
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Personally, I think both are very prestigeous. I appreciate the level of pathology and depth of knowledge required to practice in these two specialties.
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My experience would be that Pathologists are generally held in higher esteem by the medical profession than Psychiatrists. As for them being a little strange, well...yes, I have met some odd ones (but then again, I have in EVERY field). In the general population, I don't think there is a significant difference in prestige between these two fields.
Psychiatry has been the red-headed bastard stepchild of medicine for years. Only recently, with the field's increased focus on psychopharmacology, has it become likened to the rest of medicine.
who's evaluating the prestige? politicians, teachers, hairdresser in Beverly Hills? why does it matter to you?
Dr. Cuts said:
Don't worry about that because that saying has been around for at least 30-40 years. One my older attendings said it as "you know how the old saying goes"
As far as prestige between psych and path- give me a break! Neither are "prestige" specialties either among the general public or among physicians. Path is probably more respected among physicians but nobody chooses either specialty becaus of prestige.
Path is the bomb!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Don't be jealous!!!!!!!
Why y'all jealous?!?!?!
Yeah for path!!!
Havarti666 said:
Havarti by association you have impuned yourself.
***begin mechanical robot voice***
I AM ROBOT PATHOLOGIST. DO NOT LIKE PEOPLE. WHAT ARE THESE "SOCIAL SKILLS" YOU SPEAK OF. HOW CAN I ACQUIRE THESE THROUGH PROGRAMMING. HUMANS ARE INFERIOR. ONLY SEE AND THINK IN THREE DIMENSIONS. WHAT ARE THESE "FEELINGS" AND "EMOTIONS." END COMMUNICATION.
***end voice***
To the OP - prestige is not gained by choosing a specialty. There are people in every specialty who are well respected and admired, and people in every specialty who are not respected for being poor clinicians, being lazy, whatever. There are also plenty of biases out there. Certain people dislike all members of certain fields (like some people dislike all ER physicians) just because of past experiences or prejudices. You gain respect and prestige by being the best physician you can be and holding yourself to strong principles of education, scholarliness (probably made that word up) and dedication to your craft. No one should ever choose a profession based on rumors and innuendo.
Of course some pathologists are peculiar. Some are straightlaced unfunny automatons. Some are loopy, tie-dye wearing Grateful Dead freaks. This is true of every field. Some psychiatrists are like this, surgeons, radiologists, whatever. What I like about pathology is that the field provides you an opportunity to be an individual. There are no hard and fast stereotypes that apply to any profession, except maybe accountants. 😛
Whatever field you go into, you have to love it. There really aren't any shortcuts to success in medicine - it's a great equalizer. It isn't good enough to be "just" smart. It isn't good enough to be "just" a good communicator. Pick the field where the subject matter or patients inspires you, and go for it. It takes a lot of searching and discovering new things about yourself sometimes to ignore societal pressures and prejudices and find the field where you will be most appropriate.
Stormjen, That's interesting. My bf was thinking about switching to psychiatry during the 2nd or 3rd year of his pathology residency. He said that he wanted to help people deal with their "lifestyle" issues. He didn't make the switch because he was already so far into his residency and he didn't want to do an internship in internal medicine. Now he's a fellow in hempath.
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And Pathologists are there too late to do anything.
raptor5 said:
Dude/Lady, I can't TELL you how wrong this is!!!!
Pathologists interpret every biopsy and are responsible for every lab test and blood transfusion in the hospital. The autopsy is like 10% of the residency.
That's a good one though - it's a pathology joke I don't think I've heard...have to add it to the collection. I like it much better than, "I wouldn't want to be your patient."
I think the answer to the OP's question is obvious, but no one wants wants to spit it out. Instead, they go "bashing" pathologists and comparing them to mutants, while TRYING to avoid even mentioning psychiatry........Is this a self defence mechanism, or what? 😉
That won't help. These two fields couldn't be more seperate on more levels and to compare them based on someones' ambiguous interpretation of "prestige" (which I believe is a ludicrious criteria but I live a bit more "free" than most) is totally useless.
What do you want out of your career? If you wan't people to be obsequeous, servile, or downright avoidant then become a insturment throwing academic surgeon. That is definitely a way to feed your ego...if thats what you are looking for.
On the other hand maybe you can cure depression, free people from the vise of schizophrenia, or develop a string of genetic markers for early detection of cancer. Wow, I guess its all up to the individual. Imagine that? What do you want?
What do you want out of your career? If you wan't people to be obsequeous, servile, or downright avoidant then become a insturment throwing academic surgeon. That is definitely a way to feed your ego...if thats what you are looking for.
On the other hand maybe you can cure depression, free people from the vise of schizophrenia, or develop a string of genetic markers for early detection of cancer. Wow, I guess its all up to the individual. Imagine that? What do you want?
VentdependenT said:
Today's patient's are not like they used to be in the past. Today, they are more educated, more selective, and no longer intimidated by the "MD" title. If you are rude to them, they will be rude to you. Today's patients will not take crap from no one. One of my surgery attendings learnt it the "hard way". To the patient, the "MD" is not more than a paid servant, who is supposed to give the patient what they paid him/her for.
I was referring to the residents and medical staff.
