When did you figure out that Pathology was for you?

Does every Pathologist have lab experience prior to their medical school years?

<<If you count organic chemistry as lab experience then yes, hehe. Other than that not really.

Does every residency program want students you have done research (I'm not talking about the top programs)?

<<Research is always nice on your application, but hardly a requirement.


I have never been involved in any sort of lab environment (unless you count the chemistry labs in college, which I didn't like at all), but I am interested in Pathology because of the.....unique niche in medicine, laid back nature of the job, and the happiness of current Pathologists that I have seen.

<<I hope you are doing some rotations to make sure it will make you happy. It is not for everyone.

This is silly, but between my MSI and MSII years I took the following little quiz:

http://www.med-ed.virginia.edu/specialties/Home.html

Path came up in the top 3 that were good for me, so I did some research, then hooked up with a pathologist during my MSII year -- found out I loved it, and the rest was history.

What also helped was looking back at my first year of med school and examining which subjects I enjoyed the most and did best in. I had a real knack for histo -- could see everything in 3-D easily and ended up teaching a lot of my friends as we went along -- huge clue that path was in my future. I guess if you adored biochem, then something like IM would be better -- do you follow the thought process?

In retrospect, even before medical school, I was always really interested in the labs and path reports that would come through at work. That should have told me something even back then.

the first week of histology during 1st year of Med. school. i was dead set ever since. it felt creative, knowledgeable, vital, and totally satisfying.

cheers

I didn't know for sure until 4th year after doing a surg path rotation. I liked 2nd year path alot but it took the grind of 3rd year rotations to make me realize that the lifestyle and daily work flow of direct patient care medicine was not for me. Plus, during surgery, I noticed I was always more interested in the path than in the surgeries.

Interestingly enough, I hated histo first year. Now I have to use it every day .

I had no lab experience before medical school and did not do any research.

Forensic Path,

As you can probably tell by my screen name, I also express interest in forensic pathology. I am finishing up my Master of Forensic Science degree this month and am applying for the class of 2008. Not sure what the rotations of medical school will bring -- but I am also interested in following the "DO way" and going into primary care. I love the intricate mix of law enforcement and medicine that forensic pathology can bring. I have taken two forensic medicine/pathology courses and I must say that I enjoyed those classes the most of all of my graduate courses.

Best of luck.

pathdr2b,

you stated:

"Following her talk, I meet with many area pathologist at the NIH, NCI , University of Maryland, and Hopkins and became convinced that this was the "it" I'd spent a good portion of my adult life looking for (However, I won't be experiencing "it" at Hopkins )"


Why not at Hopkins? Do you like the program?

Thank you.

Originally posted by gdtrfb
Why not at Hopkins? Do you like the program?
Thank you.

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I'm well over 30, I'm African American and I have a family. While my goals and aspirations have been embraced by UMaryland, NIH/NCI, Howard, GW, and Georgetown, this hasn't been the case for my experinces with Hopkins. As a matter of fact, there are at least 2 traditional PhD students that chose UMaryland over Hopkins.

Education is what you make it, so I don't feel inclined to "go for the best" school. Besides the closer you get to 40, the less you care about what others may think of your choices

Forensics is high on my list at this point. I've done a month in medical school and a month in residency and those have been by far my favorite months of training. I really enjoy the investigative side of forensics as well as getting to do dissections rather than sit at a scope all day and look at slides (although I enjoy that as well...I just am a little restless and can't sit still for that long). My concerns are that I would get burned out after seeing all the sensless death in the world and that I would not enjoy testifying.

Originally posted by pathdr2b
Besides the closer you get to 40, the less you care about what others may think of your choices

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Ahmen brother. hehe.

Four years is a long time to be unhappy make sure the residency suits you no matter what the prestige level.

Originally posted by BCMD
My concerns are that I would get burned out after seeing all the sensless death in the world and that I would not enjoy testifying.

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I imagine you would get numb to it.

Originally posted by GreatPumpkin
Ahmen brother. hehe.

Four years is a long time to be unhappy make sure the residency suits you no matter what the prestige level.

Click to expand...

So GreatPumkin, why pathology?

As strange as it may seem I first became interested in path as a kid watching the show Quincy (the 70s version of CSI). It stayed in my mind so when I started working in a hospital during college as an ER clerk I made sure to shadow the hospital pathologist a couple days. I really liked his job. So when I went to medical school I really knew I would be giving path some interest, though I was not completely sure.

During Histology I decided I hated path hehe. I kept getting motion sick in the microscopes and the class just sucked.

Lucky for me during 3rd year I just didn't find anything that I felt like I wanted to do forever. So at the start of my 4th year I scheduled 3 rotations to make a final decision..Rads..Gas..Path.

I liked Rads it was interesting but I didn't like all the interventional stuff. Felt like a surgery residency at times.

I should never have even considered Anest. It totally doesn't fit my personality with the periods of frantic preperation and then periods of mind numbing calm. The money was the attraction.

I gave path a try (came with motion sickness pills in hand) hoping that maybe my first choice was actually the right one. Within two days I knew it was. Strange thing is I never had motion sickness again. I love the work, especially the surgical path part. I don't mind the CP part either. (I don't like doing bone marrow biopsies, and I will make sure my future job doesn't involve doing these).

Originally posted by GreatPumpkin
As strange as it may seem I first became interested in path as a kid watching the show Quincy (the 70s version of CSI).

Click to expand...

Yep, I'm "mature" enough to remember this show and it was my first influence toward path also. But viewing the autopsy of an infant ended my desire for forensic path and now that I'm a Mom, it's definitely OUT of the question.

Yes, doing autopsies on infants can really bring you down. However, I try to take the perspective that I'm the advocate for the deceased and although I can't bring the child back, I can be sure to accurately determine his/her cause of death and hopefully help to prevent future such tragedies.

GP, you're probably right.

During one brain cutting over at the Children's Hospital there was a 7 month gestation post going on across the room. My wife was 8 months pregnant with our second. I can tell you that I will never forget what that 7 monther looked like, even though I tried REAL hard to focus on the brains and not the abortus. The peds stuff is a concern for me, though it's only a part of path and, should I choose this field (a whole other question), I'll muddle through the more gut wrenching parts. Here's to hoping BCMD's coping strategy works.

As to why path (even though I am not sure about specialty yet), there are many reasons. I'm still trying to figure out which are the most important to me, though. I'll let you know when I do.

P