2008 pathology applicants

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Tiki said:
I finally asked for my LORs and everyone said yes. YAY! I feel so much better having done it.

I'm getting one from Path, one from Surgery and one from Medicine. Now I just have to sit down and write this stupid personal statement.
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I hear ya on that. The PS is killing me. Too much of a perfectionist I guess.
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on the subject of personal statements, i'd mentioned before that mine was over a page when i put it into ERAS formatting. i talked to some faculty at my school, some of whom reading PS's for pathology applicants, and they all advised me getting it down to a single page or less. they all said it's much more likely to be read in its entirety that way.

also, as a reminder to everyone, NRMP registration begins this coming Wednesday.
 
mlw03 said:
on the subject of personal statements, i'd mentioned before that mine was over a page when i put it into ERAS formatting. i talked to some faculty at my school, some of whom reading PS's for pathology applicants, and they all advised me getting it down to a single page or less. they all said it's much more likely to be read in its entirety that way.

also, as a reminder to everyone, NRMP registration begins this coming Wednesday.
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Thanks for the reminder, mlw.

I'm finishing my PS this weekend. I'm going up to the mountains for the weekend, and I'm going to bring a pen and a notebook and while I'm off hiking, I'm going to freaking get some inspiration and write this stupid thing.

Have a great weekend, 2008ers!
 
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Nice. Congrats on getting all that done.
I asked for letters from Pathology, Surgery, and OB/Gyn.
My PS is probably kind of mediocre, but all I keep hearing from people is "keep it short and don't get too fancy".

PS: Any reason to get 4 letters? Some people I know are doing this, for other specialties of course, but nobody has a solid answer on what that would do, since I can't see the letters to judge which is better.
 
Sean2tall said:
PS: Any reason to get 4 letters? Some people I know are doing this, for other specialties of course, but nobody has a solid answer on what that would do, since I can't see the letters to judge which is better.
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well, a few programs don't explicitly say how many letters they want, so for those programs i'm sending 4 since i think all 4 of mine (3 pathologists, one med-peds) will be good. but for the ones that say they only want 3, i'm struggling to decide which 3 to send. any thoughts? some path faculty have told me that letters from non-pathologists aren't as useful to them because it doesn't speak to my ability to succeed as a path resident, but then i've also heard that having 1 letter from a clinician shows that you have good interpersonal skills, can relate to patients, etc.

also, i'd be curious what people's opinions are on this subject: does the level of professorhood matter in terms of how much weight the letter is given? by that i mean, will someone look at the signature line and care if it says professor, associate professor, or assistant professor? one faculty member i know (a full professor himself) says you should aim for as many letters from full profs as possible, but i gotta think that a good, personal letter from an associate prof would be more useful than a generic, boring one from a full prof. there's nothing i can do about it at this point because the letter writers i've selected are the ones i believe can best state my strengths, but i think it's a question worth asking.

sept 1 is fast approaching... exciting stuff, eh? :thumbup:
 
mlw03 said:
also, i'd be curious what people's opinions are on this subject: does the level of professorhood matter in terms of how much weight the letter is given? by that i mean, will someone look at the signature line and care if it says professor, associate professor, or assistant professor? one faculty member i know (a full professor himself) says you should aim for as many letters from full profs as possible, but i gotta think that a good, personal letter from an associate prof would be more useful than a generic, boring one from a full prof. there's nothing i can do about it at this point because the letter writers i've selected are the ones i believe can best state my strengths, but i think it's a question worth asking.

sept 1 is fast approaching... exciting stuff, eh? :thumbup:
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I think it definitely matters in some cases. If someone is a PD at a residency program or the chair of the path department at a residency program, and they write you a letter, obviously this would carry more weight than a letter from a pathologist in community practice that no one has really heard of. As far as assistant professor versus full profs, well I can't comment on that but my guess would be that it would depend on the contents of the letter like you stated.
 
bruiser903 said:
I think it definitely matters in some cases. If someone is a PD at a residency program or the chair of the path department at a residency program, and they write you a letter, obviously this would carry more weight than a letter from a pathologist in community practice that no one has really heard of. As far as assistant professor versus full profs, well I can't comment on that but my guess would be that it would depend on the contents of the letter like you stated.
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definately agree that PDs and department chairpersons make a difference. if either of those persons say, "mlw rocks and he's the kind of resident we'd like at our program" that should help. i would also tend to agree that letters from academic pathologists are probably a little more helpful, all things being equals (which as yaah says, they never are), than letters from community pathologists. that's not a knock on community practitioners, rather it's the fact that the academic pathologist likely works with path residents on a regular basis, so when they say, "mlw has what it takes to be a successful pathology resident" the reader knows that's an intelligent comment based on prior dealings with young pathologists-in-training. thanks for your thoughts, bruiser.
 
I definitely think the rank of the person writing you the letter matters. still i'd rather have a strong letter from someone a bit lower on the totem pole than a crap letter by a big shot.
 
mlw03 said:
but then i've also heard that having 1 letter from a clinician shows that you have good interpersonal skills, can relate to patients, etc.
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Your dean's letter speaks to this. So do your clerkship grades. But by all means, if you have a good relationship with a clinician and they can write you a great letter that talks about how enthusiastic, hard working, etc, you are, then get it. I had 3 pathologist letters but they were my best letters from the people best suited in my situation to recommend me.

also, i'd be curious what people's opinions are on this subject: does the level of professorhood matter in terms of how much weight the letter is given? by that i mean, will someone look at the signature line and care if it says professor, associate professor, or assistant professor?
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It matters probably more for fellowships than residency. But oftentimes the full professors are the ones who are nationally known and respected, and when your candidacy is evaluated, this will come up (that you had a letter from Dr X who everybody knows). This is part of the reason why you have three letters. If two of them are on a more personal level from people you had direct contact with and the third is from someone you only worked with a little bit but has supervisory function and knows about you from that perspective, by all means go for it. What also helps is to just set up a meeting with them, give them your CV, etc, and then they can often write you a great letter.
 
So far I have one letter from Medicine, one from Surgery and one from a pathologist. I'd like to get a letter from my current away rotation to include in ERAS as well.

How important is getting your ERAS in at the absolute earliest for pathology? I am going to submit mine in September, that is not in question, yet is there really a difference if I submit it on the 15th rather than the 1st?
 
Trenchcoat said:
So far I have one letter from Medicine, one from Surgery and one from a pathologist. I'd like to get a letter from my current away rotation to include in ERAS as well.

How important is getting your ERAS in at the absolute earliest for pathology? I am going to submit mine in September, that is not in question, yet is there really a difference if I submit it on the 15th rather than the 1st?
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good question. i don't know, but i doubt it matters.
 
King Arthur said:
good question. i don't know, but i doubt it matters.
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I'm curious about this as well. I probably won't get mine in exactly on the first. Probably more around the 7th.
 
The earlier the better, but most programs will wait a little while before downloading a bolus of applications and then review them all at once.
 
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Hey Cameron,

Will they still download our apps if we don't have all of our LORs yet?
 
Tiki said:
Hey Cameron,

Will they still download our apps if we don't have all of our LORs yet?
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Hmm...I honestly can't remember. I think it varies by program. All of them will probably at least download your app to get you into the system, but they may not be reviewed until the rest of your stuff comes in. The exception to this is the Dean's letter, which doesn't go to programs until later (if I'm remembering correctly, it's been a couple years now).

But yeah, waiting for those dang LOR's to be uploaded is probably the most stressful part of the process, b/c they are somewhat out of your control.

At my program, I'm not sure how the early evaluations are conducted. We (the residents) are brought more into the process once interviews have been offered. If I think about it, I'll ask the PD the next time I run into him.
 
Ok, so I'm just trying to make sure I remember everything, basically for submitting the application, the things you can control are:

1. Fill out the Resume-type stuff on ERAS
2. Request the LOR's from faculty
3. Pick the programs & assign all letters/PS to them etc.
4. Send photo to dean's office
5. Input personal statement

Am I forgetting anything?

Good luck all
 
CameronFrye said:
Hmm...I honestly can't remember. I think it varies by program. All of them will probably at least download your app to get you into the system, but they may not be reviewed until the rest of your stuff comes in. The exception to this is the Dean's letter, which doesn't go to programs until later (if I'm remembering correctly, it's been a couple years now).

But yeah, waiting for those dang LOR's to be uploaded is probably the most stressful part of the process, b/c they are somewhat out of your control.

At my program, I'm not sure how the early evaluations are conducted. We (the residents) are brought more into the process once interviews have been offered. If I think about it, I'll ask the PD the next time I run into him.
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The answer to this is yes, some programs will download your application even if it isn't complete. Some will even offer you interviews based on your incomplete (but presumably impressive) app. Get your stuff in as early as possible.
 
Thanks, Cameron and Aubrey!!!
 
Trenchcoat said:
So far I have one letter from Medicine, one from Surgery and one from a pathologist. I'd like to get a letter from my current away rotation to include in ERAS as well.

How important is getting your ERAS in at the absolute earliest for pathology? I am going to submit mine in September, that is not in question, yet is there really a difference if I submit it on the 15th rather than the 1st?
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The difference is minimal.

Path residency applications aren't like AMCAS medical school apps. You don't need to be obsessive compulsive and submit your ERAS application on the first day. Unlike med school, it's not rolling admissions. Remember, path residency programs get several hundred applications per year whereas med schools get thousands of applications per year. In the latter case, it can help to try to get near the "front of the line".
 
Bierstiefel said:
The difference is minimal.

Path residency applications aren't like AMCAS medical school apps. You don't need to be obsessive compulsive and submit your ERAS application on the first day. Unlike med school, it's not rolling admissions. Remember, path residency programs get several hundred applications per year whereas med schools get thousands of applications per year. In the latter case, it can help to try to get near the "front of the line".
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Concur.. the main reason for getting your stuff in as early as possible is not to impress programs with your pro-activeness, but rather to hopefully get a couple of early interview offers and start setting up your schedule.

This becomes considerably more important if you are planning on doing an ungodly number of interviews, crisscrossing the country multiple times, etc.
 
Aubrey said:
Concur.. the main reason for getting your stuff in as early as possible is not to impress programs with your pro-activeness, but rather to hopefully get a couple of early interview offers and start setting up your schedule.

This becomes considerably more important if you are planning on doing an ungodly number of interviews, crisscrossing the country multiple times, etc.
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True true...so I submitted my ERAS around Sept. 10th I think +/- a few days. The issue I faced was that the first batch of interviews I received were from programs that were much lower on my list. I felt obligated to schedule those interviews out of common courtesy but then ended up canceling them.
 
Ok, I feel much better about not submitting on the 1st.

Today is the day that I'm going to finish my personal statement. Seriously, when I get home from the gym and Trader Joe's, I'm not moving until I finish the damn thing.
 
I found some interesting info for 2008 applicants from FREIDA.

When you search for programs, you should be able to find this:
Last updated: 08/13/2007
Survey received: 07/xx/2007

If you find following info under a program, some of these programs (only some) have some troubles.
Last updated: 08/13/2007
Survey received: not yet received
 
Tiki said:
Ok, I feel much better about not submitting on the 1st.

Today is the day that I'm going to finish my personal statement. Seriously, when I get home from the gym and Trader Joe's, I'm not moving until I finish the damn thing.
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Ok here's what you have to do. I just finished mine last week, finally, so listen up. Sit there. Open your word doc, whatever. DO NOT OPEN THE INTERNET. DO NOT GET DISTRACTED. Don't worry about what you're writing, just write down your story, your reasons for doing path in chronological order starting from the first moment you thought about it to your experience in medical school. Then write why you'd be good at it. Then write what you are looking for in a residency. Then write your future goals.

Then edit the thing until it's good. Like in the movie Finding Forrester, write with your heart first and your head second.

On a side note, I also finished up Step II today. Damn, I'm glad to be done with that.
 
That is perhaps the first time someone ever quoted a line from that film besides "you're the man now dog".

 
yaah said:
The new challenge is for someone to quote something from the bizarre 80s movie "Gleaming the Cube."
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Tina Trac: How did you get to be so cynical?
Brian Kelly: Practice.



Brian Kelly: I guess we all do unexpected things sometimes, don't we?



Brian Kelly: Can I ask you something personal?
Tina Trac: Sure...
Brian Kelly: Where's the bathroom?



Brian Kelly: I don't know what's worse: getting blown up in nuclear war or having a 7-11 on every corner.



Bobby Nguyen: Don't give me a jerk-off handjob!



Brian Kelly: Do you know what a farm vet does? He helps cows get well so they can live long enough to be turned into Quarter Pounders. It's ridiculous!



Brian Kelly: If my dog had a face like yours I'd shave his ass and tell him to walk backwards.



[Brian comes to school with a new, clean-cut look]
Yabbo: Brian, Halloween's not 'til October.
Brian Kelly: So?
Yabbo: So? Where's your board?
Brian Kelly: I felt like walking today!
Yabbo: Why are you wearing those clothes?
Gremic: Oh, I know, his clothes are in the cleaners.
Buddy: I bet his mom put him up to it.



Yabbo: [telling Brian about a house that burned down to skate the pool] Besides, it burned down last week.
Buddy: [points at Yabbo] Yeah, he burned it!



Gremic: [While in the plane scouting for a pool] Check it out, there's my mom's, there's my dad's house.
Buddy: Hey, there's my Pizza Hut!
 
Daddydoc said:
Tina Trac: How did you get to be so cynical?
Brian Kelly: Practice.



Brian Kelly: I guess we all do unexpected things sometimes, don't we?



Brian Kelly: Can I ask you something personal?
Tina Trac: Sure...
Brian Kelly: Where's the bathroom?



Brian Kelly: I don't know what's worse: getting blown up in nuclear war or having a 7-11 on every corner.



Bobby Nguyen: Don't give me a jerk-off handjob!



Brian Kelly: Do you know what a farm vet does? He helps cows get well so they can live long enough to be turned into Quarter Pounders. It's ridiculous!



Brian Kelly: If my dog had a face like yours I'd shave his ass and tell him to walk backwards.



[Brian comes to school with a new, clean-cut look]
Yabbo: Brian, Halloween's not 'til October.
Brian Kelly: So?
Yabbo: So? Where's your board?
Brian Kelly: I felt like walking today!
Yabbo: Why are you wearing those clothes?
Gremic: Oh, I know, his clothes are in the cleaners.
Buddy: I bet his mom put him up to it.



Yabbo: [telling Brian about a house that burned down to skate the pool] Besides, it burned down last week.
Buddy: [points at Yabbo] Yeah, he burned it!



Gremic: [While in the plane scouting for a pool] Check it out, there's my mom's, there's my dad's house.
Buddy: Hey, there's my Pizza Hut!
Click to expand...

Dude, anyone can use IMDb to get quotes. ;)
 
It's too late, I had to open up the internet to read your post. :D I'm seriously going to write it this weekend. I have absolutely no plans except to write my personal statement. But thanks for the peptalk!

And congrats on finishing Step 2!

TheCritic said:
Ok here's what you have to do. I just finished mine last week, finally, so listen up. Sit there. Open your word doc, whatever. DO NOT OPEN THE INTERNET. DO NOT GET DISTRACTED. Don't worry about what you're writing, just write down your story, your reasons for doing path in chronological order starting from the first moment you thought about it to your experience in medical school. Then write why you'd be good at it. Then write what you are looking for in a residency. Then write your future goals.

Then edit the thing until it's good. Like in the movie Finding Forrester, write with your heart first and your head second.

On a side note, I also finished up Step II today. Damn, I'm glad to be done with that.
Click to expand...
 
Tiki said:
It's too late, I had to open up the internet to read your post. :D I'm seriously going to write it this weekend. I have absolutely no plans except to write my personal statement. But thanks for the peptalk!

And congrats on finishing Step 2!
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here's sending some good karma up north to ya tiki :thumbup: - you'll definately feel like a 10 pound weight got lifted off your chest when you finish your PS. i think the writing suggestion you got from thecritic is a good one, although getting all that into 1 page might be tough. for me it came down to editing out pretty much every word that wasn't necessary to convey my message - that got me down from 1.5 to 1 pages, which everyone has told me is a good thing.
 
mlw03 said:
here's sending some good karma up north to ya tiki :thumbup: - you'll definately feel like a 10 pound weight got lifted off your chest when you finish your PS. i think the writing suggestion you got from thecritic is a good one, although getting all that into 1 page might be tough. for me it came down to editing out pretty much every word that wasn't necessary to convey my message - that got me down from 1.5 to 1 pages, which everyone has told me is a good thing.
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Thanks for the good karma!!! I might start it tonight, depends how I feel after I hit the gym.

I got two additional letters from pathologists today, so I'm pretty happy. Now I'll have three LORs from path, one from medicine and one from surgery, if everyone that I asked remembers to send them for me.

It's almost time to submit!! Can you believe it? Time is just flying by.
 
I'm also writing my personal statement and I'm very confused...

Shoud it be titled? I've just got a website that says it should, some say it should not....ohh :(

What do you guys think?
 
i've never been advised to title my PS. they know what it is - i don't need to put a title on it. to say nothing of the fact that coming up with a decent, but not totally cheesy, title would not be a easy feat.
 
Titles are completely unnecessary. Residency personal statements are quite straight-forward...don't be that dork who wrote a sonnet on his/her AMCAS personal statement to come across as some sophisticated, cultured fruit.
 
No sonnet? Oh crap, I'm screwed... :)

Just thought I'd check in. I wrote my PS probably a month ago and then I've stared at it trying to clean it up since then. I look at it and I know I don't like it, but I haven't had much luck editing it or improving it. Hoping that comes with time. I've requested 2 of my 3 letters from pathologists, just need to request that last one tomorrow.

After I took CK, I spent a month in Surg Path and had a great time. Got my CK scores back and actually improved on my Step 1 score, so that was an added bonus. Now I'm doing a month of community dermatology which has been nice - good hours, learning some derm and even got to spend a day assisting on Mohs surgeries with in-office frozen sections and such, so I was able to appear semi-knowledgeable thanks to my month in Surg Path.

I have a 5 day weekend (gotta love derm) coming up, so hoping on finishing up my ERAS and maybe getting a bit inspired on revising the PS. Hope everyone else has exciting labor day weekend plans... :)

BH
 
doc -

have some friends read it - classmates and also non-med school friends. i found that really helpful in making sure my PS conveyed who i am and what i'm about, professionally and personally. also, find someone who has some writing skills to help clean up the writing. i have a buddy who was a mass comm major who always helps my writing come through just a little bit cleaner.

i'm pretty psyched for this weekend actually. i'm taking a trip to do a half marathon with some friends in virginia, then monday when i get back it'll be time to start submitting. i'm looking forward to any chance to get out of florida for a bit - it's so horrifically hot and humid down here and it's not going to get better for at least another month. a pleasant holiday weekend and safe travels to all out there.
 
I am new here. I also will apply for path this year.
 
Welcome, oxygen.



One of my LORs came in, but its from Surgery, not Path. Hopefully they'll start to trickle in sometime within the next two weeks. I'm going to submit my application on Friday, right after my Dean's letter meeting on Thursday.

I hope everyone has a fantastic labor day weekend!
 
welcome to the group oxygen... can we call you O2 for short?

sure you can. :)
 
yes, it works. Hi Tiki, mlw3 and everybody.
 
My opinions based on my interviews last year

UVA- a very good program, perhaps higher hours than some

Indiana - $$$, they seem to have some cash flow there. hear that teaching may be questionable but still would checkout. Nice campus

Mayo - Residents were all stressed but still seemed strong. Don't get to caught up on their practice of only doing all frozens. You'll know what you need to know when you are done.

MCW - academic program with feel of community practice program,
milwaukee was nicer city than I thought it would be. Residents all seemed very happy/not stressed.

UofW - not to impressed, ranked it but ranked it last

UNM - I didn't like albuquerque, not overly impressed but still ranked it

UofF - Specialty sign out. Seemed cramped (in retrospect, don't choose your program based on facilities, programs are only as good as the people involved)

UofMin- Only one I didn't rank. Didn't want to do my rotations a 5 different hospitals. My advice is to stick with programs that have you rotate at one campus or mostly at one campus. Driving all over the place is hard because you end up spending much of your energy learning each system rather than doing the important thing, learning your path.

Scott&white- Small hospital in small town with nothing to do. Program was better than would expect but still nothing special. Secretary toured me around town and just assumed that I shared the same religious beliefs as her. Waste of a plane ticket.

Colorado- In middle of major transition to new campus. Resident explicitly told me not to expect good teaching. That said, denver is nice.
 
thanks a lot for sharing those thoughts average.
 
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