Hard to answer such a general question, but what the hey... good plug time anyway 😉
I am at MGH for AP/CP. This was and is my first choice pathology program.
The basics: The first year is AP, the second year is CP, the third is AP, and the fourth is combined.
PGY1: We rotate each week in a different subspecialty area. The first 12 weeks we have "teaching residents" (PGY-2,3) on each service we cover. This is known as our orientation period and it is fairly intense. There is an abundant amount of material for each service, so there is no need to worry about whether or not you will "miss out" on specimens with this type of subspecialization. In these 11 weeks I have seen more than 75% of the pathology described in Robbins.
Work day for surg path rotations: Sign out in morning ~8:00am, infamous "OUTS" unknown conference noonish, gross in the evening, preview at night. Officially we need to be off of the hospital premises at 10pm. On non-surg path services, the days are much more typical (home by 6-8pm). Same with non-grossing "small" services like GI small. Grossing can be a chore to some. I love it, because we do not gross small routine specimens, only the large, complicated surgical specimens. I have a thing for dissection and many of the coolest surgeries in the world are done at MGH. For example, my week on GU I had 2 bladders, 3 kidneys, 2 adrenal glands, a penis, and 20+ prostatectomies for grossing in (Not unreasonable, but very steep learning curve--I felt like I could build my own frankenstein collecting system!) I signed out these, plus all GU/prostate biopsies and consults each day. Previewing is mandatory. I also need to go in once a weekend 60% of the time.
Conferences: Godzillions... endless? Pick the ones you are interested in. Mandatory conferences include: Grand Rounds on Thursday, Molecular pathology on Monday, soon a teaching conference that starts every year in fall, and "OUTS" the most notorious of them all. The outs conference is an unknown conference of all of the consult and interesting case material of the previous weeks. On average 10 cases a day are put out for preview the day before. Residents are expected to look at most of them most days, and to attend most outs. Some residents feel this conference has a substantial weight to it since a resident is expected to volunteer to discuss each case. I think it is both fun and wicked cool learning (catch my new-englandese?) It times gone past, residents were apparently reluctant to volunteer, and this caused some disharmony. I think our PGY-1 class is a bit more vocal. To meet outs is a daily highlight (and a natural transition between sign-out and grossing.)
Residents: The PGY-1 AP/CP group of 7 are like peas in a pod. I could not have picked a more likable, diligent, enthusiastic group of people to work with. We also make it a point to get together regularly socially. Likewise, the other classes also seem to have a strong commitment to one another. While everyone tries to maintain a personal level of excellence, there is little interpersonal competition. People switch calls fluidly and easily as needed. Personal issues that affect work are dealt with in a supportive group manner (i.e. "sure I'll gross that specimen for you.")
Overall, I am really happy about being at MGH. I would love to field more questions.
Mindy
