better institution for path=better job?

[Gharfunkle]

Hello, i am hearing from various sources that the bigger name programs (ex--MASS GENERAL, UVA, NORTHWESTERN) are very research oriented--and alot of their residents so a ton of scutwork. I personally want to practice community pathology. I don't mind doing a little research, but definitely don't want to devote a significant amount of time to it. Is it important to go to a residency with a big name even if you don't want to do research and want to practice community path? Will it be easier to get a community job if i attend a big name institution?

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[LADoc00]

Hello, i am hearing from various sources that the bigger name programs (ex--MASS GENERAL, UVA, NORTHWESTERN) are very research oriented--and alot of their residents so a ton of scutwork. I personally want to practice community pathology. I don't mind doing a little research, but definitely don't want to devote a significant amount of time to it. Is it important to go to a residency with a big name even if you don't want to do research and want to practice community path? Will it be easier to get a community job if i attend a big name institution?

Yes. But that said Ive seen too many people who went to some crap program I had never heard rolling in the $$$ by virtue of their elite business skills. Isnt there some hypothesis that Ivy League schools dont open doors because the students who choose them would have suceeeded anywhere? Something akin to a pre-selection bias.

 

[RyMcQ]

Will it be easier to get a community job if i attend a big name institution?

I agree with LADoc00, but our definitions of a "big name program" are probably a little different. There are plenty of respected programs that aren't heavy hitters academics-wise. (I'm thinking specifically of Iowa as an example, but there are others.)

If you want to practice in a particular location, I have found that people will be more impressed if you went away to a more respected program, even if the local program is excellent. I guess they see something exotic in you when you come back, or there's a "grass-is-greener effect", or something. Having personally experienced this phenomenon, I'm glad I left home to train at a respected program. The job I accepted in my home state was never advertised, and my future partners did not look any further after they interviewed me. They indicated how much they thought of my program, and I think it was because of this, and not my ninja skills, they decided to just offer me the job on the spot.

Hope that helps.

 

[b&ierstiefel]

Training at a "big name" institution has got to help and in that regards, the OP's questions is very easy to answer. However, it's not as simplistic as this because ONCE you get to residency, then there are many challenges that still lie ahead. You gotta learn your pathology well and you gotta get skillz. And no I'm not talking about numchuck, bowstaff, ninja, or computer hacking skillz. There are many skillz to master in pathology and personally as I think about this, this realization becomes overwhelming. At this point in time, all of us current applicants are fretting about where we want to go and where we will end up. However, the more I think of things, Match Day only represents the beginning. I'm experiencing quite a bit of trepidation about what is to come AFTER Match Day.

 

[stormjen]

I'm experiencing quite a bit of trepidation about what is to come AFTER Match Day.

Severe hangover?

 

[b&ierstiefel]

Severe hangover?

Edit: Oh I see what you were saying. Haha...I hope we're all hungover on March 18th. I'll be passed out somewhere in Vegas...I fly out there a few hours after the Match Day results are announced. I'm even trying to upgrade to first class so that I can...sit in a nice comfortable seat.

 

[Gut Shot]

I'm even trying to upgrade to first class so that I can...sit in a nice comfortable seat.

If you can only upgrade one-way, make sure it's the trip home. The flight *into* Vegas is the one where you will be feeling no pain...

My favorite spot on the strip right now is the Fontana bar at the Bellagio. Go at about 7:30 and spend a few hours watching the fountains and listening to the WAY above average live music. It's pricey but the atmosphere is remarkable.

We also went to the Hoffbrau Haus, which I had never been to before. It was magnificent, although I recommend going in the evening and gorging on wurst when there is a bit of a crowd.

 

[b&ierstiefel]

If you can only upgrade one-way, make sure it's the trip home. The flight *into* Vegas is the one where you will be feeling no pain...

My favorite spot on the strip right now is the Fontana bar at the Bellagio. Go at about 7:30 and spend a few hours watching the fountains and listening to the WAY above average live music. It's pricey but the atmosphere is remarkable.

We also went to the Hoffbrau Haus, which I had never been to before. It was magnificent, although I recommend going in the evening and gorging on wurst when there is a bit of a crowd.

Sweet dude. Thanks for the tip. I'm $3200 down from not being paid during December and January. So my first goal is to play craps until I win $3200.

 

[cytoborg]

If you want to practice in a particular location, I have found that people will be more impressed if you went away to a more respected program, even if the local program is excellent. I guess they see something exotic in you when you come back, or there's a "grass-is-greener effect", or something. Having personally experienced this phenomenon, I'm glad I left home to train at a respected program. The job I accepted in my home state was never advertised, and my future partners did not look any further after they interviewed me.

Would you mind saying what region of the country you're in?

I've heard the opposite, that it's important to train locally if you want a local job in a tight market. Though it sounds like it all depends on how business savvy you are, what kind of connections you already have, etc.

 

[RyMcQ]

Would you mind saying what region of the country you're in?

I've heard the opposite, that it's important to train locally if you want a local job in a tight market. Though it sounds like it all depends on how business savvy you are, what kind of connections you already have, etc.

I'll be heading back to Utah in July. I had several other attendings at other community hospitals in the state say that they preferred that their new associates have a fellowship (in whatever) with out-of-state training a plus. It's not that they disrespect Utah. (Despite a few failings, the Utah program consistently produces excellent residents.) Many of the senior staff at these hospitals did fellowships out of state, so they tend to like applicants who have done the same. I recognize that this phenomenon may not hold in other states, though.

If locals get the jobs in a tight market, I think it is more likely due to the fact that they are visible and accessible to the pathologists who are hiring. However, a non-local applicant that is willing to call groups to ask about jobs, I think, will have just as much success. Preexisting connections are nice, but new connections can be just as effective. It's just that many applicants are too shy to cold-call pathologists that they don't know.

I might be wrong on all this. I'm only an authority on my own experience, so your mileage may vary (of course).

 

[LADoc00]

I guess they see something exotic in you when you come back

Hope that helps.

Wearing buttless/crotchless tight leather pants would also put in you the "exotic" category. So there ARE options.

 

[Harbster]

Wearing buttless/crotchless tight leather pants would also put in you the "exotic" category. So there ARE options.

Hey Doc, are ya poh too?

 

[Gut Shot]

Sweet dude. Thanks for the tip. I'm $3200 down from not being paid during December and January. So my first goal is to play craps until I win $3200.

Craps? Son, your only "reasonable" chance to win $3200 is to play $1600 on red-black or odd-even roulette, or $1600 on a single hand of blackjack. May I suggest Binion's Horshoe in the scenic downtown?

 

[b&ierstiefel]

Hey Doc, are ya poh too?

He's not poh! He's made it!

 

[LADoc00]

My post tax income is a measly 15K a month, hardly "made." I blame the fricking Democrats and their social programs. Also the war, war is bad. Wars that cost me money are worse. Also, strippers and all sex workers cause they dont pay ANY taxes and that aint fair. Do pimps carry W-2s? HELL NO. They should tho. Legalize everything and TAX it all I say.


A vote for LADOC is a vote for a better America.

Amen.

 

[b&ierstiefel]

A vote for LADOC is a vote for a better America.

Actually, a vote for Pedro is a vote for a better America. vote for pedro and all your wildest dreams will come true.

 

[Gut Shot]

My post tax income is a measly 15K a month, hardly "made."

Could be worse. Just check out the top marginal income tax rates from 1942-1980.

http://www.truthandpolitics.org/top-rates.php

 

[yaah]

My post tax income is a measly 15K a month, hardly "made." I blame the fricking Democrats and their social programs. Also the war, war is bad. Wars that cost me money are worse. Also, strippers and all sex workers cause they dont pay ANY taxes and that aint fair. Do pimps carry W-2s? HELL NO. They should tho. Legalize everything and TAX it all I say.


A vote for LADOC is a vote for a better America.

Amen.

Lousy democrats.

 

[Fermata]

 

[b&ierstiefel]

well, if this thread is gonna turn into a random pic posting page...i shall propagate the trend.

yaah, this was the south park episode i was telling you about yesterday. season 8-episode 814