Current state of Pathology (ALL READ)

[tsj]

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Tsj youre an idiot, but Ill spend a second to respond. At one point or another I travelled through: WashU, Brigham, Boston Childrens, Stanford, UCSF and LACounty. I never claimed to be an expert on jack ****, just giving my 2 cents, take it for what its worth and move on. I cant believe Im even responding to your ******ed ad hominum attacks.

Get a life.

That is a lot of places to do residency!

I'm not attacking you. I am just curious as to where you did residency. You seem to have strong opinions. How do you know that Yale isn't a good enough program to do residency at. You said "forget Yale". How do you know Yale training is regarded as insufficient to get a good job?

 

[LADoc00]

That is a lot of places to do residency!

I'm not attacking you. I am just curious as to where you did residency. You seem to have strong opinions. How do you know that Yale isn't a good enough program to do residency at. You said "forget Yale". How do you know Yale training is regarded as insufficient to get a good job?

No place is insufficient to get a good job. Jobs are given to PEOPLE not their f--king credentials. The best resident Ive ever seen was some no name program in Texas. Juan Rosai did much of his training in some small hospital in South America.

 

[tsj]

Then why are you saying only go to just a handful of programs.

You

 

[RyMcQ]

Maybe this will be helpful to some of you...

I am completely my hematopathology fellowship this year and am just starting the interview process. In fact, I am interviewing Friday for a job at a community hospital that looks very promising. (I found this forum while looking for some interview tips.)

My experience in looking so far is that job opportunities are out there, as long as you are assertive. The advertized jobs that people have referred to are either the crappy jobs that aren't filled by word of mouth or chairman positions for which national searches are required. The job for which I am interviewing Friday is one where the group started to consider expanding because of a cold call from me. I would recommend calling many groups, even if you know that they are not hiring. People will often be able to refer you to someone who is thinking about hiring. (In my case, the group that decided that they didn't need someone said very nice things about me to the group that is hiring.)

My impression of groups looking for a new pathologist is that they are interested in filling the position with a qualified applicant without having to look overly hard. If you look good, why search harder for someone who might be a little better. As far as partnership, most groups would rather have stability and a reliable partner. Why go through the trouble of looking for someone new when you have already have a reliable partner? Most groups are not so greedy that they will play that game with you. Most pathologists make plenty of money, even if they have to take on another partner. I agree with the sentiment that you should make sure that the contractual terms are clear regarding partnership. Bottom line here is that the partners should know within two years that you are capable, so a partnership track that is longer than that should be eyed with suspicion.

 

[SpinachPizza]

I second RyMcQ. I'm in my 5th year, have done a surg path fellowship, and have had a job locked up (in a place where I want to be) for over a year now. This job was never advertised. I personally think the best jobs are through word of mouth. Lots of groups call senior faculty at my program and ask who's in the "pipeline." From my perspective, there seem to be numerous opportunities. I don't know of a single resident/fellow from my institution in the past 4-5 years who has had any trouble getting a job. In this period of time I know of exactly two people whose jobs didn't work out as planned, but they left these groups and promptly got new jobs.

Of course, if you simply must live in San Francisco, for example, then yes, you'll have a more difficult time of it.

 

[kite]

Hi everyone, I've been "lurking" for a couple of months here, time to chime in...

And the LADOC has brought about this change, not to mention dropping in my thoughts....

May I remind everyone that happiness is something that you decide upon ahead of time. It is all to common for the medical student or the Amorican citizen to forget the privelaged life that she or he lives. There is a plethora of examples: the fact that we have the option of choosing a career that we know will make a difference in someone's life, that we have the option of not working 80 hours a week just to pay the bills, that we will never have to worry about not having health insurance or food on the table, and so on and so on.....so, if you know that we are of the few, who in this time of people on monster.com for months and months looking for entry level jobs, who are guaranteed work for pay in air conditioned rooms and getting paid for using our brains, then perhaps moving somewhere else for yet another six figure job is not so bad after all. In a word, perspective.

The only word that is fitting for the unhappiness and strife that runs rampant in med school and society in general is Insane. People have literally lost their minds, obsessing about things that they can buy and count.

Also, perhaps it was not the best timing for LADOC to drop this info on us all right before the interview season. Perhaps it is even irresponsible. This person is noticablely unhappy and would likely find talking to someone helpful. On observation, notice that this person is one of the few and very rare individuals who has desecrated the nurturing and optimistic pathology forum with obscenities, aggravations, and anatgonism. Like Snow White told grumpy when she caught him not washing his hands before he ate, 'You should be ashamed of yourself....'