For what reasons do you rule pathology out as a career?

[jupiterianvibe]

Pathology has a dismally low AMG match rate.

I'm trying to figure out why. Tell me your reasons for ruling out pathology as a viable career choice.

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[SkullbaseFoLyfe]

Very low (if any) patient interaction. Plus the work seems incredibly boring. It is an undoubtedly vital service, but looking at tissues under the microscope all day is pretty much the opposite of what I want out of a medical career.

 

[PhillyMed777]

Chronically horrible job market

 

[Jabbed]

^^
Such a strange conundrum. Nobody wants to go into it, so there are few applicants, and those applicants who do match still have a tough time finding a job.

 

[Darth Doc]

Our pathology professors were saying that those who go into pathology love it so much they never retire. 75% of active pathologists are > 45 y/o and 41% are > 55 y/o. http://www.archivesofpathology.org/doi/pdf/10.5858/arpa.2013-0200-OA . According to this study, the need for pathologists is calculated to start increasing in 2015.

Personally, I would find it incredibly boring, and it's the first field I ruled out. If you like it, go for it.

 

[Gambler 101]

No patient interaction. No procedures. Low pay.

 

[jupiterianvibe]

No patient interaction. No procedures. Low pay.

How low is too low for pay, in general? How much do you think pathologists get paid?

 

[Gambler 101]

How low is too low for pay, in general? How much do you think pathologists get paid?

I've heard 175-200K. I've also seen this:

http://shortwhitecoats.com/2012/the-ultimate-guide-to-physician-salaries

For me, I'd like to make $250k and above. It seems to be the going rate for hospitalists (they've told me). I've also had CRNAs tell me they make around 250k

 

[IslandStyle808]

^^
Such a strange conundrum. Nobody wants to go into it, so there are few applicants, and those applicants who do match still have a tough time finding a job.

Mainly cause they got those IMGs and FMGs who are desperate to match taking those spots.

 

[Dave89]

The fact that you might not have one if you do a Path residency.

 

[blub1212]

If I wanted to be a lab rat, I would have gotten a phd......

 

[Rekt]

Cons
-Super low pay
-Poor job prospects
-Almost zero patient interaction
-Working in a lab
-No procedures
-I've had my fill on histology from med school.
-If you told someone "I'm a pathologist", they probably couldn't guess you went to medical school

Pros
-?

 

[Dave89]

Cons
-Super low pay
-Poor job prospects
-Almost zero patient interaction
-Working in a lab
-No procedures
-I've had my fill on histology from med school.
-If you told someone "I'm a pathologist", they probably couldn't guess you went to medical school

Pros
-?

I think you misplaced the "Almost zero patient interaction."

 

[SPDF]

Mainly because I find the subject very dense and hard to conceptualize.

 

[T-in-a-Tizzy]

Looking under a microscope gives me horrid eyestrain and headaches. An hour a day of preclinical histology lab was about all that I could physically tolerate.

 

[ortnakas]

#1: too little patient interaction
#2: I've gotten my fill of pink and purple blobs from reading Robbins

 

[eteshoe]

If I wanted to be a lab rat, I would have gotten a phd......

I'm getting a PhD and I still find pathology kind of boring

 

[AngryAsian]

I was a lab rat, got a PhD, and I can't think of practicing anything else in medicine other than Pathology.

I get to confirm cancer diagnoses on tissue biopsies so patients can start getting the treatments they need. Occasionally I get to make diagnoses that are totally unexpected by my clinical colleagues, which is cool. Most of the time the biopsies are benign, which is good news for patients.

Sure, there's not a lot of patient contact (there are the occasional FNAs and bone marrow biopsies), but that doesn't mean I'm totally isolated. I'm usually on the phone (in my office... where I work out of) talking with other doctors about frozen section results, preliminary diagnoses, getting more clinical history to make a better diagnosis, or recommending re-biopsies (missed lesion or insufficient tumor for further characterization).

I understand Pathology is not for everyone. Yeah, if looking into the microscope makes you physically sick, then Pathology is probably not for you. If you can't do without patient contact or praise from patients, or if you absolutely have the need for people to know you went to medical school, then Pathology's probably not for you. Personally I don't have any interest in the rounding, charting, med prescribing, followups, clinics, or [insert clinical activity here] that my clinical colleagues need to do day after day. And I'm glad to leave all that stuff to them.

 

[GUH]

...Personally I don't have any interest in the rounding, charting, med prescribing, followups, clinics, or [insert clinical activity here] that my clinical colleagues need to do day after day. And I'm glad to leave all that stuff to them.

I've never heard that point made before, but it's definitely worth considering.

 

[psychMDhopefully]

I like pathology its just that 7 of the 10 path fellows from my home institution that graduated last year are still unemployed.

 

[TBV]

Because I'm not a complete nerd. Never met a pathologist that didn't deserve a wedgie.

 

[DubVille]

I really liked pathology and worked at coroners office before starting med school, helping the forensic pathologist do the gross autopsy and evidence collections, etc. I went to school strongly considering becoming a forensic pathologist, and still considered it into 4th year.

The job market is very bad, and the training is long. Forensic market per my contacts was okay, but pay is low. I also didnt hate clinicals and ended up in PM&R.

 

[Okazaki Frag Grenade]

Does subspecializing within pathology help at all with the job market? Or does that make it worse?
(Maybe everybody already does sub-specialize, and this is a dumb question)

 

[DubVille]

Does subspecializing within pathology help at all with the job market? Or does that make it worse?
(Maybe everybody already does sub-specialize, and this is a dumb question)

Everybody already does. Its very common to do 2 fellowships after residency. And the market is still pretty bad.

 

[jqueb29]

My personal reason is because histology is the most boring stupid annoying mind-numbing thing I've encountered in medical school.

 

[aspiringdoc09]

I loved pathology, especially forensic path and neuropathology, but I'm allergic to formalin/formaldehyde, so I can't go into that field but I had considered it originally. I like the field and how you have to use basic science to make diagnoses.

 

[Tenk]

I used to work in a path lab. It's pretty chill. You just look at slides all day and can take breaks to get a breath of fresh air. You can pretty much do whatever the hell you want in your office while you work too: have a tv on, listen to music, etc. The only semi "emergent" thing are frozen sections and even that is more of an Amazon prime rush order than a true emergency. It's a very low stress job compared to a lot of others, especially if you can get a good community gig.

 

[CherryRedDracul]

Looking under a microscope gives me horrid eyestrain and headaches. An hour a day of preclinical histology lab was about all that I could physically tolerate.

Ugh, this. I loathe looking through microscopes. That and the low pay and bad job market ruled it out for me. Otherwise, I do like learning about histology.

If I were to go into any path field, it would probably be forensic pathology, but I could see myself getting tired of doing autopsy after stinking autopsy on homicides, drug overdoses, and morbidly obese people.

 

[ortnakas]

I was a lab rat, got a PhD, and I can't think of practicing anything else in medicine other than Pathology.

I get to confirm cancer diagnoses on tissue biopsies so patients can start getting the treatments they need. Occasionally I get to make diagnoses that are totally unexpected by my clinical colleagues, which is cool. Most of the time the biopsies are benign, which is good news for patients.

Sure, there's not a lot of patient contact (there are the occasional FNAs and bone marrow biopsies), but that doesn't mean I'm totally isolated. I'm usually on the phone (in my office... where I work out of) talking with other doctors about frozen section results, preliminary diagnoses, getting more clinical history to make a better diagnosis, or recommending re-biopsies (missed lesion or insufficient tumor for further characterization).

I understand Pathology is not for everyone. Yeah, if looking into the microscope makes you physically sick, then Pathology is probably not for you. If you can't do without patient contact or praise from patients, or if you absolutely have the need for people to know you went to medical school, then Pathology's probably not for you. Personally I don't have any interest in the rounding, charting, med prescribing, followups, clinics, or [insert clinical activity here] that my clinical colleagues need to do day after day. And I'm glad to leave all that stuff to them.

These are all of the reasons I was considering pathology before medical school, and I do think it's a really interesting field! But then I realized both how much I like patient contact, and how much I don't like staring at slides. I'm glad there are people who disagree with me on those points though, because what you do is definitely important.

 

[Kazaki]

Because I'm not a complete nerd. Never met a pathologist that didn't deserve a wedgie.

You sir, are going places.

 

[Shipping News]

1. No jobs
2. I wear glasses and hate either taking them off to look in microscopes or leaving them on
3. Eye strain
4. No jobs
5. No jobs
6. Get a headache looking at slides
7. No jobs
8. Jobs that are out there pay very little
9. No jobs
10. Have to do autopsies in residency...gross
11. No jobs
12. No jobs

 

[BigRedBeta]

Had a profound, but incredibly fleeting interest in blood banking as a second year med student, but it literally amounted to about 3 and half hours - enough time to discuss it with the blood bank attending who had just given a lecture, and then research what a path residency looks like. The biggest reason I couldn't do it was the lack of patient interaction. I was also pretty terrible at histology/pathology as a first and second year student, and finally, it just didn't fit with my image of what being a doctor was. Certainly a vital cog, and something I would be unable to do my job without but not anything that would have left me fulfilled professionally.

 

[ZAC.RAZ]

If you go to medical school and halfway trough you realise that you don't enjoy interacting with people, while you'are still interested in solving medical problems, then pathology is a good field to pursue that goal. But if you go to medical school to become a pathologist, then you should definitely go and shadow or talk to a few pathologists.

 

[NotWayneBrady]

You sir, are going places.

Ortho.

 

[DRsmartypants]

I liked the science behind it but a few things deterred me from pathology and more towards radiology(which is the specialty I think I am going to match into in the near future).
1. Radiology like pathology is all diagnosis, no BS
2. In radiology, you have some patient interaction, and lots if you decide to do IR/INR
3. I thought scans and reading them were really cool.
4. Histology was ok, I never really liked looking at cells, it all looked the same to me. I prefer the greyscale to pink and purple.
5. I loved seeing the radiologists explain things to clinicians, they got a lot of respect(in front, behind closed doors not so much) from everyone in terms of their opinions. The radiologists did not hedge at all, which is becoming a more common practice due to defensive medicine and litigation.
6. Pathology job market is pretty crappy, and the pay is nothing spectacular, while rads you are kind of forced to subspecialize to get a decent job whether in PP or academics, so the trainign is going to be a minimum of 6-7 years with the fellowship, or more with INR, multiple sub-specialties etc., the job market is still much better even for general rads and the pay is pretty much double of path.

 

[nRomaleos]

.

 

[Planes2Doc]

I shadowed a pathologist for a few hours. It was mind-numbingly boring. I need the patient interaction to be there. Patients are all different based on different specialties and settings. If you don't like working with a certain group, then find another.

 

[Cinclus]

I spent 2.5 years of my former life sitting at a dissecting microscope, hating every second. No more, please.