GI Path Salary?

[Thaitanium]

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What's the starting salary for GI path? I see there are very few programs (20). GI is one of my interests. Considering the very few programs, it must be really competitive to get in.

I see Ameripath offers a GI fellowship (Robert E. Petras Fellowship in GI Pathology). How good of a program is it? What's the salary for GI paths if you end up working for Ameripath?

How about in private practice?

 

[LADoc00]

too broad of a ?. Need to define who in private practice you would be working for, hours expectation, location in the country etc.

range: 100-700K.

 

[TheCritic]

too broad of a ?. Need to define who in private practice you would be working for, hours expectation, location in the country etc.

range: 100-700K.

Say private practice in DFW metro 40-50hrs per week. Starting after fellowship and 5 yrs into practice. I don't understand 'who in private practice you would be working for'

 

[trent05]

Say private practice in DFW metro 40-50hrs per week. Starting after fellowship and 5 yrs into practice. I don't understand 'who in private practice you would be working for'

260-320 starting (includes productivity bonus), 40hr/week, doing GI only for a commercial lab in DFW area.
300-400 after five years. That's my guess

 

[LADoc00]

Say private practice in DFW metro 40-50hrs per week. Starting after fellowship and 5 yrs into practice. I don't understand 'who in private practice you would be working for'

first ?: why the hell would you want to live in the DFW area???

I can think of 50 places off the top of my head that are better.

 

[Thaitanium]

How does the Ameripath system work? I heard you get paid for reading more slides, is this true? Let's say you work 40 hours a week. How much do they generally offer?

What about if you bust your arse? 700K tops?

Does Ameripath tend to pay better or worse than private practice groups(none of that CP crap).

I would think GI paths can make a killing. Since there are only 20 programs in this freaking country, you must be in high demand when you come out. Considering all the endoscopy centers out there + all the GI biopsies floating around + limited GI paths churned out/year...nasty $$$$$$$. Supply and demand economics at its best.

All you GI paths, just dont get screwed over by the gastros out there.

 

[TheCritic]

first ?: why the hell would you want to live in the DFW area???

I can think of 50 places off the top of my head that are better.

50 places?? What's not to like about DFW? What do you need that DFW doesn't have? A beach? Mountains? A thriving movie industry so you can pursue your dream to become an actor on the side?? You can visit those places with extra money from the low cost of living you'll be enjoying.

Name all 50 and I'll call your BS. I can maybe think of a handful of places that might be better IMO. Of course if you are single then I can see where you would disagree but even then DFW is pretty good.

 

[yaah]

I would think GI paths can make a killing. Since there are only 20 programs in this freaking country, you must be in high demand when you come out. Considering all the endoscopy centers out there + all the GI biopsies floating around + limited GI paths churned out/year...nasty $$$$$$$. Supply and demand economics at its best.

#1: A "GI path fellowship" is not a regulated entity. You could theoretically do a surg path fellowship and focus on GI and call it a GI fellowship I guess.

#2: The vast vast majority of GI cases can be signed out by any pathologist. Having someone who did a "GI fellowship" means they are more of a known entity. What is interesting to me is that some of the difficult areas in GI pathology (i.e. dysplasia in barrett's or UC) have no set criteria nor are they reproducible from even expert to expert, let alone pathologist to pathologist. So the GI path fellowship would give you credibility in calling something high grade dysplasia, but it doesn't necessarily make you any more correct.


On a side note, I could also name 50 places that are better than living in DFW.

 

[CameronFrye]

#1: A "GI path fellowship" is not a regulated entity. You could theoretically do a surg path fellowship and focus on GI and call it a GI fellowship I guess.

#2: The vast vast majority of GI cases can be signed out by any pathologist. Having someone who did a "GI fellowship" means they are more of a known entity. What is interesting to me is that some of the difficult areas in GI pathology (i.e. dysplasia in barrett's or UC) have no set criteria nor are they reproducible from even expert to expert, let alone pathologist to pathologist. So the GI path fellowship would give you credibility in calling something high grade dysplasia, but it doesn't necessarily make you any more correct.


On a side note, I could also name 50 places that are better than living in DFW.

TA, TA, TA, HP, HP, TVA, COLITIS, TA, HP, TA, HP, CASH CHECK, TA, HP, HP, LUNCH, TA, GO HOME.

I definitely find the current demand for GI pathologists to be somewhat amusing. That being said, excluding heme, GI is my favorite area of path. (Although, I am most interested in liver and pancreas pathology, the exact stuff that private practices don't give a crap about).

As for DFW, I wouldn't describe it as horrible, but I could probably come up with 50 places also.

 

[DarksideAllstar]

As for DFW, I wouldn't describe it as horrible, but I could probably come up with 50 places also.

I could come up with 150 places and a 1000 reasons why I wouldn't move there (and I'm from Nevada ).

 

[yaah]

TA, TA, TA, HP, HP, TVA, COLITIS, TA, HP, TA, HP, CASH CHECK, TA, HP, HP, LUNCH, TA, GO HOME.

I definitely find the current demand for GI pathologists to be somewhat amusing. That being said, excluding heme, GI is my favorite area of path. (Although, I am most interested in liver and pancreas pathology, the exact stuff that private practices don't give a crap about).

Yeah, and if you were to do a GI path fellowship at a private lab, you are unlikely to see much liver and pancreas (I would think, anyway, it was predominantly mucosal endoscopic biopsies).

I like GI a lot too. I have completed my GI rotations that are required here and as I said, I feel confident in signing out probably 95% of GI biopsies. The other 5% are threshold issues, bizarre "how-to-classify" colitides, weird cases that you only see in tertiary care hospitals (like pediatric liver and tough GVHD cases), and a couple of oddities. Then again, I may be at the best residency program in the country for learning GI path.

It is strange, I agree, though, that people want new hires who are GI Path trained so much. Although I must say that when you see someone who is really good at GI path, they do make quite a difference in patient care. It doesn't matter much on that 95% of easy cases though!

Derm isn't too much different, honestly.

 

[pathstudent]

Whatever you do, don't go work at Ameripath or for a GI lab. There they offer what seems like a lot of money to a trainee (250-300K) and sell you on "no call, no weekends, no CP, no autopsies, no grossing), but all the while you are generating up to 7 figures of revenue, most of which goes to the MBAs or the gastroenterologists.

Other entities and other physicians have realized that they pick off the most lucrative specimens and leave pathologists with the BKAs and mastectomies.

In the time it takes to gross, prepare and read 5 mastectomies, you can read 150 gi specimens. Yes a mastectomy is reimbursed higher than a GI bx, but no where near 30 times higher. It is a real **** sandwich.

Plus are you really going to do nothing but look at GI bx for the rest of your life day in and day out? How boring would that be?

 

[TheCritic]

Whatever you do, don't go work at Ameripath or for a GI lab. There they offer what seems like a lot of money to a trainee (250-300K) and sell you on "no call, no weekends, no CP, no autopsies, no grossing), but all the while you are generating up to 7 figures of revenue, most of which goes to the MBAs or the gastroenterologists....

.....How boring would that be?

Wow, I must be crazy but that sounds great to me. But then again, what do I know? I like DFW.😛😛😛

 

[106174]

I love DFW too! I'd rather live here than in LA, that's for sure.

People seem to not like DFW but it is amazing how the city continues to thrive and grow (compared to others who cannot keep their resident to stay). We now have 6 million people in the metroplex and rank 4th after NYC, LA and Chicago. There must be something about this city that people like, otherwise, we would not be the megapolis that we are.

 

[pathstudent]

Wow, I must be crazy but that sounds great to me. But then again, what do I know? I like DFW.😛😛😛

Well then you are the sucker that they are looking for.

 

[TheCritic]

Well then you are the sucker that they are looking for.

yeah right. 300K a year. What a sucker. Are you for real? Put it in perspective. Generating 7 figures for an MBA would be frustrating yes, but where do you think you can make much more than that in path without working your a** off completely. 300K a year is like the top end for most pathologists. What do you think you're going to do? Start your own lab and make millions? Good luck.

 

[CameronFrye]

yeah right. 300K a year. What a sucker. Are you for real? Put it in perspective. Generating 7 figures for an MBA would be frustrating yes, but where do you think you can make much more than that in path without working your a** off completely. 300K a year is like the top end for most pathologists. What do you think you're going to do? Start your own lab and make millions? Good luck.

Uh...... I don't even know where to begin (and I should probably just leave it up to LADOC to respond). These corporate labs are not going to pay you 300K a year unless you are working your ass off. You are an employee and nothing more and will be chained to your microscope each day, while some foreman cracks his whip. Also, you leave yourself in a precarious position if you stick yourself into a very small niche. The second the folks at Medicare start tweaking reimbursements, you could be out of a job.

 

[mcfaddens]

I am interested in GI path as my primary career goal; however my career path will most likely lead me into small private practice first then most likely in to academics, I like GI path and Im thinking of long term job satisfaction not pay. Working for ameripath or anything like that will probably hurt your career leaving you out of the job pool and networking, also makes you look lazy, and or gullible even expendable to potential employers (i.e. stigma of poor communication skills working for some MBA)(same thing goes for multiple fellowships- makes you look like no one will support you to get a job) If your in it for the cash focus on networking and business and communication skills, not specialized areas this makes you market yourself as a worker (expendable) and not a leader. The best fellowship in path is interpersonal communication skill/business sense an area which is rare in this field, and it’s not subject to Medicare pay changes.

 

[pathstudent]

yeah right. 300K a year. What a sucker. Are you for real? Put it in perspective. Generating 7 figures for an MBA would be frustrating yes, but where do you think you can make much more than that in path without working your a** off completely. 300K a year is like the top end for most pathologists. What do you think you're going to do? Start your own lab and make millions? Good luck.

300K would be low low end for private practice even working 4 days a week (after the 2-3 year trial period).

300K isn't even top tier in academics.

Ameripath, Quest, LabCorp, and pod labs are for people that aren't good enough to work in academics and/or private practice, people who lack the social aptitude to be part of a department, practice, or medical staff, or good people that are trapped in a geographic area or good women who just want to work for a few years before raising their children.

 

[Gyric]

What cracks me up is the Rodger C. Haggitt GI path society has been inundated by new members (or so I have heard from our GI pathologist), these are mostly GI only lab people who then list their new society membership after their name like some kind of credential ... I guess the gastros are stupid enough to fall for it.

 

[yaah]

I am interested in GI path as my primary career goal; however my career path will most likely lead me into small private practice first then most likely in to academics, I like GI path and Im thinking of long term job satisfaction not pay. Working for ameripath or anything like that will probably hurt your career leaving you out of the job pool and networking, also makes you look lazy, and or gullible even expendable to potential employers (i.e. stigma of poor communication skills working for some MBA)(same thing goes for multiple fellowships- makes you look like no one will support you to get a job) If your in it for the cash focus on networking and business and communication skills, not specialized areas this makes you market yourself as a worker (expendable) and not a leader. The best fellowship in path is interpersonal communication skill/business sense an area which is rare in this field, and it's not subject to Medicare pay changes.

OK, three things

1) Not all Ameripath jobs are the same. Many of them are jobs where they bought out a previous practice which retains a lot of its prior characteristics. Obviously there aren't all the benefits of partner based private practice, but it isn't all assembly-line/path mill types of stuff. Of course, there are many jobs like this... But Ameripath employs many hard working, american born and trained pathologists. Of course, if Ameripath buys your existing practice and you continue working for them the situation is a little bit different, because you are in more of a position of power. It sounds to me like in your statement above you are just spouting off claims that you don't even know are true or not just because they sound like they must be.

2) Your career path stated above is impractical. The likelihood of going from private practice to academics is extremely small, and is very rare. Starting in academics and going to private practice is very common. I would seriously question your plan if I were you. It does happen, of course, but the circumstances are usually abnormal or different.

3) Your comment about the best fellowship involving interpersonal communication/skill is very prescient and quite accurate. Being a normal, likeable person who works hard is almost always helpful.

 

[TheCritic]

300K would be low low end for private practice even working 4 days a week (after the 2-3 year trial period).

300K isn't even top tier in academics.

Ameripath, Quest, LabCorp, and pod labs are for people that aren't good enough to work in academics and/or private practice, people who lack the social aptitude to be part of a department, practice, or medical staff, or good people that are trapped in a geographic area or good women who just want to work for a few years before raising their children.

It just seems from the quotes I've heard from people starting out (outside this thread) that 300K would be on the high end. I know people who are working for Ameripath making only 180K a year and working their a** off. Now that sucks.

Also, I know people working for Ameripath in practices such as yaah described above where an existing private group was bought. This of course could happen to any private group, so if you think you're safe by getting a job outside of Ameripath, I dunno about that.

Of course I also hear about people getting quotes of 700k plus (not Ameripath), the difference of course being a more desirable fellowship vs. the person making 180k with no fellowship. All Ameripath jobs are not as you described. Some are.

 

[LADoc00]

50 places?? What's not to like about DFW? What do you need that DFW doesn't have? A beach? Mountains? A thriving movie industry so you can pursue your dream to become an actor on the side?? You can visit those places with extra money from the low cost of living you'll be enjoying.

Name all 50 and I'll call your BS. I can maybe think of a handful of places that might be better IMO. Of course if you are single then I can see where you would disagree but even then DFW is pretty good.

I would seriously rather be a barista at a Starbucks in Seattle than an MD in DFW, but that is just me. To each his own.

 

[106174]

I would seriously rather be a barista at a Starbucks in Seattle than an MD in DFW, but that is just me. To each his own.

We are not forcing people to move to our city anyway... We have more than enough people here who love our city and are proud of it.

 

[LADoc00]

We are not forcing people to move to our city anyway... We have more than enough people here who love our city and are proud of it.

everyone has their price, my price for a path gig in DFW is 1 trilllllllllllllllllionnnnnnnn dollars.

 

[TheCritic]

everyone has their price, my price for a path gig in DFW is 1 trilllllllllllllllllionnnnnnnn dollars.

Why? How much time have you spent in DFW to have such a strong opinion?

Please elaborate. Is it the JFK thing? Do you hate the Cowboys? Cause these are some of the absurd remarks I usually hear. You just need a hot Dallas girl to rock your world and then you'd change your mind.

 

[DarksideAllstar]

Why? How much time have you spent in DFW to have such a strong opinion?

Please elaborate. Is it the JFK thing? Do you hate the Cowboys? Cause these are some of the absurd remarks I usually hear. You just need a hot Dallas girl to rock your world and then you'd change your mind.

I think its funny that everyone is quoting this great cost-of-living in DFW. As more people flock to that area, home prices and general cost of living will go up. I watched this occur throughout my life living in Nevada. In 1995 you could get a 3000 sq ft house on 1/2 acre of land in Las Vegas for like $150K. Now you cant touch a 1200 sq ft 3bd/2ba house on an 1/8th acre for less than $350K. The market is influx now, but we will never see homeprices as low as they were 5 years ago. People from Southern California essentially moved to Las Vegas in droves the last 10-15 years, driving the market sky high. Same thing is happening in Reno. I predict the same will happen in other places with a currently favorable COL.

 

[TheCritic]

I think its funny that everyone is quoting this great cost-of-living in DFW. As more people flock to that area, home prices and general cost of living will go up. I watched this occur throughout my life living in Nevada. In 1995 you could get a 3000 sq ft house on 1/2 acre of land in Las Vegas for like $150K. Now you cant touch a 1200 sq ft 3bd/2ba house on an 1/8th acre for less than $350K. The market is influx now, but we will never see homeprices as low as they were 5 years ago. People from Southern California essentially moved to Las Vegas in droves the last 10-15 years, driving the market sky high. Same thing is happening in Reno. I predict the same will happen in other places with a currently favorable COL.

This is already happening in Dallas, but there is no comparison to places like LA and NYC. If you don't like Dallas fine. I feel the same way about LA, NYC, Chicago, etc. Like LAdoc said: to each their own. I love the area and I think it's the best place to live in the US. Call me crazy. I guess I'll never see LAdoc sitting beside me at a Mavericks game. Oh well.

 

[Thaitanium]

This thread has turned in an argument over such a petty issue. If you like living there great. If you dont like living there great. Everyone's got their own interests, pursuits in life. Get over it already.

I can't believe ppl are arguing about such a trivial topic.

 

[106174]

This thread has turned in an argument over such a petty issue. If you like living there great. If you dont like living there great. Everyone's got their own interests, pursuits in life. Get over it already.

I can't believe ppl are arguing about such a trivial topic.

This is not trivial, AT ALL - I am defending my city because what people think about it has direct implications on UTSW, my residency program. And we all know residency and fellowship applicants consider the location of the program a big factor when choosing where to go.

 

[yaah]

OK, enough about Dallas. It was said succinctly above = some people like it, some people don't. Decide for yourself, and don't base your opinion primarily on anonymous internet forums.

The end.

 

[106174]

I think its funny that everyone is quoting this great cost-of-living in DFW. As more people flock to that area, home prices and general cost of living will go up. I watched this occur throughout my life living in Nevada. In 1995 you could get a 3000 sq ft house on 1/2 acre of land in Las Vegas for like $150K. Now you cant touch a 1200 sq ft 3bd/2ba house on an 1/8th acre for less than $350K. The market is influx now, but we will never see homeprices as low as they were 5 years ago. People from Southern California essentially moved to Las Vegas in droves the last 10-15 years, driving the market sky high. Same thing is happening in Reno. I predict the same will happen in other places with a currently favorable COL.

If this is going to happen in Dallas to the extent that it happened in Las Vegas and Reno, it would have already happened - our population has increased tremendously over the years that, personal politics aside, we have been given an additional 2 electoral college votes and New York's population dropped, costing them 2 votes. Why do people stay here and why do they keep coming?

Maybe it is because we don't have to fear earthquakes or volcanoes. We don't have to shovel snow either to dig out our cars to get to work in the winter.

Maybe it's because we do not have a state income tax.

We have our own electric grid, too.

We have great shopping in Dallas and our restaurants are awesome. And our airport is huge and is right smack in the middle of the country that we are able to fly and do business in any part of the country and the world so easily.

And I wonder why big companies are moving to the midwest and leaving the west coast. The Boeing headquaters, for one, has left Seattle.

Yes, to each his own. But when people say things like "I'd rather live in 50 other cities than Dallas" or "I can think of 1000 reasons why I will not live in Dallas," you cannot expect us Dallas residents to just sit here and take these comments lightly.

END OF DISCUSSION.

 

[106174]

everyone has their price, my price for a path gig in DFW is 1 trilllllllllllllllllionnnnnnnn dollars.

Don't flatter yourself too much. Your kind is a dime a dozen, ie you are not a Fletcher, or a Rosai, or an Ackerman. Nobody in his right mind will offer you that kind of money.

 

[Thaitanium]

If this is going to happen in Dallas to the extent that it happened in Las Vegas and Reno, it would have already happened - our population has increased tremendously over the years that, personal politics aside, we have been given an additional 2 electoral college votes and New York's population dropped, costing them 2 votes. Why do people stay here and why do they keep coming?

Maybe it is because we don't have to fear earthquakes or volcanoes. We don't have to shovel snow either to dig out our cars to get to work in the winter.

Maybe it's because we do not have a state income tax.

We have our own electric grid, too.

We have great shopping in Dallas and our restaurants are awesome. And our airport is huge and is right smack in the middle of the country that we are able to fly and do business in any part of the country and the world so easily.

And I wonder why big companies are moving to the midwest and leaving the west coast. The Boeing headquaters, for one, has left Seattle.

Yes, to each his own. But when people say things like "I'd rather live in 50 other cities than Dallas" or "I can think of 1000 reasons why I will not live in Dallas," you cannot expect us Dallas residents to just sit here and take these comments lightly.

END OF DISCUSSION.

Lesson: Don't mess with Texas.

 

[yaah]

One more post about Texas and I am closing this thread.

 

[torero]

One more post about Texas and I am closing this thread.

Well, I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could.😎
Sorry, Yaah. Felt compelled to chip in...

 

[earthworm]

to the texas residents: people outside of texas think of it the same way texans think of mississipi. who'd wanna live in mississipi? same thing- who'd wanna live in texas, like it's some kinda third world country or something. they don't see houston, dallas, and san antonio as 3 of the top 10 most populated cities in the country. when people think of texas they think of cowboys and cacti, not the urban areas that offer as much as any other large metropolitan area does, with culture, a rich history, and lots of business opportunites. whatever. New York is dirty and cramped. Chicago is great, but it might as well be in the north pole. LA- why don't u just waste your life away in traffic- and pay a million bucks for a measly 4 bedroom house? dallas is great and i certainly wouldn't mind living there. oh, and one more thing- texas has the largest medical center in the world.

 

[pathstudent]

to the texas residents: people outside of texas think of it the same way texans think of mississipi. who'd wanna live in mississipi? same thing- who'd wanna live in texas, like it's some kinda third world country or something. they don't see houston, dallas, and san antonio as 3 of the top 10 most populated cities in the country. when people think of texas they think of cowboys and cacti, not the urban areas that offer as much as any other large metropolitan area does, with culture, a rich history, and lots of business opportunites. whatever. New York is dirty and cramped. Chicago is great, but it might as well be in the north pole. LA- why don't u just waste your life away in traffic- and pay a million bucks for a measly 4 bedroom house? dallas is great and i certainly wouldn't mind living there. oh, and one more thing- texas has the largest medical center in the world.

You can get a 4br house in Los Angeles for 1,000,000? From what I heard from people there is that 1,000,000 doesn't even get you a 2br starter.

 

[earthworm]

You can get a 4br house in Los Angeles for 1,000,000? From what I heard from people there is that 1,000,000 doesn't even get you a 2br starter.

you can find them. they might not be in the best neighborhoods though, which is even more disheartening. either that or you have to schedule you're whole life around the several hours of mad traffic every day. my point was that it's too much for what you get.

 

[yaah]

There are other forums for a lot of this talk. I think the main question has been covered sufficiently. Closing.