Going into Path from another specialtiy

[LaBusqueda]

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Hello all,
A little background:
I was a histo tech. prior to medical school, and had a deep interest in pathology going in. I really had a fondness for it and excelled in path during school (for what that's worth).
As most people do, i found myself drawn away toward my current specialty.
It is hard to put into words, but I find myself "wishing" I had pursued pathology. I have not had an "nightmares" in my specialty, or any red flags...I just seem to desire a change. Perhaps it is my growing family and the strains of the emergency medicine schedules (not something you can "really" get a handle on until your "out" and have a family....everyone thinks they are bulletproof in this regard), I am not sure.
I know the intellectual stimulation is something I REALLY wish I had more of and that's a big factor too.

I guess the $64K question is: Is it at all possible to enter a path program having completed a 3 year residency (knowing the financing implications).Granted, i know it "is possible" I guess the better way to word this would be are there any programs that have done this repeatedly?
Also, what would be looked for, in such an applicant?

Thanks a bunch!

 

[Entgegen]

For what it's worth, the PD at the University of New Mexico path program is a pretty young guy and completed an EM residency and then did a path residency immediately after.

 

[pathstudent]

Sure it is possible. I had a friend that did a 7 year surgery residency and then went straight into radiology training after finishing.

I also know a woman that did a 3 year pediatric residency, spent a year as a fourth year chief, and then went into orthopedic surgery.

 

[KCShaw]

I don't know of a particular program or set of programs who "regularly" take such individuals, but absolutely it happens. When I was interviewing it seemed like every program I went to had at least one resident who had previously done residency in a different specialty. What programs generally want to know is -- why the change to pathology? It's the same issue as for people coming straight out of medical school.. how much do you -really- know about the life of a pathologist, and is that -really- what you want? Unfortunately most medical schools utterly fail in providing that background. They teach pathophysiology, sure, but there is often little to no exposure to what the average pathologist actually does on a day-to-day basis. As has come up a number of times before in this forum, generally the best thing you can do is try to arrange a rotation or some kind of regular recurring experience in a working pathology department. It's not -impossible- to get in without this, but I think it would be that much more difficult.

 

[LaBusqueda]

Thanks all !

Although, the more i read this forum, the more concerned I become.
Evidently, there are a lot of negative perspectives on the job market.

in regards to knowledge of what a pathologist does, I feel i would be a very good candidate having been a histo-tech (and while working as one, trying to absorb as much as possible). Granted this was a community/pvt group in Reno, so may not be a representative experience.

 

[Ombret]

Thanks all !

Although, the more i read this forum, the more concerned I become.
Evidently, there are a lot of negative perspectives on the job market.

in regards to knowledge of what a pathologist does, I feel i would be a very good candidate having been a histo-tech (and while working as one, trying to absorb as much as possible). Granted this was a community/pvt group in Reno, so may not be a representative experience.

The CAP residents' forum did a survey of new in practice pathologists (check out their web site, the data must be posted there somewhere). The majority of respondents had gotten the type of job they wanted, had subjectively found it pretty easily and were happy with it. So these forums are not the only opinion out there.

 

[KCShaw]

New 'graduates' or newly practicing in a job? Surveys are a source of information, but can easily be misleading.

 

[Ombret]

CAP defines new in practice as CAP members 0-5 years out from training, regardless of employment status. I looked and can't now find the survey data posted online (Zao, any idea where this went?). If I remember, the vast majority of respondents were employed, like >90%. Were they unable to find unemployed pathologists, did their methodology miss them, or did those people not respond? That, I don't know. I take your point well, KCShaw, surveys can be misleading and this one was not especially scientific, but they did get hundreds of people to put pen to paper to say that they had a satisfactory job search, so those people are out there in some way, shape or form.

 

[zao275]

Thanks for bringing up our survey, Ombret. Yes, these were actually practicing pathologists with jobs. About 200-250 replied to the survey and the majority found jobs that they were happy with, although not always (but still mostly) in the geographic area they desired. I contacted CAP staff to see if it is still available on cap.org. If not, I will try to have it posted and will reply here with the link.

Also, the CAP GME committee (I think it was that committee) recently conducted another survey which was presented at the recent joint session of the CAP House of Delegates and Residents Forum in San Antonio. I believe we are still awaiting approval from all presenters before posting the full powerpoint presentation on cap.org. I am also checking into that.

As KCShaw brought up, surveys are useful but always have the potential issue of sampling variation. It is difficult to design/distribute a survey that ensures that the un-employed pathologists (if there are truly any) are sampled as well. When we designed the Residents Forum survey 2 years ago, we struggled with this issue but pushed ahead anyway with the thought that some possibly incomplete info is better than no info at all.