"Great" surg path vs. "good" heme for fellowship

[Pathogator]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I'm considering applying to a "great surgical pathology" program (arguably top 3 in the nation with no guarantee of a subspecialty in the subsequent year) vs a "good" heme fellowship at a respected, yet middle of the road academic center.

I have no idea which to choose, if it comes to that -- can anyone there offer some advice? I know it's very little information, but any advice is appreciated.

 

[pathdoc68]

Having a "big name" attached to you often helps significantly in the search for gainful employment in our field.

 

[KCShaw]

What do you want to do the year after you finish fellowship? How about 5, 10, 20 years after?

If you really want to do heme &/or see yourself doing primarily that for the rest of your career, then you'll probably want to do a heme fellowship. But if you're like most people who expect to do a lot of general signout regardless of any subspecialty training, then it would probably be nice to have a so-called "top"/brand name surgical path fellowship under your belt. Fellowships are out there and available, in most specialties and at many institutions, "top" ones included, though they may fill a little sooner on average -- point being, you're not necessarily frozen no matter what choice you make.

 

[mlw03]

i know of someone who did residency at a mid-tier program, a hemepath fellowship only at that same place, then took a private practice job doing general (and their heme person) for a healthy salary just shy of 200K. i keep hearing heme is one of the great specialties to have a fellowship in. if a group is looking for someone to take over their flow cytometry lab, they're gonna take the heme person from mid-tier program over someone with surg path from a JHU. just my 2 cents.

 

[2121115]

Scrap both and do a fellowship in interpersonal skills and fine tuning your golf game. That is all that matters in the end. The rest is just fluff.

 

[GlassPusherJack]

i know of someone who did residency at a mid-tier program, a hemepath fellowship only at that same place, then took a private practice job doing general (and their heme person) for a healthy salary just shy of 200K. i keep hearing heme is one of the great specialties to have a fellowship in. if a group is looking for someone to take over their flow cytometry lab, they're gonna take the heme person from mid-tier program over someone with surg path from a JHU. just my 2 cents.

isn't "just shy of 200k" the normal going rate for starting private practice? i don't think you will go wrong with either, but it does seem like subspecialty is the trendy thing to do- and even at top places, people are using surgpath fellowships to land the more competitive subspecialty...

 

[caffeinegirl]

If you're still in the application stages, I recommend applying to both and then deciding what to do.
If in fact you do get both fellowship offers, then I recommend an ACGME accredited hemepath fellowship. Being subspecialty boarded is better than a surg path fellowship when compared head-to-head. If the surg path fellowship has independent sign out responsibilities, this is attractive as well, but not as much as the ACGME subspecialty IMHO...especially in this era of subspecialization (both in private and academic). After the hemepath fellowhsip, you can decide if you want to do general surg path (which I only recommend if you decide you want to do general sign out and can't get a job as an instructor in an academic setting).

 

[Gene_]

Why not apply for a great heme path fellowship?

 

[greencreek]

Is hemepath fellowship at Wash U in St Louis a "great" or a "good" one?

 

[stickyshift]

Is hemepath fellowship at Wash U in St Louis a "great" or a "good" one?

I don't know,but the surg path fellowship is great!