interested in path... your thoughts?

[gclax30]

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Greetings everyone!

MS4 here thinking about pursuing pathology, and I'm interested in hearing your opinions about the type of personality that fits well with this field. I never really considered path until just recently but from what I've been reading it sounds like it might appeal to me.

I've always enjoyed lab work and it seems like the nature of path work is grounded in the basic sciences, which I like, much more so than a lot of the other specialties. I'm not real big into the idea of doing autopsies all the time but from what I gather that is just one aspect of this field. I'm currently taking a year off to do research so I won't be able to schedule a rotation to try it out anytime soon. So any comments about what you enjoy most about the field, what keeps you excited, what type of person thrives in this environment, etc. would go a long way for guiding this noob. Thanks so much. 👍


Oh yeah, I just read the thread about the b.s. AOA internship debacle... what a real hose-job that is. Is there any other way for them to stick it to us?

 

[Thaitanium]

IMO, you have to have an interest in understanding how diseases come to be. There are many different diseases and variants of diseases and you have to enjoy learning them all and knowing how they appear on gross examination and microscopically. You should also enjoy looking at cells under the microscope. You have to enjoy the challenge of coming up with a D/D based on history and what you see under the scope. Oh, did I mention you have to hate rounding on patients too? 🙂

Some ppl find pathology boring because they can't see themselves sitting and looking into a microscope most of the day everyday. Also, some ppl need to see and interact with patients. For me, clinical medicine is just a big pain in the arse. You have to run around the hospital getting labs, babysitting patients all day everyday. Pathology is great. You do your work and get to go home at the end of the day.

I discovered pathology was for me because I enjoy learning the basic science behind disease formation, particularly cancers. I was in grad school prior to medical school and I did some cancer-related research where I developed an interest in how tumors grow, metastasize, etc. I also enjoyed pathology and histology in medical school. In addition, I think my personality fits well with pathology. For example, I have an artistic side to me, which helps me appreciate how cells appear under the scope more.

There are many other reasons why I decided to choose path, but I would have to copy and paste my personal statement on here. 😉

 

[PathJet]

gclax


Your interest does not have to be defined by your lack of interest in rounding or "patient care". Like any medicine specialty,you need to be commited to a life of service and providing excellent patient care (as good pathologists are ) or you will be unhappily surprised at how much work and stress it can encompass. Excellent pathologists are excellent physcians and would have made a good doctor no matter the specialty. Autopsies are only a small part of what you do-but an important part to the families and clinicians of your patients. At first, i really really did not like autopsy --but have learned to appreciate its importance in medicine and to families after some experience. There are relatively same proportion of discrepencies we find at autopsy as we always did -there are just fewer autopsies.


I see you are an MS4 did you apply for path or an internship? If you think you may do a clinical year ( which will help you in path) you can do senior electives in path to understand the field better. and when you are an intern you can still involve yourself in the lab and anatomic path to begin your training.

i will say that it seems many more people switch into path than out of path

 

[gclax30]

gclax


Your interest does not have to be defined by your lack of interest in rounding or "patient care". Like any medicine specialty,you need to be commited to a life of service and providing excellent patient care (as good pathologists are ) or you will be unhappily surprised at how much work and stress it can encompass. Excellent pathologists are excellent physcians and would have made a good doctor no matter the specialty. Autopsies are only a small part of what you do-but an important part to the families and clinicians of your patients. At first, i really really did not like autopsy --but have learned to appreciate its importance in medicine and to families after some experience. There are relatively same proportion of discrepencies we find at autopsy as we always did -there are just fewer autopsies.


I see you are an MS4 did you apply for path or an internship? If you think you may do a clinical year ( which will help you in path) you can do senior electives in path to understand the field better. and when you are an intern you can still involve yourself in the lab and anatomic path to begin your training.

i will say that it seems many more people switch into path than out of path

Thanks for the responses everyone, this was the type of information I was looking for. Yes I am really trying to select the specialty that excites me and makes me want to go to work in the morning, not just the one I dislike the least! I haven't been especially thrilled with most of the core rotations so far as most were primary-care/clinic oriented, but I did seem to take to anesthesia for its technical hands-on approach and foundations in the basic sciences.

I left to do a research year in an infectious disease/hematology lab before 4th year so I haven't been able to do any other electives, including path. But through my current work I'm realizing that I enjoy being in the lab doing the technical work with tissues and blood, using the microscope, immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry, etc. All of the molecular/cell bio and genetics stuff being done in pathology is really exciting to me, seems like a way I could keep focused on what I love studying while serving patients and their families through my role as a physician. Not to mention not having to answer pages for BP and insulin adjustments at 3:30 am...

So yeah, it's just an idea I'm tossing around but it seems like a cool field with friendly, motivated, ridiculously smart people. Hopefully I will fit in 😛

One more thing- I've been reading about the different tracks for the path residency but I don't have a good grasp for what the major differences are between AP and CP. I see the different types of rotations and things but if you are a straight AP (or CP) what the heck do you do all day vs. the other type? Is one more amenable to research than the other?

Once again many thanks! 👍

 

[LADoc00]

Oh yeah, I just read the thread about the b.s. AOA internship debacle... what a real hose-job that is. Is there any other way for them to stick it to us?

??? Enlighten me. What are you referring to?

 

[schrute]

??? Enlighten me. What are you referring to?

basically the AOA sucks, and i'm not referring to 'alpha omega'.
if you're a DO, there's five states that require you to do an osteopathic internship prior to being licensed in those states. but from what i understand, path is the exception (this coming from a DO path resident in one of those 5 states).
anyway, look on the bright side gclax--you don't have to worry about what match to enter: there aren't any AOA path residencies (go figure...).