Job market for pathologists

[Johnny Sunshine]

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I doubt they will cut residency positions, at least not until the crisis is so extreme that they can't ignore it any longer.

Why would a hospital want less path residents? Not only would they be out the $200k or more the government gives them for each resident, but they'd also have to hire more PAs, secretaries, etc.

 

[turtle1966]

I doubt they will cut residency positions, at least not until the crisis is so extreme that they can't ignore it any longer.

Down with Corrupt Tyrants!!

 

[path24]

One of my favorite parts of the "shortage article": "The authors have no relevent financial interest in the products of companies described in this article." The product...more residents. A portion of the authors salaries....residents. No financial interest...really??? Says a lot about these "authors".

More money, more free labor. Who cares if they can find work....even after multiple fellowships.

 

[turtle1966]

One of my favorite parts of the "shortage article": "The authors have no relevent financial interest in the products of companies described in this article." The product...more residents. A portion of the authors salaries....residents. No financial interest...really??? Says a lot about these "authors".

More money, more free labor. Who cares if they can find work....even after multiple fellowships.

The authors are as disinterested as concentration camp commanders and slave mine masters of old.

Down with Corrupt Tyrants!!

 

[2121115]

The authors are as disinterested as concentration camp commanders and slave mine masters of old.

Ok, let's not get carried away. Hyperbole off the charts here. Playing the Nazi card does no one any good.

 

[turtle1966]

Ok, let's not get carried away. Hyperbole off the charts here. Playing the Nazi card does no one any good.

A very sensible and good advice. However, I meant no hyperbole, simply what has been erupting from inside of me after 30 years in the field. A gathering of hapless and helpless residents conjures up a "camp" in my mind. "Nazi" must be a a Rorschach phenomenon.

"As they lie softly and I will decry loudly."

The Boys and the Frogs Fable (An Aesop's Fable)​

Some boys, playing near a pond, saw a number of Frogs in the water, and began to pelt them with stones. They killed several of them, when one of the Frogs, lifting his head out of the water, cried out: "Pray stop, my boys; what is sport to you is death to us."
Moral: What chairmen do for their petty benefits, often hurt residents greatly!

 

[yaah]

I doubt they will cut residency positions, at least not until the crisis is so extreme that they can't ignore it any longer.

Why would a hospital want less path residents? Not only would they be out the $200k or more the government gives them for each resident, but they'd also have to hire more PAs, secretaries, etc.

Because it is unlikely to be left up to path departments anyway. The feds will start cutting specialty residency funding at some point, that is when changes will probably happen.

 

[Eostar]

I would like to point out another manifestation of the terrible pathology job market. If you are lucky enough to land yourself a job, it had better be one that you can live with for 30 years. It is nearly impossible to transition laterally in pathology once you have established yourself. Unlike almost any other medical specialty, in pathology your first job is likely to be your last and only job.

 

[Substance]

I would like to point out another manifestation of the terrible pathology job market. If you are lucky enough to land yourself a job, it had better be one that you can live with for 30 years. It is nearly impossible to transition laterally in pathology once you have established yourself. Unlike almost any other medical specialty, in pathology your first job is likely to be your last and only job.

http://www.cap.org/apps/docs/statline/pdf/pathology_workforce_summit_propositions.pdf

See, what I don't understand is that though the CAP warns of a coming shortage, they also in the same document mention that too many people are doing two fellowships.

Why haven't any working pathologists written to the CAP en masse about this glaring inconsistency?

 

[2121115]

I would like to point out another manifestation of the terrible pathology job market. If you are lucky enough to land yourself a job, it had better be one that you can live with for 30 years. It is nearly impossible to transition laterally in pathology once you have established yourself. Unlike almost any other medical specialty, in pathology your first job is likely to be your last and only job.

Blatantly, completely, and entirely false. Just not even close to reality.

 

[turtle1966]

http://www.cap.org/apps/docs/statline/pdf/pathology_workforce_summit_propositions.pdf

See, what I don't understand is that though the CAP warns of a coming shortage, they also in the same document mention that too many people are doing two fellowships.

Why haven't any working pathologists written to the CAP en masse about this glaring inconsistency?

It is a deep question. It is applicable to me as well. I will have to think about it.

Substance, I have read somewhere you are not a pathologist. Are you even an MD, if so, what specialty? If not, are you an MBA or administration type? I have read some of your posts and they made sense to me.

 

[yaah]

I would like to point out another manifestation of the terrible pathology job market. If you are lucky enough to land yourself a job, it had better be one that you can live with for 30 years. It is nearly impossible to transition laterally in pathology once you have established yourself. Unlike almost any other medical specialty, in pathology your first job is likely to be your last and only job.

OK, there's a lot of stuff on here that is exaggeration or hyperbole, but this I think takes the cake.

Do you have any experience in the real world? Because lateral moves (or moves up) are exceedingly common. There are very, very few groups for whom everyone working there is on their first job. I graduated from residency about 5-6 years ago, of all the people in my residency class half are on at least their second job, one is on their third I think. The ones sticking with their first job are the ones who got jobs they really wanted.

 

[member0007]

OK, there's a lot of stuff on here that is exaggeration or hyperbole, but this I think takes the cake.

Do you have any experience in the real world? Because lateral moves (or moves up) are exceedingly common. There are very, very few groups for whom everyone working there is on their first job. I graduated from residency about 5-6 years ago, of all the people in my residency class half are on at least their second job, one is on their third I think. The ones sticking with their first job are the ones who got jobs they really wanted.

OK, there's a lot of stuff on here that is exaggeration or hyperbole, but this I think takes the cake.

Do you have any experience in the real world? Because lateral moves (or moves up) are exceedingly common. There are very, very few groups for whom everyone working there is on their first job. I graduated from residency about 5-6 years ago, of all the people in my residency class half are on at least their second job, one is on their third I think. The ones sticking with their first job are the ones who got jobs they really wanted.

Ok yaah sure. Seriously the whole field is so extremely commoditized that it's difficult to believe that it's not being taken advantage of by creeps who have even selling garbage, I.e. Aureon biosciences to name just one junk science project.

Not to mention when medical residents and doctors are treated like commodities by academic institutions while using Medicare funds to pay their salaries at private institutions.

 

[WEBB PINKERTON]

The days of 30 years with one institution are over. Jobs are not secure and you WILL find yourself making lateral and backwards moves along the way. Make as many friends as you can along the way. They will save your butt when you are thrown under the bus.

 

[DermViser]

The days of 30 years with one institution are over. Jobs are not secure and you WILL find yourself making lateral and backwards moves along the way. Make as many friends as you can along the way. They will save your butt when you are thrown under the bus.

Does this apply to pathology only, or all specialties?

 

[turtle1966]

Does this apply to pathology only, or all specialties?

Nothing in life is certain, however, medicine has a stellar reputation for job stability and security. Pathology is practically the only, or one of the rarest, exception(s); what I call a man-made desert in a lush tropical forest.

 

[WEBB PINKERTON]

Once labcorp/quest have joint ventures with all the large hospital chains in each state, those jobs will be pretty secure. It will be virtually impossible for any new labs to start up. Those places will be fortresses and almost all specimens will be flowing into them.

 

[KluverB]

Nothing in life is certain, however, medicine has a stellar reputation for job stability and security. Pathology is practically the only, or one of the rarest, exception(s); what I call a man-made desert in a lush tropical forest.

"had" (see my other post in another thread)