Mindy,
Path...great choice. Good field, and one of the last great pieces of detective work in medicine. Some of the smartest people I know go into path, including my sister and her husband who are both residents at Stanford in path.
Ok, so here is the breakdown:
FOR SURG PATH: there is no better program than stanford. If you want to make cash in surg path, or an/clin for that matter...Stanford is the place to go. There is no other place that will offer those kinds of opportunities.
For Heme path: Brigham (MGH is a possibility too, but that program is very resident driven and the fellows don't really do that much).
For Derm path: There are a lot of good programs. It really depends what in the end you are looking for in your education when it comes to derm path.
The harvard programs are actually ok...they've merged their practices, renegotiated rates with insurance providers, and are actually offering enough cash to mediate many attendings staying. With that said however, nothing is easy anywhere. The two things I have heard is that:
a) MGH: resident heavy: you will work like a dog. The read out so many slides, that it almost sounds inhuman. But the fellowships there are nice.
b) Brigham: exactly the opposite.
My personal recommendation is that you come to Stanford. Outside of getting great training, and a respectable salary...my sister and her husband each get an 8,000 dollar per year housing allowance. It's the greatest deal ever. They pocket cash every month, and they take two to three nice vacations every year (we should all be so lucky, huh?). Anyway, that's one man's perspective. Good luck...
