Lowly Pre-med Question

[MedicalDoge]

Hello Pathology experts,

I have a few quick questions the pathology career in general. I am going into medical school and have a great interest in pathology. I know I am ahead of myself but I just want to get a feel for the field.

1) If I aspire to subspecialize in either neuropathology or medical microbiology, would I have ANY trouble finding a job after this kind of resume? Are the job concerns mainly for those who don't subspecialize?

2) is the AP/CP residency 4 years or 5 now?

3) Also, medical microbiology sounds cool, but I don't know what this entails. It sounds like it is flirting with Infectious Disease, which I know is an entirely different specialty altogether. Does anyone know what kind of career a medical microbiologist would have? Maybe epidemiology in hospitals or something?

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[LoaLoa]

1) Probably. You’d need to work in an academic medical center or in a very large health system to practice in either of these specialties.
2) 4 years.
3) Medical microbiologists typically run a hospital medical microbiology lab. Medical microbiologists are typically either pathologists or infectious disease internists who have done a med micro fellowship.

 

[pathslides]

Hello Pathology experts,

I have a few quick questions the pathology career in general. I am going into medical school and have a great interest in pathology. I know I am ahead of myself but I just want to get a feel for the field.

1) If I aspire to subspecialize in either neuropathology or medical microbiology, would I have ANY trouble finding a job after this kind of resume? Are the job concerns mainly for those who don't subspecialize?

2) is the AP/CP residency 4 years or 5 now?

3) Also, medical microbiology sounds cool, but I don't know what this entails. It sounds like it is flirting with Infectious Disease, which I know is an entirely different specialty altogether. Does anyone know what kind of career a medical microbiologist would have? Maybe epidemiology in hospitals or something?

Ap/cp is 4 years. Doing neuro or micro means you will most likely work in an academic hospital (lower pay). Just do what you enjoy. Who knows what the job market will be like in 9 yrs

 

[potato51]

I have a few quick questions the pathology career in general. I am going into medical school and have a great interest in pathology. I know I am ahead of myself but I just want to get a feel for the field.

1) If I aspire to subspecialize in either neuropathology or medical microbiology, would I have ANY trouble finding a job after this kind of resume? Are the job concerns mainly for those who don't subspecialize?

2) is the AP/CP residency 4 years or 5 now?

3) Also, medical microbiology sounds cool, but I don't know what this entails. It sounds like it is flirting with Infectious Disease, which I know is an entirely different specialty altogether. Does anyone know what kind of career a medical microbiologist would have? Maybe epidemiology in hospitals or something?

1. You might, though you'd be doing something not many others are specializing in - usually I see neuropaths working at academic institutions. Job troubles exist for anyone specializing (even after two fellowships), but the job search experience is so heterogeneous that what you hear from people may not even apply to you.

2. AP/CP is 4 years. There are some AP/neuropath tracks out there which are also four years total. Micro is usually a 1 year fellowship, and neuropath 1-2 years depending where you go. Nearly everyone does at least one fellowship.

3. Agree with others who have responded.

Welcome to the forum and good luck in med school. Get to know the residents/pathologists at your institution and get a feel for what they do.

 

[AssayQueen]

Neuropathology seems to be a hot commodity right now. I work in a large private practice and we just hired a neuropathologist last year. Where I trained, a "neuropathology" track option was available for trainees - 3 years of AP followed by 2 years of NP fellowship. If you're doing neuropathology, its unlikely that you'll be working in a place that will require that you do CP-related tasks, so look into this before you commit to CP training.

The world of pathology is small, and the world of neuropathology is even smaller. Find out who the top dog is at the institution where you are training and let your interest be known. You'd be surprised (perhaps disturbed) by how powerful the right connections are.

 

[coroner]

Neuropathology seems to be a hot commodity right now...we just hired a neuropathologist last year

No, not even close. Just because your group hired a single Neuropathologist doesn't set the field on fire...

That's like saying Renal is "hot". Yes, that fellowship will get you employed, but your opportunities will be limited to academia and the occasional large groups who cover a big enough neuropath service. The average pp group and most jobs in general have little to no use for someone with neuropath training.

To the OP, do neuropath if you have a genuine interest. But, be aware of it's marketability and type of environment it's useful for.

 

[icpshootyz]

No, not even close. Just because your group hired a single Neuropathologist doesn't set the field on fire...

That's like saying Renal is "hot". Yes, that fellowship will get you employed, but your opportunities will be limited to academia and the occasional large groups who cover a big enough neuropath service. The average pp group and most jobs in general have little to no use for someone with neuropath training.

To the OP, do neuropath if you have a genuine interest. But, be aware of it's marketability and type of environment it's useful for.

I second that. Neuropath is most definitely NOT in high demand. Only do it if you want to remain in academia. The vast number of other job settings have little to no use for a neuropath.

 

[MedicalDoge]

I do have a great interest in academia, as I aspire to do research on neuromuscular diseases such as ALS, so it might be a good fit. However, I am aware that I would be getting paid less and academia is more work from what I understand.

Thank you all so much for the clarification!

 

[BrainPathology]

Neuropathology isn't "HOT" but it's not a sentence to academia or underemployment (modeling your behavior after 95% of the posters here almost certainly is however) and if you have an interest in that you shouldn't have a problem landing a job, if not a great job at first. If your interests change and you decide you want to go into private practice you can probably still do that. If you think pathologists are spoiled and entitled - which at least on this board they 100% are - go meet some Neurosurgeons, if you work in a fairly large hospital with a neurosurg service they will almost invariably insist that their cases be read by an NP, forcing the hospital or the group holding their contract to hire one. That means you can work in a private group IF you're also good at general path and are willing to cover basic CP.

Something I've noticed a little bit of an uptick in anecdotally lately are people doing pediatric pathology and neuropathology. I'm not sure why, you'll already be doing a two year fellowship in NP. But, every boarded sup-specialty gives you a little bit more marketability even in two fairly niche areas. That gives you the additional option of being marketable to children's hospital centers that relative to the adult population will have a slightly larger proportion of NP cases. Though, given your proclaimed interest, that's the opposite end of the age spectrum you're thinking about.

Given the traditional role of NPs though, if you continue to cultivate an interest in research, neuromuscular, ALS, or whatever concentration you decide on, you might actually be one of the mythical (on this board), creatures who is in for a career that you not only enjoy, but don't have to make a single compromise to do so.

 

[MedicalDoge]

Neuropathology isn't "HOT" but it's not a sentence to academia or underemployment (modeling your behavior after 95% of the posters here almost certainly is however) and if you have an interest in that you shouldn't have a problem landing a job, if not a great job at first. If your interests change and you decide you want to go into private practice you can probably still do that. If you think pathologists are spoiled and entitled - which at least on this board they 100% are - go meet some Neurosurgeons, if you work in a fairly large hospital with a neurosurg service they will almost invariably insist that their cases be read by an NP, forcing the hospital or the group holding their contract to hire one. That means you can work in a private group IF you're also good at general path and are willing to cover basic CP.

Something I've noticed a little bit of an uptick in anecdotally lately are people doing pediatric pathology and neuropathology. I'm not sure why, you'll already be doing a two year fellowship in NP. But, every boarded sup-specialty gives you a little bit more marketability even in two fairly niche areas. That gives you the additional option of being marketable to children's hospital centers that relative to the adult population will have a slightly larger proportion on NP cases. Though, given your proclaimed interest, that's the opposite end of the age spectrum you're thinking about.

Given the traditional role of NPs though, if you continue to cultivate an interest in research, neuromuscular, ALS, or whatever concentration you decide on, you might actually be one of the mythical (on this board), creatures who is in for a career that you not only enjoy, but don't have to make a single compromise to do so.

Thank you so much for your sound advice! Your response means a lot