MS1 interested in pathology - what should I do right now?

[adenine]

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Hi everyone, I'm an MS1. I'm pretty interested in a career in pathology and I was wondering what I might do to improve my resume to that end, or get in touch with people in the field, etc while I'm in med school. I plan on getting involved with the pathology interest group at my school, but I would like some pointers as to what else I can do.

Thanks in advance!

 

[JP2740]

survive med school and you should be in

 

[DoctorDermis]

Other than working hard to develop a solid fund of knowledge, passing the USMLE Step 1, and maintaining a professional & friendly demeanor (so that you don't rub attendings / residents the wrong way or weed yourself out during interviews), you don't have to worry so much about being ultra-competitive.

Take a look at the NRMP website for info and statistics on the match.

http://www.nrmp.org/data/chartingoutcomes2011.pdf

http://www.nrmp.org/data/resultsanddata2013.pdf

Pathology residency spots did not fill last year, and residents at my hospital have voiced concerns regarding the job market - however, since I am not involved in pathology, my words have very little weight.

Nonetheless, prior to engaging your pathology department, consider researching what pathology residency and life as a pathologist is like, as well as the variety of career fields pathology offers.

This is a link to an older blog post that I found interesting some years ago regarding path:
http://choosepath.blogspot.com/

When it comes down to the specialty decision making tree, I am intrigued on how your answer to the following 2 questions will change as you progress in medical school.

1) Minimal Patient Contact vs Patient Contact
2) Surgical vs Non-Surgical

Good luck! Path was one of my absolute favorite subjects in school!

 

[adenine]

Thank you so much! I understand that students frequently change their minds, and I am open minded about other specialties but this was the reason that I applied to med school in the first place, so I intend to pursue it as best as I can... until I realize how much I love treating little kids. 🙂

 

[Anigma07]

Hi everyone, I'm an MS1. I'm pretty interested in a career in pathology and I was wondering what I might do to improve my resume to that end, or get in touch with people in the field, etc while I'm in med school. I plan on getting involved with the pathology interest group at my school, but I would like some pointers as to what else I can do.

Thanks in advance!

Sit tight, buddy. You'll get a good amount of path next year.

 

[adenine]

Sit tight, buddy. You'll get a good amount of path next year.

Looking forward to it! 🙂

 

[Freddie Mercury]

Looking forward to it! 🙂

Definitely a lot of fun! I'm a 2nd year, and when I was a first year I was pretty settled on either radiology or pathology. The more path we are doing the more I am enjoying it. Pathologists are groovy people - check out this website made by the College of American Pathologists:

http://www.cap.org/apps/docs/hints/pathologists_are_groovy/index.html

Just slog through first year, know your physio/histo and path will be awesome 😀

 

[D elegans]

If you're really interested, there's no reason you can't ask to shadow a pathologist for a while. You'll never have more time than you do during your M1 year (well, with the exception of the summer) and pathologists are in general interested in education. You can see if you like it and meet some people in the department. It's by no means necessary to do this, but there's also no reason to not get some exposure now if you're interested.

 

[evilbooyaa]

Wanna be a pathologist? Pass medical school and you'll get in somewhere. Do well if you want your pick of residency. Shadow a pathologist if you haven't to really figure out if that is what you want to do everyday for the rest of your life.