my 4th year

[Arctic Char]

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Hi everyone -

so, i guess its that time for me. I have to start organizing my 4th year electives, and thought i would seek some guidance on this forum. first i'll give a breakdown of myself, then i'll bullet some questions that i hope you can answer for me . . . .

Me:
-27 year old male
-did graduate research at Vanderbilt and U. Washington
-US citizen, at the Medical School for International Health (partnership program btwn Ben Gurion and Columbia . . . so technically i'm an IMG, which is annoying).
-preclinical grades nothing special, so far have honored Internal medicine.

Questions:

- i have read a lot about the role of electives in "auditioning" and trying to get one's foot in the door at programs that are appealing . . . is this generally the case in pathology as well?

- i have electives available for me at Columbia if i want them, but i'm most interested in matching at other programs. however, some of these programs won't take outside students, or international students . . . should i call them and try to weasel my way in anyway, or is this taboo within the field?

- i imagine that i should do most, if not ALL, of my electives in path. am i correct in making this assumption? i mean, its what i want to do anyway, but was just wondering how important it is in pathology (e.g. some fields like more variety)

- what is the best way i can start networking, in terms of being effective and not self-defeating?

thanks everyone! i hope i can get some good feedback here . . .

cheers

-p

 

[Ale]

To answer your first question, yes it helps a lot to rotate in the places you are interested the most. You might be surprised of what you find and it will help you make a better decision about the program. If you do a good work, it will definitively help you.
Given your situation, I would rotate through your hospital at least in one rotation and secure a good letter of recommendation from one of the big wigs in the path department. Then try my luck somewhere else. Send emails to places you want to go. Maybe they can arrange something even if they don't have electives (chief residents, program coordinators and directors would be the best bet).
For pathology is very important to let the programs know that you know what you are getting in to. Most, if not all, of the students do not get exposure to pathology. That works as a disadvantage to some candidates. A way to show programs that you now what the field is about and some of the pros and cons will help you. So to answer your third question, do your electives in pathology and read about issues regarding the field (ASCP and CAP web sites are good places to start). The best way to start networking is emailing the programs that you are interested the most.

 

[piyomonsta]

- i imagine that i should do most, if not ALL, of my electives in path. am i correct in making this assumption? i mean, its what i want to do anyway, but was just wondering how important it is in pathology (e.g. some fields like more variety)
-p

I think doing 2-3 months of path early in your fourth year is sufficient. That's because you'll have 3+ years to learn path during your residency. Fourth year is the time to take electives in areas that you'll never see again in residency as well as in areas that send a lot of consults to pathology (i.e. heme/onc, derm, GI, surg onc, etc.). The latter gives you a better idea of how pathology is utilized by clinicians in patient management. And that understanding of the clinical implications becomes extremely important in your communication with clinicians (i.e. in pathology reports, tumor board, etc.).

 

[Arctic Char]

Thanks to both of you! i appreciate the guidance . . .

 

[pathstudent]

that step 1 score of 94 means nothing to me. What's your three digit score? If it less than 240, forget about pathology, you'll have to settle for derm, rads or ortho.

 

[yaah]

Your qualifications posted above sound ok.

For IMGs (for anyone, really) it never hurts to do rotations at the places you want to be at for training. The experiences of IMGs on the interview trail really varies, and it is hard for me (others might have more advice) to predict how programs will respond to you. What you have posted above suggests you should be fine, but to get into better programs it would probably help to rotate there. But if that isn't possible, rotating at other good programs and getting solid reference letters from there is a good next step.

You can always try to get an elective at places, but they may not "count," and you may have to do them on your free time. I don't know how it works for your electives, and whether the program has to agree to take you and give you credit. Some just simply don't have a lot of space for external candidates. Although, they might be responsive to having you come by and meet with selected people.

 

[sohsie]

that step 1 score of 94 means nothing to me. What's your three digit score? If it less than 240, forget about pathology, you'll have to settle for derm, rads or ortho.

👍

 

[Arctic Char]

Your qualifications posted above sound ok.

For IMGs (for anyone, really) it never hurts to do rotations at the places you want to be at for training. The experiences of IMGs on the interview trail really varies, and it is hard for me (others might have more advice) to predict how programs will respond to you. What you have posted above suggests you should be fine, but to get into better programs it would probably help to rotate there. But if that isn't possible, rotating at other good programs and getting solid reference letters from there is a good next step.

You can always try to get an elective at places, but they may not "count," and you may have to do them on your free time. I don't know how it works for your electives, and whether the program has to agree to take you and give you credit. Some just simply don't have a lot of space for external candidates. Although, they might be responsive to having you come by and meet with selected people.

thanks for the feedback yaah . . . it helps me feel comfortable with how i am going about this whole process. now if i can only line up electives at my sweet-spots . . . i.e. OHSU (did my undergrad in oregon and have family there. i'd absolutley love to get back there. anybody have a connection??), also interested in rotating at Dartmouth . . . these being mentioned, i'm still in pretty good shape i think considering i have Columbia as my default institution. not a bad place to get letters from (i would imagine). i'll keep my "eyes out for the clout". but i'll start making some contact to other programs this week . . .

thanks again everyone!