name and pathology

[sweetymd]

am i wrong in saying that more so than other specialities, your future scope in the field of pathology, in terms of job prospects, academic prospects, and overall career growth is heavily dependent on the name your training program carries? i think this is because path is such an academic-based specialty. is it probable (i know anything is possible) to get a coveted fellowship or job from a realtively unheard of prog?

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[KeratinPearls]

am i wrong in saying that more so than other specialities, your future scope in the field of pathology, in terms of job prospects, academic prospects, and overall career growth is heavily dependent on the name your training program carries? i think this is because path is such an academic-based specialty. is it probable (i know anything is possible) to get a coveted fellowship or job from a realtively unheard of prog?

definitely possible to get a coveted fellowship from a relatively unheard of program. The most important thing is who you know (and in some instances, who the person you know knows) and what that "someone" thinks of you. In terms of job prospects, I would think your chances of obtaining a nice job would depend on who the attendings at your program know.

A hemepath attending at my program summed it up nicely, "Get to know the right people and pay your dues." In some cases, there are those lucky bastards who don't really do the latter, but since they know "someone" really well, they got it made and coast to where they want to go.

Really, landing anything, whether it be in business, medicine, etc. really depends on connections, period.

 

[mlw03]

am i wrong in saying that more so than other specialities, your future scope in the field of pathology, in terms of job prospects, academic prospects, and overall career growth is heavily dependent on the name your training program carries? i think this is because path is such an academic-based specialty. is it probable (i know anything is possible) to get a coveted fellowship or job from a realtively unheard of prog?

in my opinion, yes, you are wrong. no program is "relatively unheard of" - there's only about 150 in the entire US and Canada, so people know about pretty much all of them. i'm told that in many academic centers, it's tough to find enough qualified faculty because the pay is lower than in private practice, the hours longer, and the cases harder. i think we have a bias at this point in our careers because we're only seeing academic pathology, but obviously there are plenty out there who do their residency and fellowship and then aside from their CME have nothing to do with academia the rest of their careers.

 

[macrocyte]

in my opinion, yes, you are wrong. no program is "relatively unheard of" - there's only about 150 in the entire US and Canada, so people know about pretty much all of them. i'm told that in many academic centers, it's tough to find enough qualified faculty because the pay is lower than in private practice, the hours longer, and the cases harder. i think we have a bias at this point in our careers because we're only seeing academic pathology, but obviously there are plenty out there who do their residency and fellowship and then aside from their CME have nothing to do with academia the rest of their careers.

I agree. I think in the long run the "name" of the program where you trained will have little impact. Some people who are training at the "big name" places may disagree.

 

[deleted57552]

I agree. I think in the long run the "name" of the program where you trained will have little impact. Some people who are training at the "big name" places may disagree.

Agreed. Despite where I trained, in 5 years, that will have little impact. But the connections will still prove to be valuable.

 

[deschutes]

am i wrong in saying that more so than other specialities, your future scope in the field of pathology, in terms of job prospects, academic prospects, and overall career growth is heavily dependent on the name your training program carries? i think this is because path is such an academic-based specialty. is it probable (i know anything is possible) to get a coveted fellowship or job from a realtively unheard of prog?

Off the top of my head, a program that is "relatively unheard of" can mean different things.

First possibility is, as a medical student, you don't know the field well enough to know which tier (upper, middle, or lower) a program falls in. And those designations are not necessarily static.
Second, it may mean that the program does not have much output in terms of publishing or consultation. Since publishing/consultation and the associated presenting and being invited to teach courses at national conferences tends to be the way that individuals distinguish themselves within the pathology community, then it follows that the staff/faculty at a program which are lacking those activities would tend not to be very well-connected with the larger pathology community.

If you start at a "relatively unheard of program" for residency, and you do not intend to stay local, then chances are you will be looking at distinguishing yourself by doing a fellowship at a more renown institution, in order to gain a foothold in the more popular places to live or compete for coveted openings when it comes time to get a job. That means that during residency, you will be teaching yourself a lot of pathology, trying to publish and present in order to network, possibly arranging an away elective and figuring out the how/what/who/when/where of applying and interviewing for external fellowships.

This whole process of fellowship application and getting a good job is - no, correction, can be - made a great deal easier by going somewhere where the pathologists are connected to the larger pathology community, whether regional or national.

I previously posted related remarks on the Job Market Data thread.

I am pointing all this out because you specifically asked what is probable, as opposed to possible. So one's mileage may vary.

My opinion is based on my coming from what I believe to be a middle-tier institution (no, I am not afraid of saying it) and having done an away rotation, interviewing at several top-tier institutions for fellowship, as well as comparing notes at the CAP residents forum with other residents.

I've been saying to junior residents and residency applicants a great deal lately, that in pathology you either suffer now, or suffer later.

 

[Rbrav]

definitely possible to get a coveted fellowship from a relatively unheard of program.

As a for-instance, I went to medical school at a relatively small state school. One of the fourth-year residents from the path program last year is now doing a fellowship at Hopkins.

 

[LADoc00]

Agreed. Despite where I trained, in 5 years, that will have little impact. But the connections will still prove to be valuable.

QFT.

Connections>all. I would say even right out of the gate in your career.