Need advice on fellowship options

[pathbug]

I am on visa, which fellowships will make me most marketable? I am AP only, pretty much open to any fellowships except GU

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[LADoc00]

GI hands down right now. This goes in cycles though. Derm and Heme would be the other 2.

 

[AZpath]

Why GI? Seems like a stop for early retirement out of academics

 

[pathslides]

If you know you want community type practice, A GI fellowship is so pointless. Unless you do extensive medical liver, a GI fellowship seems redundant ( probably why it’s non-boarded). GI makes up half of my practice work. If you go to a decent program, you see enough GI to be comfortable to sign out properly. Do a boarded Fellowship. I always thought non-boarded fellowships are pointless.

 

[deleted314957]

If your real, for sure, certain interest is marketability you can’t beat
forensic path.

 

[AZpath]

If you know you want community type practice, A GI fellowship is so pointless. Unless you do extensive medical liver, a GI fellowship seems redundant ( probably why it’s non-boarded). GI makes up half of my practice work. If you go to a decent program, you see enough GI to be comfortable to sign out properly. Do a boarded Fellowship. I always thought non-boarded fellowships are pointless.

My thoughts exactly. We rarely send a GI out for second opinion except for medical liver.

 

[MetroPath]

My thoughts exactly. We rarely send a GI out for second opinion except for medical liver.

I think it's for marketing your services to a gastroenterology group. In that case, it's important you train at a good institution so you can say we have Dr X who trained with Dr Odze.

Not sure if most gastroenterologists know that you dont need a fellowship to sign GI path out.

I once was going to do some GI path research with a gastroenterologist at a well known institution and the guy mentioned that some of the pathologists on staff there weren't "real GI pathologists." Not sure what he meant by that though.

 

[Autopsy101]

I think it's for marketing your services to a gastroenterology group. In that case, it's important you train at a good institution so you can say we have Dr X who trained with Dr Odze.

This - it's not as bad as dermpath, but it helps significantly with the marketing aspects.

 

[LADoc00]

All fellowships aside from a very select few are marketing gimmicks. GI fellowship is the archetype of this. Do you need one? No, that is actually laughable in my opinion but the decision makers namely GI physicians somehow have been convinced by marketing folks you do need one, or else very bad things happen...

This generalist pathologist paranoia is approaching that of dermpath, which is the other similar clinical field that demands subspec training to touch their material. Again, any competent pathologist can sign out 95% of routine skins and send the remainder to a BC DP but almost never is satisfactory.

In GI, I would say 99% of cases can be SO'd by a generalist perfectly well. And a generalist will have a greater experience arch with patients possibly having seen other specimens to fill in a narrative, doing a better job but alas that is immaterial.

 

[AZpath]

I don't see much call for GU now that they bundled prostates into single G code.


I would be way too worried that they bundle upper and lower GI path with major cuts in the next few years.
GI docs would bail on their labs.
Office based GI paths don't have a very marketable skill set if the clinic work dies.

 

[LADoc00]

I don't see much call for GU now that they bundled prostates into single G code.


I would be way too worried that they bundle upper and lower GI path with major cuts in the next few years.
GI docs would bail on their labs.
Office based GI paths don't have a very marketable skill set if the clinic work dies.

Yup, GU Path pretty much died with the G coding, its still there but like 50-75% of the office pods died quicker than fetus hit with RU-486.

At one point I was making absolutely mad bank from this. I have 2 rentals paid off just from GU pre-G code era work. I knew it would end at some point but it is a good lesson that anyone who piles onto to what everyone including clinicians realize is eze-mode money will eventually get burned. I feel bad for people that never will know the pre-G code + the pre-Urovysion FISH nuke era of anatomic path encapsulated by:

Same could happen for GI but I doubt it, they have tried with alcian blue/Hpylori IHC gastric bx's but that is small potatoes and the work around was pretty easy to enact. I dont see a routinely abused loophole they can slam shut.

The fact they walked back the FISH TC drops is interesting. Might be a sign they overshot some of the TC slashes.

 

[Iceman24]

Key word here is visa. I mean VISA.
H1 or J1? J1 is the worst. But H1 is a problem as well.
I am sorry, you are in a bad shape no matter what.
And you put yourself even in more difficult position by doing AP only.

 

[yaah]

Seems like lots of places need breast path now.
I always don't think heme because there are so many fellowships but every time we try to find someone who does heme (who is willing to do something else other than heme as well) it becomes difficult to find.

 

[pac45]

Heme, breast, gyn seem to be popular these days.