Opinions Please!

[laurenfiro]

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Hello,
I am 3rd year medical school, I took step 1 in june and got 92/219. I have finished family medicine, and almost done with IM. I am really interested in pathology. My medical school GPA is 3.50, and clinical GPA is 3.56.
Based on these, is likely for me to get pathology residency.

thanks for your time guys.

 

[laurenfiro]

i would appreciate your thoughts, i thought this is the place where people are willing to share their experiences and views.

thanks

 

[GOLJANOID]

Pathology is not competitive, so yes. Even more so if you're an AMG.

 

[djmd]

i would appreciate your thoughts, i thought this is the place where people are willing to share their experiences and views.

thanks

This is also a place where half a day is not enough time to complain about lack of response...


Yes, you can get in to a pathology program...
a specific competitive program .. maybe.

 

[icpshootyz]

When I was in med school and mentioned my interest in pathology I was greeted with, "Well, you're American and you speak English, so you're pretty much all set!" So, while you may not necessarily match at a "top tier" academic program, you will by no means have trouble matching in pathology. Well, if you're American and speak English, that is . . . (kidding, kidding)

 

[pathstudent]

Hello,
I am 3rd year medical school, I took step 1 in june and got 92/219. I have finished family medicine, and almost done with IM. I am really interested in pathology. My medical school GPA is 3.50, and clinical GPA is 3.56.
Based on these, is likely for me to get pathology residency.

thanks for your time guys.

Yes. 100% slam dunk. You could even get into a top shelf program. A specific top notch program, maybe or maybe not, but if you applied to the top 20 programs, you will likely get interview offers at most and without a doubt match at one.

Hope that helps.

 

[2121115]

The average pathology matched Step 1 score is the same as the national average for Step 1. So you will be slightly above average for Step 1 scores. You will easily match in pathology.

 

[Doc013]

is pathology simply not popular among american md's?

im kinda surprised by the responses; i knew it wasn't competitive but it kinda sounds like a joke. is that all just sarcasm?

 

[icpshootyz]

As a pathologist I certainly wouldn't say it's a joke, but to other md's maybe it is, who knows. I certainly know that most look down on path as if all we do is autopsies. In fact I've heard that from clinical colleagues. Most don't know what a cassette is, or anything else about what we do. But that's the bed we've made - pathology is a classroom course in medical school instead of a rotation. No one rotates through the path department unless they already have an interest in path. Why Path isn't a mandatory part of Surgery rotations I don't know. But I don't make the rules just yet.

 

[LADoc00]

is pathology simply not popular among american md's?

im kinda surprised by the responses; i knew it wasn't competitive but it kinda sounds like a joke. is that all just sarcasm?

Interestingly, this is not a joke: Pathology is closed actually. There are too many of us already. Move along please.

Unless there is absolutely no other speciality you can possibly do to pay back your likely outrageous student loan debt, skip Path.

 

[deleted314957]

If you have anything going for you I would skip pathology. I am not even sure what the USMLE (?) scores mean but if that is the same as the national boards were back in 73-77 when I went to MED school I don't think we ever knew what our scores were and they sure did not mean s***. They were just something everyone passed. I am now about to turn 59 and had a brief military hiatus before I went into pathology which , I believe, really helped me. Debt, etc. was not a problem. I have been fortunate ( largely due to my efforts so "fortune" played little part) in the extreme and now work because it is my hobby. I am set and will not retire unless it rains too much SHI* because of the moochers ( please read Ayn Rand Atlas Shrugged). The chances of you having a financial lucrative experience in this specialty are almost dead unless you are one hell of an entrepeneur. If you have a lot of debt I would skip it. Why go thru the hassel? You are just another body and , frankly, in 10 years, no body is going to care where you went to school, your grades or your scores on anything.

None of this is nice but it is the truth.

 

[2121115]

is pathology simply not popular among american md's?

im kinda surprised by the responses; i knew it wasn't competitive but it kinda sounds like a joke. is that all just sarcasm?

No it is not a joke, but it is not ortho or rads either. It is similar to internal medicine or peds.

 

[gschl1234]

Pathology is not competitive, so yes. Even more so if you're an AMG.

Matching is not difficult but matching to the program of your choice may be another issue.

 

[JPR22]

Path is great for IMGs who cant get into anything else. It's good for 4-6 years of pay and benefits, and the hours arent too bad. For those with hundreds of thousands in debt, who could otherwise make a living in other specialties, it's career suicide.

 

[Patho2009]

....but he can go to a private practice and get paid very well...so why do you kill his interest in the field because of "paying back the debt"? I don't think this is a good reason. The internist and family/general practitioners get paid same as pathologist...or even less!!!!

 

[deleted314957]

Path is great for IMGs who cant get into anything else. It's good for 4-6 years of pay and benefits, and the hours arent too bad. For those with hundreds of thousands in debt, who could otherwise make a living in other specialties, it's career suicide.

Frankly, this field does not need any more IMG's (FMG's) who enter the field generally because they cannot speak understandable English. Not a PC comment but true. That is one reason our specialty is overloaded.

 

[GOLJANOID]

 

[Enkidu]

No it is not a joke, but it is not ortho or rads either. It is similar to internal medicine or peds.

Isn't it funny how competitiveness is valued in its own right by medical students? You could keep everything about the job market and salaries the way they are, but if pathology were perceived as being more competitive medical students would feel better about going into it. It would feed their egos.

 

[laurenfiro]

thank You ..great opinions!!!!

 

[deleted314957]

Now, Laurenfiro, the only thing you have to do is really take some affirmative action and bypass this field unless you have some bizzare reason to go into this problem laden field. This ( and the the input of LA Doc) are the voices of experience talking to you.

 

[zao275]

Interestingly, this is not a joke: Pathology is closed actually. There are too many of us already. Move along please.

Unless there is absolutely no other speciality you can possibly do to pay back your likely outrageous student loan debt, skip Path.

In retrospect, LA Doc, what would you have done rather than path? Just curious.

 

[Thrombus]

I absolutely LOVE pathology and LOVE my job but......

If I could do it over I would have done something different because of huge issues as we have next to zero leverage with any of the other players in medicine.

Urology, Radiology, Anesthesia, GI, Derm, RadOnc, or Hem-Onc are all things I would have done before this again.

 

[2121115]

I absolutely LOVE pathology and LOVE my job but......

If I could do it over I would have done something different because of huge issues as we have next to zero leverage with any of the other players in medicine.

Urology, Radiology, Anesthesia, GI, Derm, RadOnc, or Hem-Onc are all things I would have done before this again.

Well, radiology is about to have some serious issues of their own.

 

[LNsquasher]

I'm not sure I understand all the negativity here. Yes, the job market kind of sucks. But if you work hard, are easy to work with, and make professional connections you will almost certainly find a decent job.

I love the field and have no regrets so far.

 

[zao275]

I'm not sure I understand all the negativity here. Yes, the job market kind of sucks. But if you work hard, are easy to work with, and make professional connections you will almost certainly find a decent job.

I love the field and have no regrets so far.

good to hear that

 

[FindingMyself]

Three months into my heme fellowship (middle of the road residency and fellowship), I'm getting plenty of good job leads, and have already had two interviews, both of them for solid partnership-track positions. It doesn't look like I'm going to have any trouble at all landing what I would consider a good job. The only caveat is that I am completely flexible on what part of the country I relocate to. If I were tied down to a specific area, I'm sure it would be more difficult.

 

[Patho2009]

Findingmyself----Same thing here. I didn't find difficulty in finding a good job because I was very flexible regarding the geographic location. If my search was restricted to specific area, I think I would be jobless sitting home doing nothing!