Pathologist converting to clinical setting...

[igotmyswag]

Is there any way that a pathologist can switch to practicing in a more clinical setting? I was curious because I heard that if a pathologist wanted to switch to a new specialty, lets say infectious dz, etc, then he/she would do a clinical transition year and then fellowship. Exacty how would one go about doing this if they so desired to do this?

Thanks

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[KeratinPearls]

why would you want to do this? total waste of time in my opinion. either go the clinical route or not. i think you would have to do an internal medicine residency after a pathology residency and do the infectious disease fellowship, which i think is 1-2 years. you're looking at a whopping 8 years my friend.

focus on one field and do it well.

 

[DarksideAllstar]

Is there any way that a pathologist can switch to practicing in a more clinical setting? I was curious because I heard that if a pathologist wanted to switch to a new specialty, lets say infectious dz, etc, then he/she would do a clinical transition year and then fellowship. Exacty how would one go about doing this if they so desired to do this?

Thanks

They would have to do a medicine or peds residency (3yrs) + fellowship (2-3 yrs) = 5-6 additional years. You can't just complete an intern year and then do a fellowship.

 

[igotmyswag]

i dont mean complete an intern year and then change routes. i mean after practicing pathology for x number of years and then if one wanted to switch to a more clinical setting, could they have a smoother transition than just repeating residency all over.

 

[DarksideAllstar]

i dont mean complete an intern year and then change routes. i mean after practicing pathology for x number of years and then if one wanted to switch to a more clinical setting, could they have a smoother transition than just repeating residency all over.

Uhh, your question doesn't make any sense. Practicing pathology makes you good at pathology (when I say pathology, I mean anatomic pathology); this does not translate into being able to think like a clinician, although I would argue that there is some overlap. In addition, with the myriad of new therapies on the market for just about everything, you will be behind the eight ball once you leave clinical medicine and you will have difficulties getting up to speed if you decide to go back to clinical medicine after spending x years in pathology. Hell, after being out of med school for only a couple of years, I can only remember like 10% of the drugs, indications, and side effects that I learned in med school. Not to mention newer non-medical treatment options. Plus, your transition from path to clinical medicine WILL include 3 years of medicine residency, including an intern year. Not sure how smooth being a 40+ year-old intern is, but some people, including a couple of guys in my med school class, were able to do it. Pick one or the other.

 

[yaah]

Technically I think you can practice medicine by just doing an internship year and passing step III, but I don't know who would hire you without actually doing a full residency in something clinical.

I don't know why people post these questions - if you want to do clinical medicine, do clinical medicine. If you want to do pathology, do pathology. Doing both does not make you some kind of super doctor or something. It's not like getting a double major. If you want to do clinical medicine but know some pathology, do a post soph fellowship or use your elective time for pathology.

 

[LADoc00]

lmao, okay okay, I actually laughed out loud at this post.


GJ