Pathology 2007

[sequela]

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hello everyone!!!!!!!!!!!

I will be applying to pathology residency this year.

I've been reading this forum for some time now and I wanted to thank you all for all the great advice and information. I hope that I may be able to make some sort of contribution in the years to come.

 

[b&ierstiefel]

hello everyone!!!!!!!!!!!

I will be applying to pathology residency this year.

I've been reading this forum for some time now and I wanted to thank you all for all the great advice and information. I hope that I may be able to make some sort of contribution in the years to come.

Welcome...and may the force be with you.

 

[sequela]

Welcome...and may the force be with you.

thank you Andy.

 

[beary]

hello everyone!!!!!!!!!!!

I will be applying to pathology residency this year.

I've been reading this forum for some time now and I wanted to thank you all for all the great advice and information. I hope that I may be able to make some sort of contribution in the years to come.

Hi sequela!! Great to have you here!

 

[sequela]

Hi sequela!! Great to have you here!

hi beary!! thanks for the welcome.

so, is there anyone else applying to pathology this year? i hope so.

where are you guys???

 

[Click Here!]

hello everyone!!!!!!!!!!!

I will be applying to pathology residency this year.

I've been reading this forum for some time now and I wanted to thank you all for all the great advice and information. I hope that I may be able to make some sort of contribution in the years to come.

So is this the official introduction thread?

Hi everyone. Ditto everything Sequela said. Plus a special thank you to yaah for his excellent blog! I'm looking forward to visiting some of your programs later on and maybe meeting some of you.

Right now I'm slogging through my personal statement. Is it a major faux pax to mention lifestyle at all? Of course that's not the major reason, but I'd be lying if I said my family played no role in my decision making process. I don't want to be q4, 80 hrs until my son starts school.

 

[beary]

Right now I'm slogging through my personal statement. Is it a major faux pax to mention lifestyle at all? Of course that's not the major reason, but I'd be lying if I said it played no role in my decision making process.

Hi Click Here! I wouldn't mention lifestyle. Since you have other reasons that were more important, just leave it out, IMHO.

 

[juddson]

How relatively competitive is path?

If Derm is a 10 and psychiatry is a 1, where is path?

Don't hurt my fealings - I take my first USMLE in the morning and my brain is mush.

Judd

 

[veo1]

I'm proud to say I'm in the Pathology Class of 2007. I've been keeping a close eye on this board since the beginning of third year (i knew very early on that the clinical stuff wasn't for me!) but was hesitant to post anything. Looking forward to the dialogue over the coming year...until nexttime -veo1

 

[beary]

How relatively competitive is path?

If Derm is a 10 and psychiatry is a 1, where is path?

Don't hurt my fealings - I take my first USMLE in the morning and my brain is mush.

Judd

I would path around a 4 on that scale.

Best wishes on Step 1!

 

[beary]

I'm proud to say I'm in the Pathology Class of 2007. I've been keeping a close eye on this board since the beginning of third year (i knew very early on that the clinical stuff wasn't for me!) but was hesitant to post anything. Looking forward to the dialogue over the coming year...until nexttime -veo1

Hey Veo, welcome!

Wow, it is great to have so many new (and old!) folks posting.

 

[deschutes]

If Derm is a 10 and psychiatry is a 1, where is path?

Yup, in the range of 4. I might up it to a 5 for some FMGs, since every FMG is different.

 

[DW]

I'm about 90 percent path right now unless I take a last minue reswitch to medicine.

I haven't even started my personal statement. I need to get moving I guess!

 

[veo1]

I'm about 90 percent path right now unless I take a last minue reswitch to medicine.

I haven't even started my personal statement. I need to get moving I guess!

medicine and path? that's like night and day! I'm on my medicine JI/subinternship at the VA right now 😡 i don't know how much more of this H&P/orderwriting, soap notes, sw issues, unnecessary and excessive antibiotic use, beeping machines, asking patients about their bowel movements i can take! two more weeks of misery as I see it......how could you possibly switch to medicine???? Have you done the path elective yet?

 

[sequela]

medicine and path? that's like night and day! I'm on my medicine JI/subinternship at the VA right now 😡 i don't know how much more of this H&P/orderwriting, soap notes, sw issues, unnecessary and excessive antibiotic use, beeping machines, asking patients about their bowel movements i can take! two more weeks of misery as I see it......how could you possibly switch to medicine???? Have you done the path elective yet?

I think medicine is great, in theory...I enjoy M&M and Medical Grand Rounds but as soon as I step foot on the wards or clinic, I want to take a gun to my head. It's just not how I want to spend my workday....

I realize that path is not for everyone but if you're 90% sure, then it must really appeal to you. You still have a lot of time to decide...talk to people, take a path elective if you haven't already, get the real scoop from people who're actually practicing in either field and lastly, figure out all the aspects of a career that make you happy....that are important to you now and potentially 20-30 years from now.

on a lighter note, 1) you can always apply to both and figure it out by match time or 2) pick one and switch if it ends up being the wrong choice.

good luck.

 

[DW]

medicine and path? that's like night and day! I'm on my medicine JI/subinternship at the VA right now 😡 i don't know how much more of this H&P/orderwriting, soap notes, sw issues, unnecessary and excessive antibiotic use, beeping machines, asking patients about their bowel movements i can take! two more weeks of misery as I see it......how could you possibly switch to medicine???? Have you done the path elective yet?

Veo1, you're right, I'm sure when I start my sub-I it will reaffirm that I was insane for ever thinking I wanted to do infernal medicine. I have an interest in hematology, but as I realize now as a newly minted 4th year its more on the path side than the med side. Plus, being paged at 4am to give pain meds and disimpact gomers does not sound like my cup of tea.

I have yet to take the path elective but am very much looking forward to it. Have you taken it? Anyone have any pointers in how to maximize my time on the elective? Its felt like ages since 1st-2nd year and my knowledge of histo has all but vanished.

 

[Ziehl-Neelsen]

Newly minted fourth year here. Now that I'm not being evaluated every second of every day I can admit my secret: I liked 2nd year way more than 3rd year. The fascination I felt during second year while learning about disease was hardly if ever replicated in the 3rd year.


I'm on military scholarship so I probably won't be as grizzled as the rest of you interview trail Kit Carson's, but I might see a few of you.

I go to school at SLU and have rotated at WashU, so if you have any questions about the programs/area I'll do all I can. Good luck in the upcoming year.

 

[sequela]

Exactly. It the sad reality of third year that comes quite unexpectedly...it was a depressing time for me. Totally unfulfilling. I actually felt like I was losing knowledge as the year progressed. Finally, back to pathology!!!!!!!!......I can't wait for residency.

I'll take transformed cells, CDs 1-10K, lymphoma classification systems, ANY classifiation system, k-ras mutations, ANY mutation, all the IHC in the world, and every other detail covered in pathology over discharge summaries, drug-drug interactions, medication lists, EKGs, PEs and H&Ps any day of the week. Oh and you can include outpatient clinic notes too. Even dermatology notes, which take about 5 seconds once you get your templets up.

thank god for pathology.

 

[Zuwie]

I've been posting here occasionally before. I am in the Pathology Class of 2007 as well. I've been doing a surgical pathology rotation for two weeks now and it's the only rotation so far that I truly enjoyed. For the first time I can say "This is what I want to do for the rest of my life."

 

[veo1]

Exactly. It the sad reality of third year that comes quite unexpectedly...it was a depressing time for me. Totally unfulfilling. I actually felt like I was losing knowledge as the year progressed. Finally, back to pathology!!!!!!!!......I can't wait for residency.

I'll take transformed cells, CDs 1-10K, lymphoma classification systems, ANY classifiation system, k-ras mutations, ANY mutation, all the IHC in the world, and every other detail covered in pathology over discharge summaries, drug-drug interactions, medication lists, EKGs, PEs and H&Ps any day of the week. Oh and you can include outpatient clinic notes too. Even dermatology notes, which take about 5 seconds once you get your templets up.

thank god for pathology.

I finished my path elective last month. What a relief it was to finally know what I was going to do because things weren't looking up for me. I spent most of my third year griping about how much I hated my rotations (it seemed like I was the only one that felt this way at times...kinda scary!) It was somewhat depressing. I mean you spend your entire life to get to this point and its not anything like what you expect (hell, my dad is an internist and i was fooled). Again, there's just something about discussing bowel movements with a patient that seems a little inapproriate to me. I'm just immature I guess....

On the other hand I kinda wish that everyone had to do a path elective (just like they force us to do medicine subIs) just for contrast...actually not really...I don't want it to become too competitive..but seriously the stress level is so much easier to deal with. Its the only rotation I've done so far where the attendings and residents recommended that I do it! You look at the other "lifestyle" fields like anesthesia, urology, optho, etc. with great pay i'm more than willing to give up the extra money to avoid patients. Whether its old farts with chronic foleys in urology or the chump that's let his diabetes get so out of control that he needs laser treatment now and complains about having to wait out in the waiting room, I'd rather not deal with it.

 

[hellojed]

Hi guys! Another friendly 4th year applying to path this year too. 😛 I gotta say, I'm doing my autopsy elective right now and I'm having a blast. I'm learning tons more each day than I ever did on any 3rd year rotation, and I have YET to meet a resident or attending who is bitter or burnt out about what they do (unlike other services I've been on.) 😀

 

[yaah]

Well, if I hadn't done path I was thinking about IM as well. I guess mainly it was my "default" since I didn't like anything else, and IM was the only one that was more than tolerable. The thing about IM I hated though was hospital work (floor work). If I could do a medical residency without having to do floor work, I would consider that, and being a primary care. But unfortunately, that isn't possible. Plus, it's all moot anyway since path was much more interesting and I actually enjoyed going in to work every day (and still do, even when on blood bank).

I think a lot of people tend to talk themselves into liking some other specialty more than they actually do, either from preconceived notions of what medicine should be like (or was like 40 years ago) or because that is what they "always wanted to do." Personally, I think you owe it to yourself to evaluate your prospects objectively, and not worry about the jaded voice inside your head that is still there from before you even started med school - the one that says you want to go into primary care or surgery but doesn't know what day to day life is actually like.

 

[PathOne]

I once did one of those "fill out 100+ questions and we'll tell you what your spec will be" type things... Turned out that I should have chosen Rads... Was really surprised, but come to think of it, it does rather make sense. OK, you're closer to the pts, but it's still a diagnostic spec, and actually kinda closely related to Path.

Oh, and by the way, about that 1-10 scale: Remember, that Boarding in Path can get you in the running for Dermpath, which is an 11 on that scale of yours! ;-)

 

[Zuwie]

Exactly. It the sad reality of third year that comes quite unexpectedly...it was a depressing time for me. Totally unfulfilling. I actually felt like I was losing knowledge as the year progressed. Finally, back to pathology!!!!!!!!......I can't wait for residency.

I'll take transformed cells, CDs 1-10K, lymphoma classification systems, ANY classifiation system, k-ras mutations, ANY mutation, all the IHC in the world, and every other detail covered in pathology over discharge summaries, drug-drug interactions, medication lists, EKGs, PEs and H&Ps any day of the week. Oh and you can include outpatient clinic notes too. Even dermatology notes, which take about 5 seconds once you get your templets up.

thank god for pathology.

Don't forget about surgery. "Cut the suture about 5 mm long! No, that's 7 mm! How did you get through med school so far?"

 

[sequela]

I've been posting here occasionally before. I am in the Pathology Class of 2007 as well. I've been doing a surgical pathology rotation for two weeks now and it's the only rotation so far that I truly enjoyed. For the first time I can say "This is what I want to do for the rest of my life."

I completely relate...it's so nice to finally know. As soon as I finished my path elective I never looked back. It was a done deal.

 

[sequela]

I finished my path elective last month. What a relief it was to finally know what I was going to do because things weren't looking up for me. I spent most of my third year griping about how much I hated my rotations (it seemed like I was the only one that felt this way at times...kinda scary!) It was somewhat depressing. I mean you spend your entire life to get to this point and its not anything like what you expect (hell, my dad is an internist and i was fooled). Again, there's just something about discussing bowel movements with a patient that seems a little inapproriate to me. I'm just immature I guess....

On the other hand I kinda wish that everyone had to do a path elective (just like they force us to do medicine subIs) just for contrast...actually not really...I don't want it to become too competitive..but seriously the stress level is so much easier to deal with. Its the only rotation I've done so far where the attendings and residents recommended that I do it! You look at the other "lifestyle" fields like anesthesia, urology, optho, etc. with great pay i'm more than willing to give up the extra money to avoid patients. Whether its old farts with chronic foleys in urology or the chump that's let his diabetes get so out of control that he needs laser treatment now and complains about having to wait out in the waiting room, I'd rather not deal with it.

I also griped about my third yr rotations and I felt like such an alien because all my peers seemed to love it. I'm truly grateful to those people for going into these primary care fields because I really just couldn't do it. One of my friends (who's a pgy2 path resident) said that without these people, we couldn't do what we get to do.

and yes, our path dept is the only place (in our hospital) where all attendings are happy and all residents are happy and everyone wants you to join in the fun. it is simply a good time. and that's not to say that the days aren't long and that there isn't stress, etc etc but overall, from what I have seen, everyone is happy to be there.

 

[Cougarblue]

I am also in the mix for 2007. I have been on Hematopathology for the last two weeks and have loved the experience. Path is getting serious love from my class. We have five definites, and possibly as many as seven fourth years applying. UVA, my med school, has an outstanding program. I have been seriously impressed with the faculty and residents thus far, and love the fact that they go out of their way to make my experience outstanding.

With the exception of surgery, I had a good experience third year, but I agree with what others have posted. I liked second year better. Good luck with the match. If anyone has any questions about UVA/Charlottesville I would be happy to give my two cents. My wife and I have loved it here.

 

[LADoc00]

I am also in the mix for 2007. I have been on Hematopathology for the last two weeks and have loved the experience. .

Okay, what is:

No cheating by following the link trail.

 

[Cougarblue]

Cougarblue thinks, "What have I gotten myself into," but fresh off the pimp fest which was third year decides to give it a shot. Here is my best guess. I am thinking first that these are myeloid cells. Due to the numerous azurophilic granules and deep blue cytoplasm I am thinking that perhaps they are promyelocytes. Nucleoli are present, but they appear to be less distinct and numerous than would be expected in blasts. I also may be talking myself into this, but it appears that there are Auer rods present in both the cell in the middle of the slide and two that are more peripheral around 7 o'clock. Based off the above I am going to say AML of the M3 variety.

 

[LADoc00]

Cougarblue thinks, "What have I gotten myself into," but fresh off the pimp fest which was third year decides to give it a shot. Here is my best guess. I am thinking first that these are myeloid cells. Due to the numerous azurophilic granules and deep blue cytoplasm I am thinking that perhaps they are promyelocytes. Nucleoli are present, but they appear to be less distinct and numerous than would be expected in blasts. I also may be talking myself into this, but it appears that there are Auer rods present in both the cell in the middle of the slide and two that are more peripheral around 7 o'clock. Based off the above I am going to say AML of the M3 variety.

Good job lil cougar, good job.

 

[anencephalic]

I'll be in the hunt for Path in 2007...see y'all there.

 

[Cougarblue]

Thanks LADoc. I liked the picture, it was a nice touch. Where is everyone thinking of applying? I know that it is early in the game and things may change, but right now I am going with: UVA, Utah, Cleveland Clinic, MGH, Mayo, Iowa, and UTSW.

Cost of living is a huge issue. For the most part I am trying to stick with programs which offer strong training while still allowing me to support my family. MGH is likely not going to happen, but I would love to figure out a way to do it without selling a kidney and part of my liver on the black market to pay for rent.

 

[DW]

Thanks LADoc. I liked the picture, it was a nice touch. Where is everyone thinking of applying? I know that it is early in the game and things may change, but right now I am going with: UVA, Utah, Cleveland Clinic, MGH, Mayo, Iowa, and UTSW.

Cost of living is a huge issue. For the most part I am trying to stick with programs which offer strong training while still allowing me to support my family. MGH is likely not going to happen, but I would love to figure out a way to do it without selling a kidney and part of my liver on the black market to pay for rent.

I've got some geopgraphic constraints due to my fiances job (at least for residency), so I'm trying to stay close to NYC. So, Columbia, Cornell, NYU, Sinai, Einstein, UMDNJ, and Penn and Yale are where my preliminary focus is.

 

[sequela]

I've got geographical constraints too. My husband is also in medical school but a years behind me so I will be the first to match...I therefore have to apply to major cities with more than one institution so that we can at least live in the same city when it comes time for him to match.

So, my list will include programs in LA, SF, NYC, Boston, Phily and Yale. Our families are one the east and west coasts so that is another consideration. It pains me to have to apply to such expensive cities but I really don't have a lot of choice.

I am going to have to cast a pretty wide net, especially early on, just to keep our options open.

 

[juddson]

Is the Cleveland Clinic considered a top-notch program, or just run-of-the-mill?

Judd

 

[Click Here!]

Family and wife's occupation have me concentrating on Texas and the South. At this point I'm leaning academic, so UTSW, Baylor, Emory, Duke, UVA, etc. Haven't heard much here about Vandy, UT Memphis, UAB, UAMS (Arkansas), Wake Forest. Anybody have anything to share?

 

[beary]

Where is everyone thinking of applying? I know that it is early in the game and things may change, but right now I am going with: UVA, Utah, Cleveland Clinic, MGH, Mayo, Iowa, and UTSW.

We were interested in many of the same programs. I ended up highly ranking UVA, Utah, Iowa, and UTSW. I would encourage you to add Michigan to your list. That's where I ended up and so far I really like it a lot.

 

[DarksideAllstar]

I am applying this cycle as well. I will be strictly applying west coast (UW, UCSF, UCLA, UCSD, OHSU, Utah, Stanford) +/- the Boston programs. San Diego is one of my favorite cities, so I am seriously considering the program, although it lacks the "prestige" of UCSF or UW. Plus, my girl really wants to move to SD. Now I just have to write this blasted personal statement.

 

[mrp]

Wow! Someone mentioned UCSD!

Although you are correct that we don't have the rep that some other places have, we do have at least one world class surgical pathologist--Noel Weidner. Not only is he famous and really, really good, he teaches the residents literally on a daily basis. I'm currently a PGY4 here, and am one of Dr. Weidner's surg path fellows this year. Plus, although SD is ridiculously expensive the weather is nice pretty much all the time. I like it a lot here.

I'm always happy to field any questions about my program.

-MRP

 

[yaah]

Is the Cleveland Clinic considered a top-notch program, or just run-of-the-mill?

Judd

It is a very large program, I think. I don't know a ton about it except that they have a lot of good faculty (Goldblum in particular) and they subspecialize everything, so you sign out with experts. I had heard in the past that teaching was not as much of a priority, turnaround time was, and it is run more like a factory. But I am not so sure anymore. Goldblum seems pretty dedicated to resident education. I think there are residents from there who post here.

 

[DarksideAllstar]

Wow! Someone mentioned UCSD!

Although you are correct that we don't have the rep that some other places have, we do have at least one world class surgical pathologist--Noel Weidner. Not only is he famous and really, really good, he teaches the residents literally on a daily basis. I'm currently a PGY4 here, and am one of Dr. Weidner's surg path fellows this year. Plus, although SD is ridiculously expensive the weather is nice pretty much all the time. I like it a lot here.

I'm always happy to field any questions about my program.

-MRP

Wow- someone from UCSD on here! I am actually a huge fan of the area (literally spent every other weekend in undergrad driving from Las Vegas to San Diego to party with some friends at UCSD. It is expensive, but having already lived in San Francisco for a few years as well as Santa Monica, for the most part its reasonable, plus the beaches rock (and the surf!). I just finished my PSF (or PJF, if you will) at UCSF and heard some good things about Weidner (he was there prior to joining UCSD, even still had his name plate by Ted Miller's door). I did have some questions regarding the program that I couldn't find on the website, that I thought I might post here in case others are interested:

1) AP/CP- What is the structure? For example, is it one year AP, then one year CP, or do you switch every month (surg path to blood bank, etc), or do you frontload like Stanford (2 years AP then 2 years CP)?

2) AP- How many elective months do you get while you are on AP? For instance UCSF allows 2 elective months per AP year. Is there subspecialty signout? On surg path, what is the rotation like? Is it a two or three day rotation?
For example:
Day 1: Gross
Day 2: FS duty/Bx signout and preview
Day 3: Sign out Bigs
Do you have PAs to handle cutting in the "no-brainers" (ie appys, gallbags, hernia sacs, tonsils, etc) or to help with frozens? What kind of volume do you see on your cutting days? Do the residents or fellows handle the overnight call?

3) Weekends- are there any grossing or sign out responsibilities on the weekends? Again, during my PSF year the weekend on call resident would spend the entire weekend grossing, handling frozens, rush biopsies. Usually each resident had one weekend of call.

4) Didactics- do you have a morning or noon slide conference or lecture in place? If so, how often?

I am in the midst of scheduling a surg path elective for October-November and am pretty stoked about getting down to check out the department. Thanks for any insight 🙂

 

[mrp]

Okay, this may be a little off topic, but so what..

>1) AP/CP- What is the structure? For example, is it one year AP, then one >year CP, or do you switch every month (surg path to blood bank, etc), or do >you frontload like Stanford (2 years AP then 2 years CP)?

The typical structure is: 1st year-AP, 2nd year-CP, 3rd and 4th years-mixed AP and CP, depending on your interests. If you want to do the in house surg path fellowship, Dr. Weidner requires you to do AP the entire 3rd year, then his fellowship. Then you finish residency in your 5th year. Yes, it's weird doing fellowship before you finish residency, but it works for us.

>2) AP- How many elective months do you get while you are on AP? For >instance UCSF allows 2 elective months per AP year.

We're pretty flexible and accomdating regarding electives. If you have a burning desire to study something and can make your case to the powers that be, you will probably be allowed. I'm not actually aware of a specific number of electives allowed (and I would know, as I was chief last year). It's pretty free-form.

>Is there subspecialty signout?

No. We are one of the few academic programs that still does general sign out. Dr. Weidner is a big fan of general sign out (because he's good at everything), and we don't really have the case volume to support sub-specialists. I don't know if it really matters if you do general vs speciality sign out in the end. General sign out makes reading difficult, as there are a zillion and one things to read about, but it more closely simulates the typical practices of private practice pathologists. To each his own. I kind of like the variety of things you see in general sign outs.

>On surg path, what is the rotation like? Is it a two or three day rotation?
>For example:
>Day 1: Gross
>Day 2: FS duty/Bx signout and preview
>Day 3: Sign out Bigs

On surg path at UCSD, we do a 3 day sign out: day 1: gross/FS, day 2: s/o "quicks" day 3: s/o "bigs". On surg path at the VA, it depends on whether we have 2 or 3 residents on service. The UCSD surg path rotation is the busiest rotation we have at UCSD. Hours worked/week typically range from 50-60, possibly more if you're inefficient.

>Do you have PAs to handle cutting in the "no-brainers" (ie appys, gallbags, >hernia sacs, tonsils, etc) or to help with frozens?

One of the surg path fellows is on gross room duty, teaching the residents to gross and handling excess volume while the residents are coming up to speed in their grossing abilities. We have techs that gross in the biopsies, but things like appies and gb's are grossed by the residents or the fellow if necesary. We don't have a bona-fide PA who can gross in bigs.

>What kind of volume do you see on your cutting days?

Grossing days can be a little tiring, but we are pretty much always done by 6 pm (we actually have to, as the processor starts at 7). It's really not bad, and all of the residents are good about popping into the room to see if the grossing resident needs help.

>Do the residents or fellows handle the overnight call?

Residents handle all call. It's obviously home call, and it's almost always very quiet. You can expect maybe one frozen a week at night (most are evening--true middle of the night frozens are rare).

>3) Weekends- are there any grossing or sign out responsibilities on the >weekends? Again, during my PSF year the weekend on call resident would >spend the entire weekend grossing, handling frozens, rush biopsies. >Usually each resident had one weekend of call.

The resident on call is responsible for grossing quicks in on the weekend (usually only 2-3 hours on Sunday). It's no big deal. Each month residents on surg path at the U are on call 1-2 times, for one week at a stretch. No sign out on weekends, unless it is for a rush case, which are uncommon.

>4) Didactics- do you have a morning or noon slide conference or lecture in >place? If so, how often?

We have a lecture of some sort pretty much every morning 8-9 AM. We also have a working conference every day at 2 PM. Dr. Weidner drives and dispenses pearls throughout the conference. It's a highly educational conference, particularly for more senior residents. The residents have also been doing a slide review amongst themselves at 7 am once a week.

All of the above is about AP--CP is an entirely different story, but this post is already a bit long.

Hope to see you this year.

-MRP

 

[DarksideAllstar]

Thanks for the info MRP. 👍

 

[mlw03]

Family and wife's occupation have me concentrating on Texas and the South. At this point I'm leaning academic, so UTSW, Baylor, Emory, Duke, UVA, etc. Haven't heard much here about Vandy, UT Memphis, UAB, UAMS (Arkansas), Wake Forest. Anybody have anything to share?

i'm an MS3 at USF and just wanted to say that I'm pretty impressed with our pathology faculty. I don't know too much about the logistics of the residency. Most all of the path faculty I've met are nice, chill, and incredibly smart people. If not for the fact that I've lived in Tampa my whole live and I'm ready for a different city, I'd give serious consideration to just staying here for residency.

 

[Matte Kudesai]

I posted this list in another thread. It might be helpful to some when considering programs this year. I think the OSU has an excellent program in a very affordable city. Please feel free to PM with questions.

1) Number, variety, and complexity of cases.
2) World class surgical pathologists actually teaching residents
3) Outstanding NCI rated Comprehensive Cancer Center adjacent to (through some double doors) and integrated with the path department.
4) Graduating residents routinely getting the most competitive fellowships.
5) Large number of PA's to cover routine grossing so residents can focus on teaching cases. No malignant grossing. Thousands of slides in the slide collection to study instead. (subspecialty grossing and signout)
6) Brand new facilities including completely rennovated state of the art gross room, excellent computer integration (copath (example:you get immunos overnight)), state of the art archiving service, access to HTRN (human tissue resource network) for basic and/or brown stain research.
7) Generous book fund, conference attendance fund, perks like free dry cleaning, free A LOT parking, and other discounts.
8) City with a reasonable cost of living (afford a mortgage on a residents salary... appreciation and tax shelter)
9) Accessibility of the medical center (how quickly you can be onsite... this matters especially when you take call).
10) Accessible airport (easy to check in and out)
11) Ample fellowship opportunities (variety of case load supports more being added)
12) Tons of basic science as well as brown stain research opportunities.
13) Most of your training is at one location (this matters most if you don't like going from one hospital to another during a workday.. it sucks going back and forth for rotations, conferences etc..... just park in one place for the day is much more palatable).
14) Also all residents have been finishing their autopsy requirements in the first year of residency (greater than 50) (this is a problem with many programs having to scrounge for autopsies all four years and barely getting 50.
15) State of the art core facility (research and diagnostic)with TMA, LCM, FISH, etc.

 

[Cougarblue]

Matte, thanks for the info on OSU. I'll check it out. I applied to OSU for med school and was very impressed with the people, med center, etc.

I'll also definitely check out Michigan. Beary, what is the cost of living like? Are most of the residents buying or renting?

To all of the residents, attendings, and other med students, thanks for all of your comments. This forum is incredibly useful as we are getting ready to apply. 😀

 

[djmd]

It is a very large program, I think. I don't know a ton about it except that they have a lot of good faculty (Goldblum in particular) and they subspecialize everything, so you sign out with experts. I had heard in the past that teaching was not as much of a priority, turnaround time was, and it is run more like a factory. But I am not so sure anymore. Goldblum seems pretty dedicated to resident education. I think there are residents from there who post here.

Ok, Yaah called me out, so I will respond.
I think the "teaching was not much of a priority" is an inacurate outdated statement. As with every insitution there are some people who love ot teach and others who are not very good at it. CCF has some excellent teachers! Their volume is large but not un-workable. You will learn how to gross, which as LADoc will tell you is an important skill set. (either you will be at a private practice where you might need to gross, or you will be academic and might need to teach residents how to gross.) Thier Heme/Lymphoma (the AP parts of CP) are VERY strong. As a resident you will more heme-exposure than some people do in their fellowships.
Turn arround time is a priority there, but there are continued efforts to increase previewing time. And you get two months of training on AP, we don't just toss you into the gross room and expect you to cut.
The residents there are quite friendly as are the staff.
There are a few current residents who hang out on this board, but I am more than happy to answer any PMs about CCF (actually they just renamed the hospital Cleveland Clinic (dropping the foundation part of the name brand), but CC doesn't work as an abreviation.. so CCF))

 

[beary]

I'll also definitely check out Michigan. Beary, what is the cost of living like? Are most of the residents buying or renting?

The cost of living is higher than some of the other places you mentioned. I went to med school at Iowa and housing is about twice as expensive here as there. But it's still not nearly as bad as NYC, SF, etc.

It seems to be a mix of buying and renting, at least in my class.

 

[CameronFrye]

The cost of living is higher than some of the other places you mentioned. I went to med school at Iowa and housing is about twice as expensive here as there. But it's still not nearly as bad as NYC, SF, etc.

It seems to be a mix of buying and renting, at least in my class.

Michigan is expensive for the midwest, but it's cheap compared to most other places.

Cougarblue, since you're coming from Charlottesville, you won't have any issues with the cost of living. Buying is much cheaper than Cville (where the avg home now runs around 300 grand), and rentals seemed to run about the same.

 

[Cougarblue]

Thanks for the info Beary and Cameron. Charlottesville has become ridiculous in terms of housing costs. It is amazing how fast homes have increased in value. We have several friends who purchased townhomes 4-5 years ago for less than $100,000 who are now selling them for $170,000-$220,000. 😱 At times I am kicking myself for not buying.

Fortunately, there are some fairly affordable options. The University owns graduate/family housing, which while definitely not on the superb side, is adequate, relatively inexpensive, and close (around a mile with bus service from 6am-8pm) to the medical center.