Pathology interview

[maminr]

Hi to all. I am going to have an interview for a Pathology job here in UK. I know everyone has his/her own different backgrounds and reasons to choose pathology but may I ask if anyone there would like to share some of the ideas about a very commonly asked question, below.
Why do you like Pathology? Why not clinical medicine?

I have some expereince in Int. Medicine but I want to go into Pathology. Its not that I hated Medicine but I didnt like all that hastle, runnning around and worrying about all the time.......the xray of that patient, that high calcium, this abnormal ECG etc etc. kinda thing. I like Pathology for its objectiveness, good life style, more opportunities for research and teaching etc.

I just want some ideas about how to phrase all this in a better way.

Hope to get some good response.

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[yaah]

I don't know. I think everyone has to figure out the answer for themselves. Everyone will be able to tell if you give a canned answer. From advice I have heard over the years, it is always better to come at things from a positive angle. Thus, "I like pathology because of..." and not "I don't like clinical medicine because..." It's almost better to say the things you like about clinical medicine, like the problem solving, mental reasoning, working on a team, etc, and then saying how this relates to pathology.

I almost feel like I give a different answer to that question whenever I am asked, because there are lots of things I like about the field. Generally, my answers have common themes like being able to see things at their fundamental level, studying disease in detail. You are also allowed to focus on the disease and solving problems without having to worry about the many other tasks of clinical medicine that slow you down or get in the way. Medicine often doesn't give you the time to focus on the things that you enjoy the most in a career.

You have to like clinical medicine somewhat to be a pathologist, and to be a good pathologist you have to understand it, because ultimately what you are doing is providing a service to clinicians, either a diagnosis or an interpretation, and if you understand what they are looking for and what their considerations are you are already ahead of the game.

 

[Doctor B.]

Maminr, I've written something that goes into why I chose path. You can read it online at http://choosepath.blogspot.com/ . Looking back after 2 years of residency, I don't regret my decision at all. I'm thankful that I found pathology because it's a great field full of challenge and it fits my personality the best. I agree with yaah, you should choose path because you like it, not because you don't like clinical medicine. But I will say that every time I hear residents in clinical fields discussing patients, long nights of call, etc, I thank the powers that be that I found pathology.

 

[maminr]

Thanks alot yaah and BCMD for your views and advices. It was helpful indeed. I am still in the process of struggling for a post in Pathology here. Hopefully soon I will be successful.