Pathology, is it worth it?

[Joseph Ransohof]

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I am an carib med student. I am thinking of going into IM, Neuro, Surg or path. I need someone in the field of pathology to explain to me what pathology residency is all about. I encourage people to tell me if path is a good field to go into. ? I am a neuro head , so I would most likely go into neuropath if I go into path but I do love neurology and neurosurg.

 

[mlw03]

This is not the place for someone to "sell" path to you. If you like it, do it. If not, do something else. As to whether or not it's a good field to go into, use the search feature. The job market and business climate are frequent topics of discussion on here.

 

[Pathguy11]

You may want to search the internet and even this forum for your question first. It has been covered in much depth on other posts regarding the various specialties of Pathology. Next I would recommend you set up an elective at your medical school to get a practical look at some areas of Pathology. Talk to the residents or faculty in Pathology. They could probably give you a better understanding that what you will find on this forum.

Pathguy11

 

[Joseph Ransohof]

You may want to search the internet and even this forum for your question first. It has been covered in much depth on other posts regarding the various specialties of Pathology. Next I would recommend you set up an elective at your medical school to get a practical look at some areas of Pathology. Talk to the residents or faculty in Pathology. They could probably give you a better understanding that what you will find on this forum.

Pathguy11

Thank you Pathguy11.

 

[Torsed]

I hear Dr. Kamani Lankachandra, the PD at UMKC is very good at dealing with residents, may want to give her a call.

 

[gbwillner]

I hear Dr. Kamani Lankachandra, the PD at UMKC is very good at dealing with residents, may want to give her a call.

LOL

 

[KCShaw]

I definitely recommend doing a rotation or otherwise getting some regular direct experience in the day-to-day practice of pathology -- words will only explain so far. Most practicing clinicians don't seem to really understand what a pathologist does or how they do it, to include most medical school instructors/professors, though the decent oncologists & oncologic surgeons have an idea. I also agree with the notion of reading around and perhaps coming back with more specific questions.

Every residency experience is different, the bare basics being that most people do combined AP/CP training over 4 years, often followed by at least 1 year of subspecialty fellowship training. Most practicing pathologists are surgical pathologists whose primary responsibility is to render a diagnostic opinion based largely on histologic slide evaluation. Neuropathology is certainly a viable subspecialty, but is also more of a niche subspecialty -- not every hospital has neurosurgery, and the volume of specimens isn't exactly huge, which means there's fewer jobs solely in neuropath...but there's also fewer pathologists who feel comfortable regularly signing it out without a fellowship trained neuropath around for support.

 

[deleted314957]

If you are a caribbean med student you will have a very difficult time matching into much other than family practice. neurosurgery will be completely out of the question.

 

[JKpathMD]

If you are a caribbean med student you will have a very difficult time matching into much other than family practice. neurosurgery will be completely out of the question.

Not even remotely true.....Hope you don't listen to this guy, Joseph

 

[Brett Snodgrass]

www.mekentosj.com/papers

 

[Joseph Ransohof]

If you are a caribbean med student you will have a very difficult time matching into much other than family practice. neurosurgery will be completely out of the question.

I have heard it all before. Seen the stats. Done the homework.

 

[williamsaddison]

If you want to know about pathology residency then you can search on Internet. There are lots of websites of particular pathology courses that provide in-depth knowledge of pathology residency. Also it is your decision you want to go in path or not, but pathology is very good and interesting field.

 

[NuckingFuts]

I am an carib med student. I am thinking of going into IM, Neuro, Surg or path. I need someone in the field of pathology to explain to me what pathology residency is all about. I encourage people to tell me if path is a good field to go into. ? I am a neuro head , so I would most likely go into neuropath if I go into path but I do love neurology and neurosurg.

Your IMG status will certainly make neurosurgery difficult (but not entirely impossible) to attain.

If you really like direct patient care, forget about path.

You say you're a "neuro head" - so apply far and wide to neuro.

Lastly, as pathguy advises, get out and speak with real people. The problem with this forum is that any bozo can feed you utter bullsh@! under the veil of anonymity.

Best of luck.

 

[KluverB]