Pediatric Pathology and Private Practice

[tonkatruck]

Is it possible to do a fellowship in Peds Path after a Pediatric residency?

You can do a Derm Path Fellowship after Dermatology, so I assume you can do the same after Pediatrics, because why would a Derm residency prepare someone to look at slides any more than a peds residency?

Also what can a pediatric pathologist make in private practice? I know Path people in private practice make from 300-400, so I figure it must be a lot higher for Private Pactrice Pediatric Pathologist.

Lastly, do you have to do Peds Autopsy if you are a Private Practice Pediatric Pathologist, because that would be disgusting.

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[Homunculus]

i'll try moving it to the pathology forum and see if you get any more replies there.

 

[DermpathDO]

Tonk,
the difference between derm and Peds is that Dermatology residents actually get dermapth training from Day 1 of their residency. Theya re required to read slides on cases they have done biopsies on. Some derms actually read thier own biopsies after they go into private practice.
If a peds has ever doen a path rotation during thier residency, I have never seen one and I am a pathologist in a university medical center.
So the answer to your question is NO.....If you want to go into peds path you will have to go thru at least 2 years of anatomic pathology rotation. Of course if you have actually done some peds residency...well it won't hurt you...that's for sure.

 

[GreatPumpkin]

Neurology residents can go into neuropath fellowship too.

 

[Doctor B.]

If you do peds path, you will have to do peds autopsies. In reality, they aren't that disgusting but they are often more emotional than adult cases (for me).

 

[GreatPumpkin]

Agree with BCMD on that. They also take me at least twice as long as an adult autopsy.

 

[Stinger86]

Bump back from the dead.


I just found out that there's only one pediatric pathologist at our big children's hospital, and many attendings told me to consider doing that because the demand in the area is high and the supply is low.

What do you guys think? Is peds path a decent specialty? What kind of work do they usually do, salary/compensation, hours worked, etc. I know a lot of this depends on supply/demand like mentioned above, but honestly I haven't heard ANYONE really talk about this path specialty, and I'd like to know a little more if possible.

Help a brother out

 

[LADoc00]

.

What do you guys think? Is peds path a decent specialty?

Peds path is as a field is absurd. The thought of a pediatrician doing ALL of peds path in a 1 year fellowship is like saying they could master peds hands surgery as just a fellowship too. Peds path has pretty much NO value in private practice. Once is a blue moon, with Haley's comet flying through the sky and Bill Clinton actually sticking to his diet, a very large group will go looking for a peds pathologist. Usually they are disappointed as the fellowship entails idiotic minutae of neuroblastoma grading and peds autopsies, both HUGELY in demand (sarcasm for those who dont know me). I would make fun of peds path more but they usually do such a fantastic job on their own, I will restrain myself. For Peds path, think court jester, big academic centers (and I mean BIG children's hospitals) will have a FEW to entertain clinicians at tumor boards. Thats it. I wouldve done the fellowship myself but figured sitting around drunk on the beach in Mexico would be a better use of my time.

 

[desmangt]

Peds path is as a field is absurd. The thought of a pediatrician doing ALL of peds path in a 1 year fellowship is like saying they could master peds hands surgery as just a fellowship too. Peds path has pretty much NO value in private practice. Once is a blue moon, with Haley's comet flying through the sky and Bill Clinton actually sticking to his diet, a very large group will go looking for a peds pathologist. Usually they are disappointed as the fellowship entails idiotic minutae of neuroblastoma grading and peds autopsies, both HUGELY in demand (sarcasm for those who dont know me). I would make fun of peds path more but they usually do such a fantastic job on their own, I will restrain myself. For Peds path, think court jester, big academic centers (and I mean BIG children's hospitals) will have a FEW to entertain clinicians at tumor boards. Thats it. I wouldve done the fellowship myself but figured sitting around drunk on the beach in Mexico would be a better use of my time.

I'm sure Lotte Strauss is rolling over in her grave as we speak!

 

[QuietSylph]

I knew a guy who had done peds path for a long time (10-15 years) but decided to switch gears and do a fellowship in dermpath. While he was in peds path, he worked for a large children's hospital, said he enjoyed it quite a bit at first but that the work was pretty repetitive and limited to a narrow range of diseases, ultimately leaving him bored. He felt that adult pathology had a much wider range and was therefore more stimulating.

 

[yaah]

There are, per a resident at my program who is interested, only about 20-25 pedes path fellowship programs around the country. And apparently, less than half of those actually filled last year. Thus, if you are interested, it shouldn't be hard to get (provided of course that you are a motivated resident because they would probably rather leave it unfilled than take a slacker).

Also, there is somewhat of a demand (in academia, at least) for pedes path trained pathologists. However, often they end up doing pedes path as only part of their job (they double as surg path for adults, or whatever). There are occasional private practice positions, as LADoc said, but it is largely an academic position. And if you spend any time in pathology, you will realize that pedes path specimens are fairly uncommon, and most are routine sorts of things that any pathologist can handle (benign soft tissue lesions, congenital malformations, etc). There are LOTS of bizarre tumors and diseases that you would maybe see once in a career, if you are lucky, in a standard practice.

In terms of the original question though, getting a pedes path fellowship generally requires a full pathology residency. If you do pediatrics in addition, so be it, but you are still going to have to do a complete path residency.

 

[desmangt]

There are, per a resident at my program who is interested, only about 20-25 pedes path fellowship programs around the country. And apparently, less than half of those actually filled last year. Thus, if you are interested, it shouldn't be hard to get (provided of course that you are a motivated resident because they would probably rather leave it unfilled than take a slacker).

Also, there is somewhat of a demand (in academia, at least) for pedes path trained pathologists. However, often they end up doing pedes path as only part of their job (they double as surg path for adults, or whatever). There are occasional private practice positions, as LADoc said, but it is largely an academic position. And if you spend any time in pathology, you will realize that pedes path specimens are fairly uncommon, and most are routine sorts of things that any pathologist can handle (benign soft tissue lesions, congenital malformations, etc). There are LOTS of bizarre tumors and diseases that you would maybe see once in a career, if you are lucky, in a standard practice.

In terms of the original question though, getting a pedes path fellowship generally requires a full pathology residency. If you do pediatrics in addition, so be it, but you are still going to have to do a complete path residency.

Peds pathology in major Children's Hospitals like CHOP, Boston, Columbia, Cincinnati, etc. tend to be heavily research based. I did a rotation in Peds path my 4th year of med school, and every clinician was knocking on the fellow's door for research projects. The field is very small and I think the big payoff is collaborating with the clinicians. This is academic though, but certain budding fields in basic science are very Peds restricted at this point (ex. Genetics). Also Peds is heavily founded on embryology, which is also close to major basic science efforts nowadays. On another note, Peds pathologists do placental pathology, which can add up to quite a large number of specimens. However, GYN can also cover this specialty, and I don't know what the reimbursement is for placentas either. Well, that's my two cents!