Please help me become a pathologist!!!

[His Fuzziness]

Hiya!

First time blogger, long term reader. Shout out to all who post, Yaah and aprogdirector in particular; you are the best resource out there.

So I want to scramble into path and could use your insight.

A little bit about my background. I went to a US Medical School and got superior grades and did Great on all my boards (think Tony the Tiger Great). Good thing too because I lacked any research or extracurricular activities.

In 2nd year, I enjoyed histology finding it a fun challenge. Can't say the same for cadaver dissections thought. Sadly, going into pathology just never really crossed my mind. I guess when I decided to be a doctor, I had the idea of a clinical doctor in mind. I was so wrong (shudder).

I graduated near the top of my class, did a medicine prelim year and then went into a Top Tier Anesthesia program. Even though Anesthesia was fun, it slowly started dawning on me (after a year in the program) that maybe it wasn't the right choice. Being put on probation due to poor non technical skills (situational awareness, multitasking etc) was a big tip off. Although I don't like the way my program handled the situation, I do have to agree with their assessment that anesthesia just isn't the right fit for me.my intelligence and hard work could probably get me by but I would struggle in an intense, helter skelter situation.

My curious intelligence, hard work and intense concentration would be put to much better use in an environment where a score things weren't happening at the same time. A calm and cerebral milieu where an ability to hyperfocus is advantageous and not detrimental. Check out personalitypage.com/portraits.html and amazon.com/Please-Understand-Temperament-Character-Intelligence/dp/1885705026. I am a rational thinker (INTP) on the Myers-Briggs personality test. No a test did not tell me to do pathology but the book helped me understand myself more thoroughly and helped me understand other people. I want to go into pathology

So it's time to scramble. I had a very competitive application for Anesthesia in 2006 interviewing at places like Johns Hopkins, Brigham's, Mayo, Stanford, UCSF et al, but that was for anesthesia. This will be tougher:

1) How can I explain never having taken a pathology rotation?
2) How can I get by without any LORs from pathologist?
3) Will they want to talk to my current program director to elucidate why why my contract was not renewed?
4) Do I need to volunteer the fact that my contract was not renewed?
5) Is the personal statement as important during the scramble as during the regular match?
6) Dean's letter? Where can I get that from now that I'm two and a half years out of med school?
7) Do I have to answer those stupid short questions on ERAS if I just plan on scrambling?
8) I've been told that my inability to multitask well might be explained by mild ADD. Should I try to use this as an explanation or hide it at all costs?

HELP!!!!!!!!

I plan on keeping my eye on Residentswap.com in the event that a PGY-1 slot opened up; I would rather start now than in July. What do you think about emailing pathology programs en masse, flash my board scores and tell them that I'm interested in any unexpected vacancies? I have yet to register for ERAS or NRMP so this shouldn't be illegal.

Lastly, anybody have any experience with electronicresidency.com for the scramble?

Thanks in advance for all your help.

Fuzzy Wuzzy

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[iphoner]

My deepest sympathy

 

[yaah]

I would say you need some pathology experience. Whether that involves taking a year off to do research or just doing some rotations with your elective time is unclear. But I doubt too many programs (good programs, anyway) are going to seriously consider your application if no pathologist has endorsed it or if you have no real experience in pathology other than med school classes.

I think anytime you leave a residency program to start another one this has to be explained and people will ask why. It is best to be transparent and honest about it. Hiding things will often backfire and create much more trouble. Most program directors realize that people change their minds about their career or have made mistakes, and they will give you a second chance if you are honest and sincere and want to be there.

In my experience, the people who do best at changing specialties after starting residency in a different field make contacts with the other specialty's program director. This is often all that is required, because the PD realizes you are a good candidate and will consider you for a spot. But this is highly dependent on the specific program and is variable.

If I were you I would find a pathology program director (either at your medical school or at the place where you did anesthesia) and ask to meet with him/her to discuss your options and get their recommendations. It is next to impossible to do this on the internet because there are too many variables.

You can always get med school transcripts, deans letters, etc. I had to get these for fellowship applications and some people have to get them for post-residency jobs.

The truth is no one is going to just hand you a pathology residency spot. You are someone who went into a different specialty, was booted from your residency program, and have no pathology experience. Despite good board scores and grades, the recent history of your application raises many red flags (program directors will want to know whether it was for insubordination, unethical behavior, things like that, or it was simply due to lack of fit). The fact that you had previous success may be more likely to get them to take a chance on you, however. But you have to demonstrate that you will actually be a good choice for them and aren't going to bail on them once you find out you don't like pathology after all.

 

[Pathwrath]

I knew a guy who failed as a family doc and decided to go into pathology. He asked to be allowed to "rotate" through a pathology department for several months, attending lectures and signouts. He really applied himself and impressed the faculty with his knowledge and determination. He ended up getting a residency position. It can be done!

One concern I have about your post is your problems with "situational awareness" and "multitasking". Pathology has a reputation for attracting misfits with poor social skills, but I think the stereotype is a bit overblown. Most oncologists make pathologists look sexy and charismatic in comparison. As for stress, this is still medicine, unlike dermatology. You will be making serious decisions, often off the cuff, and you will be making them daily. Make sure your problem is with the working environment and not medicine itself.

 

[trent05]

I think you really need to do an elective/observership at a nearby pathology residency program. Even a week or two will help your application. More importantly it will expose you to the field. From your post it seems that you have no experience in pathology what so ever. If this is true you need to get out there and spend some time in a path department. See some autopsies, spend some time in the gross room and on long signout sessions at the scope. Get a feel for what path is all about. You need to be sure that path is what you really want to do.

What about psych? You mention personality tests and such. You also site your lack of technical skills as a reason for switching to path. Psych wouldn't require these skills. Gas turned out to be a bad fit for you, so just make sure path isn't an even worse fit.

 

[2121115]

I agree with the above posters. It might be tough to find a good fit in pathology. You should get some experience in a path department and make sure that it is a good fit. I also agree that you should explore Psych as it seems like it would be a good fit (moreso than path actually) based on your description of what you are looking for. It might also be a good idea to explore MBA programs, as I'm sure you could get into a top MBA school. You've still got some good options here.

 

[Dral]

What about psych? You mention personality tests and such. You also site your lack of technical skills as a reason for switching to path. Psych wouldn't require these skills. Gas turned out to be a bad fit for you, so just make sure path isn't an even worse fit.

Just to clarify, I think the OP only mentioned non-technical skills as the problem. Unless I missed something, I guess we are to assume that applied skills were ok and not the cause.

But duly noted that based on other things the OP stated, Psych is a choice as well since it appears to be a 'calmer' field relative to anesthesia.

 

[trent05]

Just to clarify, I think the OP only mentioned non-technical skills as the problem. Unless I missed something, I guess we are to assume that applied skills were ok and not the cause.

But duly noted that based on other things the OP stated, Psych is a choice as well since it appears to be a 'calmer' field relative to anesthesia.

You're correct. I initially just assumed the OP had problems with "technical" skills such as intubation, starting lines etc.