Preparing before residency

[MyNameIsOtto]

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So...MS4 year is going to be pretty laid back. In what ways did you guys prepare during your free time in the last few months before starting residency? What book(s) would you recommend for AP and CP? Or, is it a complete waste of time?

Thanks.

 

[KeratinPearls]

So...MS4 year is going to be pretty laid back. In what ways did you guys prepare during your free time in the last few months before starting residency? What book(s) would you recommend for AP and CP? Or, is it a complete waste of time?

Thanks.

You can read Robbins and do the review questions. That should take most of your time. Have a solid base and build on it with Rosai in residency. For CP, I would just wait until residency.

 

[listeriaismfb]

You should read Robbins cover to cover, then do the same for Henry. If you still have time you can read Koneman too.🙂😛🙂

Kidding aside, if I were you I would chill, but if you are hell bent on doing something in preparation get yourself a Lester and read it. So much of what you will actually be doing first year is in that book. Learning what the special stains are and how the fixatives work is important too, and no pathology course I have ever been to teaches that stuff - it's in Lester.

Lester gives you an idea on how to cut things, but how stuff can be sectioned sometimes depends on attending preference. A word of warning though, don't ever get cocky in the gross room - there is no crime in asking for help. You will get your backside handed to you by the attendings if you jack up the specimens. Do it one time too many and they will make you CP only or force you out. I've seen this...

 

[Tiki]

Everyone told me not to prepare beforehand, that I'll learn it in residency, but I kind of wish I had reviewed some stuff from Robbins. I don't know if my fellow interns did or not, but I definitely feel like I have the worst pathology knowledge base out of my class. I'm sure I'll catch up by the end, but I still feel like I wasted a lot of time 4th year. I could have read a little and still had fun.

I disagree with reading Lester though. At least for me personally, reading about cutting a specimen (without actually having the specimen in front of me) does me no good. But that is just me.

 

[KeratinPearls]

Everyone told me not to prepare beforehand, that I'll learn it in residency, but I kind of wish I had reviewed some stuff from Robbins. I don't know if my fellow interns did or not, but I definitely feel like I have the worst pathology knowledge base out of my class. I'm sure I'll catch up by the end, but I still feel like I wasted a lot of time 4th year. I could have read a little and still had fun.

I disagree with reading Lester though. At least for me personally, reading about cutting a specimen (without actually having the specimen in front of me) does me no good. But that is just me.

I agree. You can read Lester all you want, but the key is to sit down and gross the specimens. You learn by doing.

 

[listeriaismfb]

If people want to disagree about the utility of Lester in preparation, it's just more proof that what works for one person may not work for another. Also, the frontmatter (special stains, fixatives, IHC) in Lester is very important stuff.

I would agree with the poster that said that you learn by doing.

I would also add that I learned the bulk of surgical/autopsy pathology from my cases, thus the utility of reading Robbins cover to cover in preparation for residency would have been limited for someone like me. The book stuff has to be in the context of casework in order for it to be meaningful for me.

As a newly minted diplomate I think that my style has served me well, and I would argue that the "what to read" bit (or for that matter what not to read bit) does not have a one size fits all answer.

 

[Tiki]

No one said anything about reading Robbins cover to cover, that is just crazy. But I agree, what works for one person won't work for another.

 

[LADoc00]

I have one revolutionary piece of advice I got from some guy far smarter than myself: take the Olser BEFORE you go to residency. 1 week, intensive. You have notes, you have images in your head. You have an rough skeletal outline to hang your training on.

That or the ASCP course. I slightly favor Osler because it is more intense.

 

[LADoc00]

I would agree with the poster that said that you learn by doing.

.

Yeah but the problem in this country is most residents are glorified secretaries. You cant really "do" in most programs before the fellow level.

Hence why path residency atm is such utter fail. (although lots of other reasons have dropped path training off at the Sea of Fail during the last 2 decades)...

 

[2121115]

Yeah but the problem in this country is most residents are glorified secretaries. You cant really "do" in most programs before the fellow level.

This is true and in my opinion the good programs are the ones that expect and/or let residents have the most autonomy early on. Think about it- residents in internal medicine do 3 years and are then out seeing patients and making big decisions for their care. In pathology you can't even get a decent job without doing 4 years of residency then at least one fellowship. Ever hear of an internal medicine resident saying they are going to do a general medicine fellowship or of a general surgery resident doing a general surgery fellowship? No. Why do you think that is?

 

[LADoc00]

Why do you think that is?

Why? Because pathology residency programs have utterly failed pathology trainees. Fairly simple to understand, for the most part they simply do not give a crap.

 

[2121115]

Why? Because pathology residency programs have utterly failed pathology trainees. Fairly simple to understand, for the most part they simply do not give a crap.

I think we're on the same page here... 'why' being a rhetorical question really. Pathology is the only specialty where doing a fellowship is virtually required (with exceptions such as Great Pumpkin) in order to get a job. I'm still waiting for radiology to start offering a "general radiology fellowship". Ha!

 

[Psychopathology]

I have one revolutionary piece of advice I got from some guy far smarter than myself: take the Olser BEFORE you go to residency.

Couldn't tell if you were being serious. Wouldn't the course go far beyond the scope of student knowledge? I listened to an excerpt and the speaker was clowning residents who were attending a year earlier than anticipated.

 

[yaah]

I'm not sure I would recommend a course before residency - these courses depend on a certain level of pathology knowledge. If you have very little, it's unlikely to help. They are geared towards studying for boards so potentially it could help you organize your time, but I dunno. It's kind of expensive. If it was free I might consider it. If you're going to take Osler I would take it later in residency. But that's just me.

And I'm smarter than LADoc00 😛