switching to pathology

[Dermpather]

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Hey all. I'm currently a surgical intern at a mid-size university-based program in the south that has finally made the decision to switch to pathology for residency after much contemplation, soul-searching and further researching the field.

I was wondering if there are any path residents out there who switched from other specialties who might be willing to give me some advice on how to "transfer" into a path residency. I'm hoping to either switch in to a program either this January (mid-cycle) or this July (regular cycle). Would I need to complete the whole ERAS application process again, or am I able to just contact program directors directly, explain them my situation, and forward them my CV? All of this is a little overwhelming right now, especially since the formal application cycle is already underway, and pathology has gotten much more competitive over the last few years. Any help would be appreciated.

Also, if there are any other residents looking to switch into pathology this year, any advice that you might have to offer as you're going through the process would be welcome as well.

Please feel free to respond to this post, or private message me if you'd like. Thanks everybody.

Good luck to all of you who are applying this year Pathology is an awesome field! I wish I would have discovered it much sooner during medical school. It's unfortunately that I finally found the perfect medical specialty for me right in the middle of my surgical intern year 😕

 

[mlw03]

i know this topic has been discussed before. try to do some searches and see what you can find.

while you don't technically have to go through the match, you'll likely have to. and if you want to start next july, time to get moving. i wouldn't count on entering mid-cycle. every schedule i've ever seen is set around the academic medical calendar. you could try to find the list of unmatched programs from last year and see if any of them have spots that may be willing to take you in mid-cycle.

 

[PathJet]

The ACGME website has a list of residency programs

you will proably have to contact them indvidually. if your CV is up to date (and you are proud of it )you can go ahead and forward them your CV


but mlw is correct and saying that you will likely have to go through ERAS--if they want to take you outside of the match the rules are less stringent as far as the NRMP goes and they may decide to take you but the rules vary by institution as to what they will and will not do

it is extremely rare to except transfers off cycle-only in special circumstances and in fact it may work against you that you would want to--when you are switching fields you should be serious about it --like participate or watch autopsies at your current instituion, look at the slides on your surgical patients and get to know your pathologists , visit the lab and lab director often and learn about the lab infrastrucutre etc consider joining some pathology organizations now, etc

i participated in candidate selection last year and the applicant pool has improved steadily over the past few years--

your experience will benefit you greatly if you ultimately decide to seek pathology as a profession-so you need to make the commiment to finish out this year well and with everyone liking you and happy to work with you etc so i would immerse yourself in getting the most out of this clinical year becuase pathologists benefit from their partners with clinical experience

and becuase ultimately a good letter of recommendation (sp?) can trump a lot of other mediocre scores

 

[yaah]

Yeah, I think mid-cycle action is becoming less and less common. It was more common when the field was less competitive and the five year requirement was in existence.

Since you are not required to go through the match, it might be beneficial to contact programs you are interested in, because they may work with you on it if you are a candidate they like. They may also tell you to apply through the match, in which case you had better get going.