What are my chances????

[Enigma90]

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what are my chances of making carrier in forensic medicine as a forensic pathologist?

 

[deleted314957]

i think it is safe to say that it is the most "in demand" field of pathology. if you find you are absolutely certain that you want FP them do an AP residency only followed by an FP fellowship. If you are anything other than CERTAIN you want to do FP then I would strongly encourage you to do an AP/CP residency to keep all options open. I am boarded in FP but have not done it to any extent for a very long time. It is a very interesting field and you can make a comfortable living.

 

[mlw03]

Well, first it's career. Poking bit of fun, but fluent English more important in FP than other areas in path. Second, agree with what mike said.

 

[KCShaw]

One's "chances" depend on a lot of things. For someone who is currently a medical student, it depends on graduating, doing well enough on Step I to get into a pathology residency, doing well enough in residency to pass at least AP boards and secure a forensic pathology fellowship, doing well enough in fellowship to pass the FP boards, and being personable enough and able to communicate well enough to do all of those things while working well with others. As mikesheree also notes, you need to be sure it's really something you want to do, which you can really only do by getting some experience in a ME/coroner office -- not stopping by for a few hours one day, but spending all day every day for a month or so. Even that only gives you a taste, but it's about as good as one can reasonably expect to achieve.

Technically, you don't -have- to be boarded unless the employer or local statute demands it, however only a few jobs are available for those who are not, and those tend to not be the "best" of jobs, usually because of salary &/or working conditions.

The job market is pretty decent in that there always seem to be decent posted jobs available (and certainly more that are never widely publicized), but the salary range isn't great (starts reasonably well these days, but the ceiling is somewhat low) and the jobs tend to be very widely scattered -- you can't usually pick a city and then expect find a job specifically there, but if you're willing to move then there are certainly options. And by the nature of the business, many jobs are centered around a reasonably large population center... although some offices may cover a large but sparsely populated land area and therefore be centered more rurally. So there's usually something for everyone.

 

[Ycut]

Can residency training and experience in forensic medicine outside the US be considered helpful here ?

 

[mlw03]

Nope.

 

[lipomas]

Shouldn't your career be in forensic medicine if you do a forensic fellowship? If you are a forensic pathologist who doesn't do forensic medicine, you aren't a forensic pathologist. You're a pathologist who happens to have done a fellowship in forensic pathology.

But based on the grammar and constructioin of the original post, I would say your chances are essentially less than 10% of having a successful career in the US.

 

[KCShaw]

Relevant training and experience outside the U.S. can be "helpful", but it can be difficult to have that training formally recognized in a way that would mean you didn't have to repeat some or all of it with a U.S. accredited institution. Depending on what it was, it can "help" as far as showing that you kinda know what you're getting into much as an elective might. However, some countries do things very differently from the U.S. -- that may be the legal system or the medical system or something else. Depends on what kind of training and experience we're really talking about.

Forensic "medicine" sometimes implies that you're working with living patients, though the definition isn't strictly so. Very, very few forensic pathologists or FP training programs in the U.S. work directly and regularly/systematically with living patients/trauma survivors, though most probably get sporadic calls and questions from time to time from law enforcement or attorneys. This role is largely filled by other medical staff, forensic nurses, or, frankly, the survivor's personal statements without medical corroboration; unfortunately very few clinical personnel have a lot of formal training in this, even though the expectations are high particularly for pediatricians and certain pediatric specialists. In some other countries, however, it is a regular part of their routine, with what amounts to an outpatient clinic for performing exams and documenting injuries on survivors/alleged victims on behalf of law enforcement/government.

 

[Ycut]

Relevant training and experience outside the U.S. can be "helpful", but it can be difficult to have that training formally recognized in a way that would mean you didn't have to repeat some or all of it with a U.S. accredited institution. Depending on what it was, it can "help" as far as showing that you kinda know what you're getting into much as an elective might. However, some countries do things very differently from the U.S. -- that may be the legal system or the medical system or something else. Depends on what kind of training and experience we're really talking about.

Forensic "medicine" sometimes implies that you're working with living patients, though the definition isn't strictly so. Very, very few forensic pathologists or FP training programs in the U.S. work directly and regularly/systematically with living patients/trauma survivors, though most probably get sporadic calls and questions from time to time from law enforcement or attorneys. This role is largely filled by other medical staff, forensic nurses, or, frankly, the survivor's personal statements without medical corroboration; unfortunately very few clinical personnel have a lot of formal training in this, even though the expectations are high particularly for pediatricians and certain pediatric specialists. In some other countries, however, it is a regular part of their routine, with what amounts to an outpatient clinic for performing exams and documenting injuries on survivors/alleged victims on behalf of law enforcement/government.

Thanks a lot