I doubt you would be asked the question why chose to do AP/CP, most CP folks know perfectly well why people do both. You would likely get funny questions if you were trying to do only CP. The best answer if nothing else is to just keep your options open, you never know what part of path you will really fall in love with. I didn't think I would enjoy blood bank, but I really did.
CP in general:
Micro, chem, immuno- mostly the pathologist is a manager, handles problems that the techs can't answer, attends meetings on quality control, approves new proceedures, some tests require interpretation but not many. Very laid back, comfortable days, great rotations if you like to read and keep yourself busy.
Heme path- More like a surgical path rotation than CP, you perform and interpret bone marrow biopsies, review blood smears that the techs screen and flag for problems, oversee the heme/coag parts of the lab and possibly flow cytometry as well.
Busy service, but in most places the path residents don't do bone marrows, lots of patient contact.
Blood Bank- Manage the blood bank, consulted on antibody reactions and transfusion reactions. In times of shortages the docs have to decide who gets what. Apheresis is overseen by the pathologists. Some of these patients are very sick and require close attention. We are not currently required to be ACLS certified but are pushing to have that changed just because of this service. Also, a busy service, lots of patient contact.
Hope this helps some, let me know if have any other questions. I personally like CP rotations. I just like the huge variety of jobs that I do as a pathologist. I also like the management part of CP. It is nice to be part of the planning and organization of things verses just being the worker bee.
) choose AP/CP because of the job market and/or time frame or etc.I have not have any CP experience, so please tell us a little bit about CP in general and your own experience. Thank you for your time and help.
