Would pathology possibly be a good choice for me? Please respond...

[JTubule1386]

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Hey, I just got accepted into med school and I am considering pathology as a field of interest. I know it may be too early, but this is what I am interested is as of now, though I still have an opened mind about it. I have a few questions I was hoping some of you could answer.

I am a very independent worker and I like to work alone. I wouldn't say that I am not a people person, because I do enjoy working with and being around people sometimes. It's just more often then not I prefer to work alone. I like to "organize" my work in a way that I will feel comfortable with it. When I decided to go into medicine, I knew I wanted to be deeply involved with the lab. So this is one of the main reasons why I'm considering pathology. Does this description imply that I would be happy in this field?

Also, I am a female, and I would like to have children one day. However, I do not want my children to think of me as the lady who comes by more often than others. I do not want to have children if I cannot play a significant part in raising them. Is this field family friendly? I know I won't be able to have as much family time as I would like, but that's with any career. Will I be able to raise children and spend a significant amount of time with them?

A few other questions...
What USMLE scores are considered competitive for this residency?
Would it be too hard to start having kids during residency or should I wait until after?
How unpredictable is your schedule and how much control do you have over making your schedule?

Might think of some more questions later, but if you could please answer these I would appreciate it.😳

 

[Psychopathology]

Well, congratulations on your acceptance!

Team work is very important in pathology. You'll be coordinating your efforts with those of various labs and departments and constantly be engaging colleagues in other medical subspecialties that rely on you for results.

Despite what you've heard, there's no hiding from people, even in pathology. However, pathology residents may spend more of their time "alone" while grossing specimens and previewing cases than do their colleagues who spend greater than half of their days in the OR or rounding. Nevertheless, there will be constant dialogues with clinicians, you will be paged constantly, and you will work in close proximity to people with a variety of personalities. What you're saying about organizing your work the way you want to and working independently may be more applicable to path than other specialties, so you should definitely give path some thought.

I am less familiar with the world of research, but I know pathologists who do research full-time.

Pursue your interest in pathology but keep an open mind. I never thought that I would become a pathologist when I interviewed for medical school. Here I am, a few years later, applying for pathology. You never know where your interests will take you.

I think the answers to all three of your questions vary tremendously with each program and are constant subjects of debate on this forum. I'll leave it to people with more experience than I have to touch on them.

 

[JTubule1386]

Thanks for replying. No one else seems to want to answer...lol. I think I can handle working with the clinicians and other people in the hospital. I was just worried about having to see patients all day, although, I might actually like it once I get more experience with it. I actually look forward to 3rd and 4th year because of the patient contact. I don't mind seeing patients. Once I actually start working, I just want to be able to kinda guage the types of people and settings I will be working in. But, with that being said, it would be funny if I end up in the ER. I took the medical apptitude test and pathology was ranked number 2. Radiology was number 1 but they had the same score of 42. I've been considering Path way before I took this test though. Anyone know how accurate these things are? Anyone else care to try and answer my other questions?

 

[LADoc00]

Pathology is awesome for women IMO hence why so many are flooding residencies.

 

[Psychopathology]

Those tests are pure BS. Get as much exposure as you can to the various fields that interest you. Don't be one of these dweebs applying to path without having started your first path elective (yeah, I called them dweebs, what? what?). You're just starting out so keep an open mind and start meeting pathologists, radiologists, ophthalmologists, dermatologists, hematologists, etc until you have a good idea about what your options entail. Your exposure to subspecialties may be fairly limited during third year depending on where you go to school. So start looking early! You may be surprised by what you enjoy. You may find that you really enjoy patient contact. Even people who are shy, modest, or generally not talkative often manage to do well around patients. Compassion is more important. You'll find varying degrees of that in the hospital. Also, not everyone in IM or EM or psych or peds is a "people person." You'll find varying degrees of charisma and extroversion in every field as well. The stereotype of the pathologist sitting alone in the dark all day long is a little trite. You're not in a bubble and you'll have plenty of interaction daily. It's also not fair to assume that a pathology residency is a small time investment. No overnight call is a plus, but I'd hardly base a career decision on that. It's tough like every other field of medicine and you got to love it or you'll drive yourself crazy trying to learn it!

 

[docbiohazard]

Most people that I started med school with totally changed their minds between first year and graduation... so just keep an open mind and see what interests you.

best of luck,
DBH

 

[Arctic Char]

Most people that I started med school with totally changed their minds between first year and graduation... so just keep an open mind and see what interests you.

best of luck,
DBH

yeah, hell, the only thing i knew FOR SURE when i started med school was that i did NOT want to be a pathologist . . . go figure. now i can't get enough of it

good luck, and congrats. its going to be a fun 4 years for you 😉

 

[MirkoCrocop]

path sounds perfect for you actuallly

 

[path28]

Just to speak to some of your family-friendly questions - path can definitely be family-friendly. Residency programs of course vary so if you do have kids by the time you do residency you can certainly look at programs that have more reasonable hours/call schedules (without sacrificing education) and less scut. I have 2 kids and am a resident and have felt like I have been able to maintain reasonable balance. Of course this does mean I have no hobbies outside of spending time with my kids and once they're in bed I study like mad. But I love path so for me life is good. =)

As for having kids during residency - there are a lot of women who have done it in my program and have managed. Programs can vary a lot in terms of what they'll allow for maternity leave so if that's something you are thinking about I would check that out (some will let you take as much as 6 months, of course most of that is unpaid). I personally took time off between med school and residency to have a kid so if you can financially swing it and want more time at home with an infant that's an option.

Once you're done with residency you should have a lot of options - I know of many pathologists who have part-time gigs so they can have time to balance work and family responsibilities - some are in private practice groups, others work for lab companies. So of course pay is lower if you are part-time but the perk is you aren't pulled in too many directions at once.

Anyhow path is great, and it sounds like your personality would be a good fit!

 

[docbiohazard]

yeah, hell, the only thing i knew FOR SURE when i started med school was that i did NOT want to be a pathologist . . . go figure. now i can't get enough of it

Funny you should mention that... I remember one of my early MD/PhD annual reviews, they asked me what clinical fields I was interested in, and my comment was something like "Well, I don't know... but definitely not Pathology..." Of course, I had no idea what they really did.

DBH

 

[pathstudent]

path is also very good for moms that have kids in residency. There is no overnight call, coverage is usually ample when unexpected things pop up, and "blow-off" rotations (ones that don't require resident involvement to function) can be scheduled so that you can have have extra unofficial maternity leave but still get ACGME/ABP credit.

I think part-time careers are abundant, but I think they are even more abundant and easier to work in Gas, ER, Peds, and FP, and maybe others.

One of the best kept secrets is probably Gas as my friend got hired in a big west coast city at 420K right out of residency with hourly overtime for over 40 hours a week. She now alternates working 2 days a week and 3 days a week and still pulls over 200K with no call and she can switch her days with other people with no problem. That seems like a perfect situation for a mom if you also want good pay and flexibility but you got to like passing gas to do it.

Women that I know who do Peds have whatever schedule they want, but I bet they don't make more than 70K working part time.

 

[JTubule1386]

Thanks, I appreciate all the info and suggestions. I will keep an open mind about all the info you've given. Again, thanks. I'm so excited to start school, but I bet that's probably going to start to turn into stress after the first week or so. But hey, I gotta go through it. 🙂