Your Eureka! Path moment or when you decided path was for you

[b&ierstiefel]

Things that go bump in the night.

dude, go to bed.

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[yaah]

dude, go to bed.

That smilie was for banana.

 

[b&ierstiefel]

That smilie was for banana.

ok. thanks for sharing.

 

[yaah]

I think this needs to be bumped also

 

[1Path]

2 years after this thread was started I'm STILL shooting for path and I'm STILL putting off matriculating into med school. The only thing that has changed is my "retirement" from cancer research and my renewed interest in microbiology/infectious disease pathology!!!

These days, class of 2008?

 

[caffeinegirl]

When was the moment that you knew it was Path? I guess for many people it was a gradual process, and was probably not a Eureka moment. But in hindsight, what was that one time where you experienced something that just made you say "WOW! This is cool!!!" and made you think about path?

For me, I think it was during my histology class in undergrad. Previosly I had learned in bio about how the body works..yadda yadda yadda. For example, the crude drawing of a nephron...with the glomerulus and tubules. Then, in histology I got to see a real nephron...the moment I saw that H&E stain of a glomerulus I was hooked. I remember thinking..so it actually looks like this! The relationship of structure and function was so sophisticated yet elegant it just totally amazed me. Plus, I never tire of seeing the beauty of H&E stains (I'm sure this novelty will pass the more slides I see)...but there's something to be said about the human body when you see it in that way....

okay, enough rambling...you must think i'm psychotic...but the pink and purple are just such pretty colors

I can't belive it's been almost two years! Crazy stuff! Well, it was nice to read this again, and I have to say that I *still* love the beauty of the H&E..even if it is the 1000th polyp of the day There's just so much to learn! and the beauty of disease, although morbid, is just fascinating!!

And, it's nice to also say that after the craziness of starting surg path, and it being almost a year since starting residency, I *still* love what I'm doing, and do walk around the halls many times with a goofy grin on my face, thinking about how lucky I am to do something that I love

 

[AngryTesticle]

I can't belive it's been almost two years! Crazy stuff! Well, it was nice to read this again, and I have to say that I *still* love the beauty of the H&E..even if it is the 1000th polyp of the day There's just so much to learn! and the beauty of disease, although morbid, is just fascinating!!

And, it's nice to also say that after the craziness of starting surg path, and it being almost a year since starting residency, I *still* love what I'm doing, and do walk around the halls many times with a goofy grin on my face, thinking about how lucky I am to do something that I love

That's great to hear that you love what you're doing.

I have to say that being part of the action, compared to the glimpse of pathology you see during med school, definitely clarifies the joys and aggravations about the field. It sure is nice to sit at the scope, look at a bunch of cool slides with music playing in your ears. It's nice to learn the next morning at signout at 8 am (instead of pre-rounding at 5-6 am) over a nice cup of joe.

How you liking it at the General? Sounds like you're enjoying it up there...

 

[mysophobe]

More and more I'm thinking pathology is the right field for me. I always kind of dismissed it without any real reason, but looking at other specialties, they each are lacking in an area that makes me search elsewhere. Path doesn't seem to have any flaws that I can think of. I dunno why it took this long to seirously consider it.

My "eureka" moment actually came while reading this thread. I realized that I have had dozens of "bucket moments" while in the OR. I have left the field to go "play" with the specimen on several occassions. I was involved in a gyn onc case in which we (we meaning they, I didn't do much but hold retractors) removed an ovarian cyst the size of a volleyball. I was gaping in awe at it, and how much I'd love to take it downstairs and just "play" with it for the rest of the day.

I was about to write a really terrible pun here, but I'm not sure whether I should. I'm sure others have said it before, but I didn't see it on this thread, and I think it's probably mandatory, so here it goes:

I think that Path is the path I will take.

Boo.

 

[drPLUM]

I was gaping in awe at it, and how much I'd love to take it downstairs and just "play" with it for the rest of the day.

**cough, cough** ... Is it getting warm in here now or is it just me?

This is a family board!

 

[mysophobe]

Hey now, in certain parts of this country, that could very well be a family conversation, no matter how you interpret it.

 

[yaah]

A volleyball sized ovarian cyst is rather like the "Happy Fun Ball" from saturday night live many years back. Do not touch Happy Fun Ball. Happy Fun Ball contains a toxic substance which should never be inhaled. Do not taunt happy fun ball...

 

[AngryTesticle]

A volleyball sized ovarian cyst is rather like the "Happy Fun Ball" from saturday night live many years back. Do not touch Happy Fun Ball. Happy Fun Ball contains a toxic substance which should never be inhaled. Do not taunt happy fun ball...

LOL! I remember that skit! In fact, they showed it last week on an SNL rerun marathon. Good memory, tossed-salad-man!

 

[E.A. Poe]

I am attracted to the laboratory and basic science aspects of pathology, which hark back to the roots of medicine. It is absolutely exciting for me to consider a career entailing diagnosing by evaluating organs and tissue grossly or under the microscope. Right now I am strongly considering anatomical pathology, but also clinical pathology. Keeping my family happy, safe, and together is of utmost importance to me and I believe that pathology is amenable to that goal. I look forward to working hard and becoming a contributing member of the field. I may look forward to exploration of new topics inside the field of pathology done in a manner fully appropriate to my new field.

 

[mm008m]

I am an ms3 in the middle of deciding what I want to be. I didn't mind peds, nor phychiatry, but I've had a couple of moments when I think to myself,"is it really okay to forget the first two years like this?"
I've had a couple of path moments myself. At one point I wanted to follow a placenta after a birth. Another was when a pediatrician got a letter from a pathologist saying that the patient had findings consistant with neurofibromatosis, and the doc just said, " I'll send them to a neurologist"...
I find more and more that I am forgetting the first 2 years and don't like it. I also don't like feeling like I am a pharmicist. As for peds, there is very little intellectual stimulation behind " croup, flu, croup, asthma exacerbation, repeat".
However, I am finding that noone is supporting the idea of even trying pathogy. Does this sound on par with other pathogist's experiences at coming to the decision of path?
Btw, I do like slides and was always the only person asking questions in second year path classes.

More and more I'm thinking pathology is the right field for me. I always kind of dismissed it without any real reason, but looking at other specialties, they each are lacking in an area that makes me search elsewhere. Path doesn't seem to have any flaws that I can think of. I dunno why it took this long to seirously consider it

My "eureka" moment actually came while reading this thread. I realized that I have had dozens of "bucket moments" while in the OR. I have left the field to go "play" with the specimen on several occassions. I was involved in a gyn onc case in which we (we meaning they, I didn't do much but hold retractors) removed an ovarian cyst the size of a volleyball. I was gaping in awe at it, and how much I'd love to take it downstairs and just "play" with it for the rest of the day.

I was about to write a really terrible pun here, but I'm not sure whether I should. I'm sure others have said it before, but I didn't see it on this thread, and I think it's probably mandatory, so here it goes:

I think that Path is the path I will take.

Boo.

 

[yaah]

Wow, epic bump. This thread brings back lots of memories. When it was started I hadn't started residency yet.

 

[caffeinegirl]

WOAH. Truly an epic bump. I started this thread at about the time I had decided to do path in medical school. And now...I'm pretty much done with training and getting ready to start a job in the real world! Craziness.

Great memories though. And even after all this time, I still remember the time I first saw an H&E of a glomerulus..and I'm still amazed at how structure and function beautifully come together in a histological section. This is a great GREAT field...I have not been disappointed not one time for having chosen this path, and I feel lucky that I'm fortunate enough to be doing something that I love as a career.

As for the bump-er's question...yes, many many times people have tried to dissuade me from path. Even current clinicians now that I interact with in clinic tell me that I shouldn't be a pathologist. And I happily tell them that I love looking at slides, and I love path... and smile while they give me a befuddled look

 

[mm008m]

"Epic bump" - If you're going to do something, it might as well be epic.

I'll have to try the "smiling while they look befuddled"
now, how shall I do it?
<---- like this?
<---- or like this?

 

[Entgegen]

However, I am finding that noone is supporting the idea of even trying pathogy. Does this sound on par with other pathogist's experiences at coming to the decision of path?

Though I'm only a third year and won't decide 100% until I do some electives, path is by far at the top of my list and is what I tell people who ask. So far, I've only had 3 clinicians try to dissuade me from path...2 urologists and 1 ob/gyn, all on the basis of potential salaries. All other docs have given me some variant of "Pathology, huh? Well good for you!" with a sort of surprised look on their face. Though not really trying to dissuade me, my attending on my family med rotation had said something like, "Pathology? But you seem to get along so well with patients and you're a really personable guy. I would've thought you would've gone into something with more patient contact!"

Maybe you're just hanging around the wrong people.

 

[mm008m]

Though not really trying to dissuade me, my attending on my family med rotation had said something like, "Pathology? But you seem to get along so well with patients and you're a really personable guy. I would've thought you would've gone into something with more patient contact!"

Maybe you're just hanging around the wrong people.

Same thing with my fam. med rotation (right now actually). People say I'm good with patients and shouldn't be "in the basement" but I think I'd rather be in the basement! Pathologists can take biopsies if we want to be involved with patients. My internal medicine inpatient rotation consisted of 30 minutes rounding on patients in the morning and the rest of the day charting/looking up labs. I'd hardly consider that an incredible amount of "patient contact". The whole idea is a bit lack-luster to me.
I am waiting patiently for my path elective. It's a good thing I shadowed a pathologist before coming to med school, or I wouldn't have thought of pathology.

For some reason the whole idea of pathology seems like a challenge yet less stressful overall, if that makes any sense. Maybe the whole idea just seems less foreign to me that the rest of medicine, since I worked in a lab before.

 

[caffeinegirl]

My reply to "but you're so good with patients" comment:

I'm a people person, just not a patient person.

You can be a people person and be a pathologist. And you can be a people person and not want patient contact. There's plenty of people contact as a pathologist..speaking to clinicians, technicians, admins, colleagues, hospital administration, etc.

 

[mm008m]

2 urologists and 1 ob/gyn, all on the basis of potential salaries.

I thought that pathologists got compensated quite well compared to the primary care fields at least. True, it may not be as much as a urologist gets, but who needs that kind of money when you have no time to spend it???

 

[Entgegen]

I thought that pathologists got compensated quite well compared to the primary care fields at least. True, it may not be as much as a urologist gets, but who needs that kind of money when you have no time to spend it???

As far as the ob/gyn is concerned, he actually said "at the end of the day, itall comes down to how much money you make. You should go into radiology or something." I got the feeling that he was saying this with a bit of regret about going into the field he did, especially after seeing how much his cousin was making in IR. With the urologists, they seemed to have a pretty good lifestyle with regard to hours that they work...urology isn't like gen surg where you have no free time. Coupled with the fact that they're both making ridiculous amounts of cash, urology seems to be a pretty good gig. Though probably not quite typical, one has his own plane that he flies on a regular basis (he's also a licensed pilot) and the other is planning a trip to France for a month to see the Tour de France.

 

[yaah]

As far as the ob/gyn is concerned, he actually said "at the end of the day, itall comes down to how much money you make. You should go into radiology or something." I got the feeling that he was saying this with a bit of regret about going into the field he did, especially after seeing how much his cousin was making in IR.

OK, well, at the end of the day it doesn't come down to how much money you make. It comes down to how happy you are. For some people, money is everything and thus it does come down to how much money you make. But for most people money is only one factor. And if money is your main objective then why would anyone go to med school and waste 8+ years of your prime either paying high tuition or making a low resident salary?

 

[Entgegen]

OK, well, at the end of the day it doesn't come down to how much money you make. It comes down to how happy you are. For some people, money is everything and thus it does come down to how much money you make. But for most people money is only one factor. And if money is your main objective then why would anyone go to med school and waste 8+ years of your prime either paying high tuition or making a low resident salary?

I'm in complete agreement with you...I was merely elaborating on the reasons the other guys gave me. I have the boards and grades to get me into any field I want, but path is at the top of my list because I'm pretty sure it's what I'll enjoy the most and be happiest doing. We'll just have to see what happens when I spend a month or two in it.

 

[stickyshift]

I went to medical school with the intention of becoming a psychiatrist. Then I met some, and couldn't imagine them as colleagues. I thought I would become a family practitioner, but after spending an afternoon with one draining a rectal abscess in his office, I decided that wasn't right for me. In my 3rd year rotations, I realized that I was much more interested in the diagnosis of disease than in its management. I also discovered that I like working with surgeons a lot more than internists.

Nowadays, I have neurologists, neurosurgeons, and radiologists telling me that they're trying to convince their kids to go into path (Like anyone else, they want something better for their children!).

 

[2121115]

Nowadays, I have neurologists, neurosurgeons, and radiologists telling me that they're trying to convince their kids to go into path (Like anyone else, they want something better for their children!).

I'm not sure if you're joking or not.

 

[Pathwrath]

It was either pathology or internal medicine for me. I went with pathology when I realized how much I hated BS-ing patients as a matter of course.

That, and the realization that much (most?) of medicine is battling entropy and losing.

 

[BrainPathology]

What a great thread.. too bad I wasn't around here when it started... a couple things to the more recent posts though.

1.) Not once have I worked in a basement.. or seen a pathology department in a basement (not that I don't believe they exist). The histology lab yes.. the pathology offices and attendings offices.. not once. In fact, windows rule the day in all 4 places I interviewed for residency, both places I interviewed at for fellowships and of course both places I've trained so far. I think you actually see 'more' of the world outside the hospital as a pathologist looking out your window and moving from tumor board to conference etc than most other specialties (esp radiology.. I don't care how much money you get..you REALLY have to be able to not only work in the dark but stay awake in the dark). This is true for private practice connected to large hospitals just as much as to academics too.

2.) When I decided on pathology it made perfect sense to everyone. I actually left med school to study architecture for 2 years before returning. When I did my path elective upon returning I met a neuropathologist.. combined with my undergrad work in neuroscience and my studies in architecture not only did other pathologists know (as did I) that I was MADE for this field, but every other attending I told about my "path" agreed that it seemed like a perfect fit that they all should have thought of before I told them.

 

[lipomas]

1.) Not once have I worked in a basement.. or seen a pathology department in a basement (not that I don't believe they exist). The histology lab yes.. the pathology offices and attendings offices.. not once. In fact, windows rule the day in all 4 places I interviewed for residency, both places I interviewed at for fellowships and of course both places I've trained so far. I think you actually see 'more' of the world outside the hospital as a pathologist looking out your window and moving from tumor board to conference etc than most other specialties (esp radiology.. I don't care how much money you get..you REALLY have to be able to not only work in the dark but stay awake in the dark). This is true for private practice connected to large hospitals just as much as to academics too.

Haha that's a good point. Usually the morgue is in the basement (except at Mayo Clinic I think which is odd) but not the rest of the department. Usually radiology is in the basement because of the big machines. But it's a lot more fun to perpetuate stereotypes like pathologists are always in the basement and are acne-ridden antisocial nerds who like dead people.

I picked pathology because I liked it. I kind of liked some other fields, but didn't like what they had to do with most of their day which seemed to be mostly paperwork. Or surgeons who spent most of the operation preparing for surgery and closing wounds which I found dreadfully dull. Not sure if I had a Eureka moment other than when I found out that a specialty like pathology even existed. For awhile even up to the first part of med school I thought pathologists worked as lab tech supervisors and did autopsies. I guess I had never even considered how biopsies got interpreted. But when I found out what pathologists did I jumped at the chance.

 

[tig3r]

Enjoyed pathology second year.
Didn't enjoy pharm, clinical diagnosis second year.
Didn't enjoy clinical rotations third year.
Loved pathology rotations fourth year.

I love the science of medicine...but pre rounding at 6am, followed by rounds on 20 patients, 6 progress notes, 5 admissions with long H and P's, 4 calls to families, 3 lower GI bleeds, 2 turtle doves...and a partridge in a pear tree is ridiculous. I did not enter medicine to shuffle papers, make phone calls and follow some guy's potassium for 7 days.

 

[mm008m]

What a great thread.. too bad I wasn't around here when it started... a couple things to the more recent posts though.

1.) Not once have I worked in a basement.. or seen a pathology department in a basement (not that I don't believe they exist). The histology lab yes.. the pathology offices and attendings offices.. not once. In fact, windows rule the day in all 4 places I interviewed for residency, both places I interviewed at for fellowships and of course both places I've trained so far. I think you actually see 'more' of the world outside the hospital as a pathologist looking out your window and moving from tumor board to conference etc than most other specialties (esp radiology.. I don't care how much money you get..you REALLY have to be able to not only work in the dark but stay awake in the dark). This is true for private practice connected to large hospitals just as much as to academics too.

2.) When I decided on pathology it made perfect sense to everyone. I actually left med school to study architecture for 2 years before returning. When I did my path elective upon returning I met a neuropathologist.. combined with my undergrad work in neuroscience and my studies in architecture not only did other pathologists know (as did I) that I was MADE for this field, but every other attending I told about my "path" agreed that it seemed like a perfect fit that they all should have thought of before I told them.

U of Rochester's path department is fully housed in the basement!

What is the main journal in pathology? (I'm assuming there is one.) I'd like to flip through it to make sure I enjoy reading about pathology. It may provide another Eureka moment for me one way or the other.

 

[mm008m]

I love the science of medicine...but pre rounding at 6am, followed by rounds on 20 patients, 6 progress notes, 5 admissions with long H and P's, 4 calls to families, 3 lower GI bleeds, 2 turtle doves...and a partridge in a pear tree is ridiculous. I did not enter medicine to shuffle papers, make phone calls and follow some guy's potassium for 7 days.

I second this. I don't mind the 6am pre-rounding since I have (somehow) become a morning person, but I find that the "patient contact" is often times actually "patient lecturing" or "patient's paperwork". ... If I had known that I would talk AT people and not TO or WITH them I would've become a social worker instead. Plus I hate outpatient anything... that pretty much limits my acceptable careers.

 

[yaah]

What is the main journal in pathology? (I'm assuming there is one.) I'd like to flip through it to make sure I enjoy reading about pathology. It may provide another Eureka moment for me one way or the other.

There really isn't one main journal since the field is so broad. Some of the bigger journals are AJSP, AJCP, Archives of Pathology and Lab Medicine.

 

[BrainPathology]

U of Rochester's path department is fully housed in the basement!

What is the main journal in pathology? (I'm assuming there is one.) I'd like to flip through it to make sure I enjoy reading about pathology. It may provide another Eureka moment for me one way or the other.

That seems a shame.. Rochester was a nice city to look at if you had the chance. Putting the path dept in Detroit would seem like a no-brainer though.

Yaah gave the list I would start with as far as journals are concerned.

 

[borgmatrix]

Are "eureka moments" enough to grip onto in choosing pathology? Because, I also see and hear talk about a bad job market or about the negative effects of health care reform on the future of pathology. Should those be serious fears for me or reasons to look at other fields?

 

[Enkidu]

My Eureka Moments:

1) Getting irritated during Med2 whenever we studied a disease that couldn't be diagnosed except by biopsy. It was frustrating that there were so many diagnoses that I (the presumed internist) would never be able to make.

2) Family practice preceptorship during Med2 in which every patient was being seen for follow-up for a previously diagnosed condition limited to one of: Hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, or COPD. The highlight of my year-long preceptorship was diagnosing a patient with pneumonia.

3) Studying Robbins pathology during graduate school when I'm supposed to be reading about synaptic phsyiology, even though I love synaptic physiology.

4) Talking to a surgeon.

5) Talking to a patient and wishing they would just deliver their history in the form of a USMLE question stem, or alternatively that someone else would listen to their ramble and give me just the relevant portion.

6) Whenever somebody I know tells me about their medical condition, instead of comforting them I get excited and explain the precise pathology and pathophysiology of their disease. Then I tell them not to worry.

7) When someone in my family was diagnosed with meningioma and I wanted to know if it was malignant or benign.

8) When an abnormal MRI showed that I had some undefined "lesion" in my spinal cord, and my surgeon decided it was a cavernous hemangioma. I thought: "This guy's just playing the odds".

9) Sitting in on neuropathology signout and finding out that a radiological diagnosis of simultaneous meningioma and GBM was just: meningioma.

10) Finding a tumor in neuropathology conference that defied all categories and the attendings delivered a diagnosis of "malignant neoplasm". I knew that the clinicians wouldn't appreciate the diagnosis.

11) Generally realizing that radiologists only get to definitively diagnose lame diseases.

12) One of my friends told me that she loves to hear stories from her patients. I told her that I love to unravel the story of a patients disease, how one molecular or physiological event leads to another until the patient's condition is completely explained. She didn't understand the draw at all.

13) Having to listen to patients "stories".

14) Seeing patients in family practice preceptorship who didn't have anything wrong with them. This made the attending happy, but I felt like I'd wasted my time.

15) Sitting in on signout where GBM was diagnosed. I thought of the oncologist who doesn't get to diagnose the patient, but has to tell him that he's going to die. Our discussion around the microscope was very interesting and scholarly.

16) Wondering about the cause of currently unexplained diseases.

17) Spending a night in the ER, but no "emergencies" ever happened, even tough there were a lot of patients.

18) Looking at a slide and thinking: "All facts relevant to the patients disease are right in front of me", and not having a clue what the patient had.

19) Realizing that the first step in treating a patient is to understand their disease, and that understanding takes reading and reflecting.

20) Noticing that most clinicians don't have time to do much reading and reflecting.

 

[yaah]

My Eureka Moments:

1) Getting irritated during Med2 whenever we studied a disease that couldn't be diagnosed except by biopsy. It was frustrating that there were so many diagnoses that I (the presumed internist) would never be able to make.

The other thing about this is that there are three possible perspectives on it from the pathologist's perspective:

1) The case you spent days trying to figure out is diagnosed in 1.5 seconds by the pathologist, who then moves onto the next case.

2) The biopsy material sucks and is non-diagnostic, so you still don't know what it is.

3) The biopsy is fascinating or difficult and the pathologist takes days to work it up, by which time the patient has been discharged and you have forgotten about it.

 

[smallcat]

I liked path a lot, from the beginning, but if I had a 'eureka' moment, it was when I started 3rd year and realized how much I hated clinical medicine and patient contact.

Cue antisocial, acne-ridden, socially awkward path nerd stereotypes!

 

[zao275]

1. I worked as an assistant in a private practice path group's histology lab as a teenager. I watched grossing, frozens, and occasional autopsies. I also did lots of scut. The pathologists were all great guys and very supportive of my interest in medicine. One day, I asked one of the pathologists how they liked the job. He said, "Jerad, I come to work, have fun, and get paid for it." That day stands out as one of the first moments I was sure I wanted to be a pathologist. I was 17.

2. Histology in undergrad and in med school. LOVED it both times.

3. Path elective in 3rd year med school. LOVED it.

After 2 and 3, I was sold. I liked many other rotations, but nothing more than path (luckily!).

 

[hematogone]

I don't think I ever had a eureka moment. I certainly did not consider path at all when I started med school. But during the basic science years, pathology was my favorite subject. The pathologists who taught at my school are really inspiring in terms of their knowledge of and passion for the study of disease, so that as well initially piqued my interest.

I did a 3rd year rotation in pathology and that sealed the deal. I really enjoy spending time at the scope, and I found I could look at slides for hours (which I had the privilege of doing with my attendings). None of my other 3rd year rotations could even compare. I love looking at H & E's. There are so many nuances to the normal histology as well as dysplastic, neoplastic, inflammatory, etc. histology. There is so much medical knowledge to learn, and there is something satisfying about being able to literally visualize what is behind that knowledge. I'm only a 4th year med student though, so my path to pathology (no pun intended) is just getting started.

I've had clinicians and others tell me I should become a clinician because I'm "that type" and I'm good with patients. But I've enjoyed sitting at the scope way more than doing H & P's as well as the knowledge base and thought process of path over clinical medicine. I did get some radiology experience during third year, which was cool. But again, I enjoy microscopy a lot more than CT's, XR's, and MRI's - and the fact that pathologists make the final Dx.

 

[BU Pathology]

I don't think I ever had a eureka moment. I certainly did not consider path at all when I started med school. But during the basic science years, pathology was my favorite subject. The pathologists who taught at my school are really inspiring in terms of their knowledge of and passion for the study of disease, so that as well initially piqued my interest.

I did a 3rd year rotation in pathology and that sealed the deal. I really enjoy spending time at the scope, and I found I could look at slides for hours (which I had the privilege of doing with my attendings). None of my other 3rd year rotations could even compare. I love looking at H & E's. There are so many nuances to the normal histology as well as dysplastic, neoplastic, inflammatory, etc. histology. There is so much medical knowledge to learn, and there is something satisfying about being able to literally visualize what is behind that knowledge. I'm only a 4th year med student though, so my path to pathology (no pun intended) is just getting started.

I've had clinicians and others tell me I should become a clinician because I'm "that type" and I'm good with patients. But I've enjoyed sitting at the scope way more than doing H & P's as well as the knowledge base and thought process of path over clinical medicine. I did get some radiology experience during third year, which was cool. But again, I enjoy microscopy a lot more than CT's, XR's, and MRI's - and the fact that pathologists make the final Dx.

This is a great description about the positive attributes of being a pathologist.

 

[KCShaw]

I always had a little bit stronger interest in forensic pathology than anything else in medicine, despite not "really" knowing a lot about it when I started medical school. Pathology teaching for us was primarily pathophysiology, and histology essentially just microanatomy without much of a teaching point, so it's good to hear at least someone out there had "real world" pathology exposure as part of the med school curriculum. Our one exception was a retired pathologist who came back to give very limited med student lectures (though still primarily histology/microanatomy, not tumor/non-tumor working pathology), and was famous for finding a way to be extremely supportive and make every answer you gave in lecture "correct" ("Yes..I can see how you might think of that as blue, though I see it more as red, because if you see here..."(then explain in detail)) -- he made the mistake once of asking an overly simple yes or no question and couldn't bring himself to outright tell the student they were wrong, so very slowly turned to the next student and just meekly said..."...next..?" The entire class burst into laughter.

I ended up organizing a small-group elective with the state Institute of Forensic Medicine which was literally across the street from the university, and our first case was a retired cardiologist (with no medical history, making him a case) who turned out to have a large atrial myxoma. His wife was reportedly very pleased that even in death he helped teach the next generation. Our mentor was a charming Scottish pathologist with a tendency to "pimp" us as much about relatively esoteric subjects like Mark Twain as pathology or medicine. A lot goes into settling on a career track, but if I had to point to only one moment which sealed my fate, it would probably be that first forensic case.

 

[blue lobster]

Whenever I was told to do an H&P, I kept hearing H&E on the back of my mind instead.

 

[member0007]

i have always loved pathology. it's so gratifying and rewarding no matter what... if you like medicine and correlating all the stuff you have been learning for years and years and years... and want to get that info to the clinicians and facilitate appropriate patient care... this field is great. i get a kick out of every case that's signed out and every diagnosis that is made...

on a personal level, i have been having a really tough time at my work. however, that has not made me view pathology negatively or decreased my interest in pathology. i think this revelation for me has been my affirming eureka moment.

 

[JgMantilla]

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[Freddie Mercury]

Some great stories here, thank you for sharing. Would love to hear more, or get some updates from the people who posted earlier (esp those who were residents, med students at the time), whether the work actually turned out how you expected. This thread seems so much more positive towards pathology than what dominates the board now.

 

[yaah]

I believe most of the people posting originally are quite happy pathologists now. I know several of them or at least know who they are, seem to have been quite successful. I think back then we essentially didn't have any posters (except maybe LADoc from time to time) who was finished with training, so the job market really never came up to be honest, not sure anyone was really thinking about it much.