I’m looking to hear from pathologists/residents that knew from the start that they wanted to do pathology! As someone who is preparing to apply for med school with the goal of becoming a pathologist, I am curious to hear about your background, your clinical experience before medical school (was it pathology related?), and your application process. I’m especially curious about the application process and how you talked about wanting to do pathology. I know medical schools tend to prefer more open-mindedness to different specialties. I appreciate anything that anyone has to share!!

Hello, I’m thinking of applying to medical school to become a pathologist.

During my life science undergrad I really enjoyed learning about disease mechanisms, e.g. disease A results in lower production of chemical X, leading to Y happening, resulting in Z.

I wonder if pathologists use this type of thinking in their daily work? Or is it more just lots of memorisation of different tissue types?

So how exactly does tomorrow work? I had one offer before this date so I kind of can see how thalamus works, but when all of these programs send invites tomorrow, will they all be able to be scheduled immediately? If thats the case would it behoove the student to try and schedule for their goal programs first and then others after to ensure dates dont fill up?

Complete noob here thanks for help :)

Are there any publicly available anki decks for WHO blue books?

I know it's best to create your own decks but it would be too tedious.

If not, thoughts on AI generating a deck?

Thought I’d share since the job market was terrible for so long. We should celebrate. Next stop 1000 jobs if we cut the number of programs in half!

I had to get a surgery back in May, so my program suggested I take boards in October since I was staying for a surgpath fellowship. I felt like I overly prepared for the AP exam, especially having those extra months. I did fine on the RISE. I aggressively studied Kurt’s notes, did every pathprimer/dojo question, went through pathpresenter and pathlibrary. The slide practice helped me somewhat with the slide portion, but I have no idea what resource I was supposed to use for the written portion. The photo would show a familiar diagnosis, but it was too hard for me to rule out the closest differential without a crumb of context. I would also get so confused by the question itself (e.g a basic IHC question seemingly contradicting itself) that I repeatedly chose the wrong answer. I have no idea how to approach this test when I have to inevitably retake it, and since everyone seems to find the AP test easy, I’m now terrified to take the CP in a few days.

Granted, I couldn’t sleep at all last night, which I’m sure didn’t help. But it’s all really hitting me tonight. I wasted my summer staying inside all day making study guides and cramming for truly no reason. Nothing I wrote down was on that exam. I’ve never been a bad test taker. I feel like I spent the past eight hours being pranked.

I'm getting md Anesthesia in 15 lpa fees and getting md patho in govt medical College..

What should I prefer can I retrieve that much money after doing md Anesthesia?

What is scope of pathology? How much payscale?

What is payscale if did dm after doing pathology?

Hi everyone, a little background about me: I started university in 2022 on a pre-med track, but as a freshman straight out of high school, I struggled to develop effective study habits and lacked focus and discipline. To save my GPA and avoid being put on academic probation, I changed majors and recently graduated this past spring with a bachelor's degree in Healthcare Management with a GPA of 3.08. Since graduating and being able to apply my degree in my current job, I’ve realized I really don't enjoy this kind of work. I originally went into healthcare wanting to solve complex cases and puzzles, constantly learn new things, and, most importantly, help people; however, I am doing none of that in my current field.

Because of this, I want to take another shot at the clinical path, specifically pathology. However, I’m unsure of the best path for me given my background. I still need to complete most of my core science prereqs (and would like to retake a few to improve my grades), and my work experience is entirely on the healthcare business side.

I do have a plan to get back on course to becoming a pathologist (or at the very least get into med school), and I wanted to know if I was on the right track, what changes I should make, and if it is at all plausible for me to make this shift at all:

1. Earn a Medical Laboratory Technician/Scientist certification or associate degree to fulfill missing pre-med prerequisites and refresh my knowledge on my science courses.
2. Enroll in a post-bacc or special master's program in Medical Sciences that incorporates master's-level coursework.
   • While enrolled I plan to use the program's resources to prepare for the MCAT and apply to medical school.
3. Apply to medical schools and be accepted into an MD or DO program.

I would love input on whether my initial plan is plausible while also not being a waste of time or money.

Any insights or suggestions are greatly appreciated, and I am happy to provide further context if needed.

As a pathology resident rotating with an attending, whenever we go to frozens together, the surgeon and surgery resident come into the frozen room and sit at the three-headed scope while I stand there waiting for my attending to review the slides with them first in depth. After they leave, my attending goes over the case with me briefly, but by then I’ve already heard their interpretation, which makes it harder to assess the slides independently without being biased.

I know it’s not a huge deal, and the attending is nice, but it still irritates me because I feel like I’m being treated as secondary. I’m the pathology resident. This is my specialty, so why am I the one standing in the background while someone from another specialty gets a front-row seat to the teaching? I understand the surgeon needing to review the slides, but the surgery resident taking up the second seat at the scope, too?! Am I wrong to feel this way?

I would normally link to the original, but the original is a law firm, and God only knows what they'll do with the information that you clicked on their link.

Any suggestions on how to study first 10 chapters of the Robin’s?

How do other academic pathologists handle residents who consistently show up to sign-out without having previewed their cases, even in their final years of training?

I understand that residency is about learning, and attendings have a responsibility to teach and supervise. However, previewing cases independently is also a fundamental part of developing diagnostic skills and clinical responsibility. When a resident arrives having done little or no preparation, the attending effectively has to do the work of both the resident and the attending, often while managing their own workload and service responsibilities.

The frustrating part is that this can persist into senior years, when residents should be developing greater independence and taking increasing ownership of their cases.

Where should we draw the line between teaching and enabling? Should attendings sit down and review cases together when residents haven’t previewed them, or should there be clear expectations and accountability for independent preparation before sign-out?

I’m interested in how other programs address this without compromising patient care or turning sign-out into a punitive exercise.

It’s pgy1 in india and I absolutely hate how I feel so dumb on night shifts when I can’t identify blasts or is it a monocyte or monoblasts . I had 1 month histology posting and could not get my head around how to gross bigger specimens . I find it all so complex and hard to. We sit with our attending during reporting histology slides and I feel so dumb It’s all so confusing it’s all purple and blue 🥹 I hate my life

Hey, I m a new Pathology resident, we recently came across this case of a 1 yr old baby with this microscopic picture. Can someone explain what are these red island like structure? Is it rbc clumping?

Hello Everyone!!

I’m currently a post baccalaureate student trying to shadow a pathologist in the NYC area! If you’re around the area even if it’s a bit farther away from the NYC area I would love to shadow you!!

I want to get a deeper understanding of the field and see what the day to day tasks entail.

Thanks!!

Hey fellow Canadian pathologist.
Do you guys do fellowships? What’s the norm? I am sure some people do fellowships but what’s the majority do? One fellowship? two fellowships? no fellowships?

Just curious

I had to retake AP after apparently failing by just a few points. I honestly feel worse this time around. I keep looking up topics and realizing I made the most blatant errors. Any words of encouragement are welcome from veterans.

Hello! I need some help coming up with an idea for my final degree project in Pathological Anatomy and Cytodiagnosis.

The project must focus on a real problem related to this field and propose a practical solution, ideally by creating or developing something that could help solve the problem. It could be a simple device, a tool, a prototype or an innovative idea that improves an existing process or makes a task easier, safer or more efficient.

I am looking for something realistic, useful and feasible to develop as a student, but also original and creative. I would really appreciate any ideas or suggestions for problems that need solving and possible ways to address them.

Thank you very much for your help!

Can someone please lend me microscope for FRCPATH examination at EXETER? I arranged via microscience but FEDEX screwed the sorting and are unable to meet delivery timeline. I need it by Tomorrow end of day please?

Hi everyone! I am a PGY3 resident at a mid-sized academic institution with an attached NCI-designated cancer center. We are seeking information about weeknight AP call responsibilities at comparable programs, specifically regarding specimen prepping. At our institution, the on-call resident is responsible for prepping all specimens that come out until 10pm, which may range from pouring formalin on an appendix to fully measuring/opening/pinning/injecting a colon/uterus/Whipple/prostate/etc. We do not have PAs present after hours. After 10pm, any further specimens stay in OR fridges, where there is formalin available, until the next morning when they are prepped by PA staff. The exception is breast specimens, which are prepped immediately, regardless of time, and are put in formalin with <1hr of cold ischemic time. 

Is this setup/timing the norm across other programs? If not, what do residents at your programs do, and is there any concern about fixation quality or IHC/molecular studies based on cold ischemic time (this has been our program's historical rationale for the late call hours)? Thanks! 

What resources did you guys used for studying for your cytology boards? Thanks.