AFIP Fellowships

[gungho]

Does anyone have any experience or an opinion regarding any of the mini-fellowships offered at AFIP, especially the Dermatopathology Fellowship? Thanks for any input.

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bump.


Anyone familiar with any of the AFIP rotations?

 

[DrBloodmoney]

They're great. If you'd like to go, get on the stick because the US government is terminating the AFIP.

 

[pbp4]

I oved mine- did not do derm but it is a great place especially if you just want to study cool cases from their files

 

[urbanpath]

I recently did the soft tissue pathology rotation there and loved it. Great slide study set and pretty good teaching at the scope for about an hour a day. I even had enough time to read Enzinger and Weiss's Soft Tissue book. The local DC residents rotate through there fairly frequently, and they told me the dermpath rotation mainly consists of looking at a huge slide collection every day and reading. The attendings on that service are really too busy to teach much. The slide collection is really good though. I went there to see as many rare cases as I could, and I was not disappointed. I highly recommend the place... Another resident in my program recently applied for one of the fellowships and was awarded it the next week. I don't think they are horribly competitive as not many apply...

 

[CK cocktail]

I recently did a GU elective at the AFIP, and I absolutely loved it. Their volume is tremendous, and the teaching is unparalleled.

My roommate was scheduled to do a derm elective, but she actually spent more time with the soft tissue folks. Apparently in derm, you're given a slide collection to look at, since the attendings are too busy to do a lot of teaching. In soft tissue, she was able to preview and sit with the attendings nearly everyday.

I recommend this elective to everyone. It's fantastic learning opportunity. I only wish I knew what was going to happen to the place once they move out of their current digs. I'd love to work there.

 

[drdvs]

I've heard that AFIP provides "housing" during the 1-month fellowships. Did any of you take advantage of that and if so how was it (i.e. roomates, facilities)?

 

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For the DWK 1 month fellows, the AFIP rents a perfectly adequate 2 BDR apartment about 1.5 miles away in Silver Spring, MD. You will share this apartment with one other fellow of the same sex. Bedding, towels, iron, full kitchen all provided. There is a free shuttle that travels to and from the apartment complex to WRAMC every hour. The apartment complex is 2-3 blocks from a metro station, so easy access to explore DC on the weekends. The only drawbacks to the apartment are that it has no internet access and no cable TV (though that does help to cut down on the distractions from studying). There is a computer room in a separate building with four old computers and internet.

I'm not sure what is available for those in the military doing rotations.

 

[GeoLeoX]

Those of us in the military are free to rotate in any of the services there. I have done numerous rotations and can comment on some of them:

pulmonary - excellent, probably the best they have - extensive (I mean really extensive) teaching slide set, pathology/radiology/pulmonology correlation.

GU - depending on how busy Dr. Sesterhenn is the rotation can be great or disappointing.

gyn/breast - seen better days.

derm - can be good. i had a good time because there were a number of dermatology residents and clinical correlation is a huge part of dermatopathology. this one may be changing as the new Walter Reed will be setting up its own dermpath fellowship.

soft tissue - very good study set. Dr. Miettinen. good path/rad correlation on bone tumors.

heme - fairly low volume with small study set but excellent staff great at teaching.

neuro - same as heme - low volume, great staff.

renal - forget about it.

rotations i haven't done but have heard about:

GI/liver - pretty good, one of the better ones at AFIP. Dr. Sobin. Dr. Goodman has a great approach to liver.

ENT/endocrine - can be pretty good, but spotty. Dr. Heffner doesn't teach much anymore.

OAFME - I don't know if it counts as part of the AFIP, though technically it is. Crash investigations, lots of travel, not really for residents, though.

That's all I can think of.

Also the AFIP will close within the next few years. The rot set in years ago, morale low, etc. Keep that in mind.

 

[Absidia]

Any thoughts about their Infectious Disease path division? It's one of a very few in the country...

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

AFIP closing eh. Though the program was supposed to be pretty good. I’m doing two rotations there pretty soon (vet path of course ). Shame. The vet pathologists I know that did work at AFIP all speak very highly of it, and they have a good board pass rate last time I checked. Low morale for any specific reason?

 

[GeoLeoX]

Low morale for any specific reason?

There's a lot of people working there and all of them know that they have a very small chance of having a job in the next few years. Many of the top names in pathology fled years ago, but a few still hang in there.

To the previous poster, I forgot about the ID department. I don't know of anyone who has rotated there but I have sent them several cases. They will pore over an AFB stain for an hour to find that single mycobacterium on a slide. I would think that it would be tedious. They also have Ron Neafie who is an outstanding parasitologist and does a great job with tissue id of bugs,

 

[LADoc00]

AFIP is indeed imploding. Stay away. Sad face

 

[2121115]

Anyone know if the DWK fellowships will be starting up again or are they gone for good?

 

[yaah]

AFIP is indeed imploding. Stay away. Sad face

Bostwick is trying to take over the "AFIP"

http://www.tissuepathology.typepad....continues-operations-as-it-faces-closure.html

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/...d=news_view&newsId=20090807005726&newsLang=en

 

[ABC789]

Anyone know if the DWK fellowships will be starting up again or are they gone for good?

They are pretty much gone. You can still do observerships though except you are responsible for all expenses.

After the DKW fellowships were suspended, I had to look for funding elsewhere. I was awarded a $2000 ASCP resident subspecialty grant to study soft tissue pathology at the AFIP. You could try to get funding that way...

 

[Path_Anon]

Bostwick is trying to take over the "AFIP"

http://www.tissuepathology.typepad....continues-operations-as-it-faces-closure.html

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/...d=news_view&newsId=20090807005726&newsLang=en

christ is there anything that bostwick won't try to get his pudgy lil' hands on? i mean you've got hella cash, hella fame, teeth so white they can be seen from space (if you've seen him in person, you know what i mean). what else you do you need? (oh, with that hella cash comes hella women --i know of several stories about him and ancillary staff during his residency training...)

i sorta see the AFIP as the trustworthy, knowledgeable, ever-wise grandpa you can always rely on...and bostwick the $-hungry scoundrel trying to pull a Madoff on 'em. run away grandpa, kick him in the balls and RUN!

 

[Ziehl-Neelsen]

christ is there anything that bostwick won't try to get his pudgy lil' hands on? i mean you've got hella cash, hella fame, teeth so white they can be seen from space (if you've seen him in person, you know what i mean). what else you do you need? (oh, with that hella cash comes hella women --i know of several stories about him and ancillary staff during his residency training...)

i sorta see the AFIP as the trustworthy, knowledgeable, ever-wise grandpa you can always rely on...and bostwick the $-hungry scoundrel trying to pull a Madoff on 'em. run away grandpa, kick him in the balls and RUN!

I think that in this case the military is the jerk boyfriend who treats the good looking but insecure girl (AFIP staff) like crap so that the smooth lothario who preys on such women (Bostwick) can score the hottie.

The government cut funding to the AFIP without having an approved plan for DOD consult pathology. There are plans for a Joint Pathology Center to provide DOD and VA consult pathology, but without money set aside by the government they are just that--plans. The military told the AFIP staff to just hang out until the JPC got running, but honestly how many of you would wait interminably until this "planned" JPC was opened while Bostwick was dangling a higher salaried position a mile down the road in Silver Spring?

I have no particular love for Bostwick. I personally think that consult pathology will be one of the first things to go when medicine as a whole has to find ways to trim the fat. I wonder what Bostwick will do when he's left holding the bag, leveraged up to his eyeballs.

 

[yaah]

I have no particular love for Bostwick. I personally think that consult pathology will be one of the first things to go when medicine as a whole has to find ways to trim the fat. I wonder what Bostwick will do when he's left holding the bag, leveraged up to his eyeballs.

I suspect he will have sold out by then, either via IPO or by buyout from private equity.