Physical appearance matters.

[Oldfatman2]

As an old decrepit fat white man, I have seen many young whiz bang pathologists, who barely know enough to tie their shoes, excell at career advancement. The hot ones get the best fellowships, and then on this basis alone climb the ranks. Administration loves a hot lady pathologist. As do those all thumbs surgeons.

They can be seen on multiple peer review publications. Never the first author or the senior last author. Established pathologists, with their pronounced visual skills, are particularly susceptible to physical appearance.

If you want to get ahead, don’t be a myopic microscope fiend with their nose on a book. Get liposuction. Get a face lift. Bariatric surgery. And learn to play golf. Parrot back the espn report on your attendings favorite team.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[MetroPath]

There aren’t many hot pathologists (both male and female) in Pathology though lol. You’re in the wrong field. Try dermatology. Or go to any field outside medicine like sales.

 

[HeyDalaron]

This is true in every facet of life. Work, dating, friendships, even in sentencing for all you criminals out there.

Looks matter.

Good looks are the most important characteristic a person can possess.

 

[SunBakedTrash]

The biggest disappointment of USCAP Annual Meeting

No, it wasn't Boston weather, food at the hospitality suite or even Rosai's speech. It was women. Face it: the quality of females entering a field is a function of overall hotness of the field. Remember all these hotties from medschool who matched into derm? Now fast forward to last...

forums.studentdoctor.net

We’ve had this conversation before.

 

[WEBB PINKERTON]

The most successful pathologists I know sound like you-old, decrepit, fat, white, guy.

Seems like I see less and less "hot ones" nowadays. People seem more trashy than ever-cheap clothes, obese, lot of visible tattoos, weird colored hair.

 

[coroner]

As an old decrepit fat white man, I have seen many young whiz bang pathologists, who barely know enough to tie their shoes, excell at career advancement. The hot ones get the best fellowships, and then on this basis alone climb the ranks. Administration loves a hot lady pathologist. As do those all thumbs surgeons.

They can be seen on multiple peer review publications. Never the first author or the senior last author. Established pathologists, with their pronounced visual skills, are particularly susceptible to physical appearance.

If you want to get ahead, don’t be a myopic microscope fiend with their nose on a book. Get liposuction. Get a face lift. Bariatric surgery. And learn to play golf. Parrot back the espn report on your attendings favorite team.

You've been a member for 2.5 years and your first post summing up your entire career and collective experiences boils down to: "If you want to succeed in pathology get a facelift or boob job"...beautiful

 

[Nilf]

The biggest disappointment of USCAP Annual Meeting

No, it wasn't Boston weather, food at the hospitality suite or even Rosai's speech. It was women. Face it: the quality of females entering a field is a function of overall hotness of the field. Remember all these hotties from medschool who matched into derm? Now fast forward to last...

forums.studentdoctor.net

We’ve had this conversation before.

Ha, that's exactly what I thought. I started this thread 15 years ago, and got banned several months ago when it got resurrected. Yet here we are again. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

 

[Guest8]

The most successful pathologists I know sound like you-old, decrepit, fat, white, guy.

Seems like I see less and less "hot ones" nowadays. People seem more trashy than ever-cheap clothes, obese, lot of visible tattoos, weird colored hair.

I do agree with this. Went to a golf tourney out in the 'burbs recently and every guy there was obese to morbidly obese with lumberjack facial hair, covered in tattoos, and all drove lifted pickup trucks or Jeeps. Since when did the suburban male all decide they want to look like Harley riders from 30 years ago?

 

[Alteran]

The post-modern aesthetic would have been scandalous if not outright unsightly just 20 years ago.

I fall into the generation of either the youngest of Gen X or the oldest of the millennial generation, depending on who you ask. I never saw any of this growing up:

• Going out into public or school in sleepwear, completely disheveled
• Inking yourself like an interstate roadmap and then showing it off to the world proudly
• Coloring your hair like a tropical bird
• Passing off outfits that are standard issue for workers of the night as "business casual"

I would like to say that you wouldn't find the above in medicine, but I'd be wrong. Occasionally I have to deal with med students and I'm amazed at how they present themselves to the world. So much of face-to-face patient care is earning patient trust - which I think is hard to do when you look like a vagrant that literally stumbled into the clinic.

Edit: Here's an article with one of the interviewed being a medical student referencing the above....

Gen Z is going out in their underwear: ‘Free the nipple!’

“My friends often tell me, ‘Your tit is out’ and I’m like, ‘Oops,'” says one young woman.

nypost.com

 

[gbwillner]

I've lost track of the point here.... is it there aren't enough hot women or that hot people get ahead? I need to know how to direct my rage. Also, I like coloring the hair like a tropical bird, but could leave all the other things, which I concur, are gross.

 

[PathNeuroIMorFM]

The post-modern aesthetic would have been scandalous if not outright unsightly just 20 years ago.

I fall into the generation of either the youngest of Gen X or the oldest of the millennial generation, depending on who you ask. I never saw any of this growing up:

• Going out into public or school in sleepwear, completely disheveled
• Inking yourself like an interstate roadmap and then showing it off to the world proudly
• Coloring your hair like a tropical bird
• Passing off outfits that are standard issue for workers of the night as "business casual"

I would like to say that you wouldn't find the above in medicine, but I'd be wrong. Occasionally I have to deal with med students and I'm amazed at how they present themselves to the world. So much of face-to-face patient care is earning patient trust - which I think is hard to do when you look like a vagrant that literally stumbled into the clinic.

Edit: Here's an article with one of the interviewed being a medical student referencing the above....

Gen Z is going out in their underwear: ‘Free the nipple!’

“My friends often tell me, ‘Your tit is out’ and I’m like, ‘Oops,'” says one young woman.

nypost.com

This reply in a nutshell:

Also, I can't tell if you're joking. NY Post? Really? That is literally a red line tabloid clickbait machine meant to make pensioners angry at the world.

Speaking as a true Gen Zer in probably one of the most liberal cities in America, we're not running around in our skivvies. We aren't inked to the gills. We aren't flashing our unspeakables all over town. Most of the ladies with hair dye are going from blonde to black to brunnette. Not blue and green and pink. Go outside and you literally wont be able to tell who is dyed and who isn't.

Yeah, we are allowed to wear scrubs in clinic now since covid. Yeah, a lot of guys wear suits without ties because they're uncomfortable and there is some evidence (albeit weak) that they can be vectors for bacteria. Yeah, with a careful eye, you're going to see some regrettable infinity symbols or tribal bands poking out of a students scrub sleeve. That's life.

If it's not affecting patient care - which it is not, particularly in Pathology - then who cares?

So much of face-to-face patient care is earning patient trustwhich I think is hard to do when you look like a vagrant that literally stumbled into the clinic.

It's almost as if you can judge a person by the way they treat you rather than the way they look. How profound. I'd rather have a Post Malone looking goober who actually listens and cares than a curmudgeon-y Pierce Brosnan.

 

[mike-sheree]

If you are affable, available and have ability, you will have no problem in a “uniform “ of (for guys) clean Dockers and a tucked in, collared, buttoned shirt.
Works in the c-suite or on the floor.

 

[FutureInternist]

Back in my day…. They didn’t have pics on our ERAS application cos folks knew of the bias.

 

[HeyDalaron]

I see people talking about attire and hair color. Those are generally irrelevant outside of being soft socioeconomic indicators.

What is relevant is facial attractiveness and height. In other words, bones.

All the affability, collared shirts and pressed pants in the world won't make a short man CEO.

I recall a study about ranking applicants to radiology programs. The most important indicator was step 1. The second most important was facial attractiveness

 

[spes93]

I see people talking about attire and hair color. Those are generally irrelevant outside of being soft socioeconomic indicators.

What is relevant is facial attractiveness and height. In other words, bones.

All the affability, collared shirts and pressed pants in the world won't make a short man CEO.

I recall a study about ranking applicants to radiology programs. The most important indicator was step 1. The second most important was facial attractiveness

As someone who didn’t match radiology with a step 1 260 I think facial attractiveness is more important differentiation between applicants who achieved a step score of at least 245. Sad to see the story isn’t different for pathology.

 

[Alteran]

All the affability, collared shirts and pressed pants in the world won't make a short man CEO.

Maybe it only works if you're self made: Michael Bloomberg.

 

[eulAEgy]

The post-modern aesthetic would have been scandalous if not outright unsightly just 20 years ago.

I fall into the generation of either the youngest of Gen X or the oldest of the millennial generation, depending on who you ask. I never saw any of this growing up:

• Going out into public or school in sleepwear, completely disheveled
• Inking yourself like an interstate roadmap and then showing it off to the world proudly
• Coloring your hair like a tropical bird
• Passing off outfits that are standard issue for workers of the night as "business casual"

I would like to say that you wouldn't find the above in medicine, but I'd be wrong. Occasionally I have to deal with med students and I'm amazed at how they present themselves to the world. So much of face-to-face patient care is earning patient trust - which I think is hard to do when you look like a vagrant that literally stumbled into the clinic.

Edit: Here's an article with one of the interviewed being a medical student referencing the above....

Gen Z is going out in their underwear: ‘Free the nipple!’

“My friends often tell me, ‘Your tit is out’ and I’m like, ‘Oops,'” says one young woman.

nypost.com

Several of the attendings in my department come in with jeans and polo shirts or button down shirts with sneakers. Most of these guys are middle gen X. It's the PhDs in chem or molecular that are the best dressed.

 

[mike-sheree]

I think the appearance argument is overblown. I practiced for decades and, in general, the many, many pathology dept heads I knew of were quite an average looking group of folks.

 

[HeyDalaron]

I think the appearance argument is overblown. I practiced for decades and, in general, the many, many pathology dept heads I knew of were quite an average looking group of folks.

Times have changed.

The social media generation is heavily looks focused, or at least honest about the importance of looks

 

[mike-sheree]

Too bad. Social media is a sewer.

 

[eulAEgy]

Times have changed.

The social media generation is heavily looks focused, or at least honest about the importance of looks

This is a rather gross distortion from a random person. Literally all the residents/fellows and faculty at my large program look like normal people. Hell don't even believe me, just another random person- Google pathology residency and look at the resident photos. Plain unremarkable is what you'll see.

I'd say that holds true for nearly all the residents at my hospital, you pretty much get the gamut of what people look like in real life. The sole exception I can recall is when they had ortho consult at an M&M and the guy looked like that Athlean X guy.

edit: I was thinking in terms of facial attractiveness and people in path being average. If we're including weight then yeah the 20s and young 30s do care about their weight. I'm non-trad and married with kids so I've "let myself go," no longer near 10% BF and I imagine I'd get beat by the 4/5 ranked people on our old high school tennis team, but back in the day I could go head to head with anyone ranked 1/2 in our state.

 

[Guest8]

This is a rather gross distortion from a random person. Literally all the residents/fellows and faculty at my large program look like normal people. Hell don't even believe me, just another random person- Google pathology residency and look at the resident photos. Plain unremarkable is what you'll see.

I'd say that holds true for nearly all the residents at my hospital, you pretty much get the gamut of what people look like in real life. The sole exception I can recall is when they had ortho consult at an M&M and the guy looked like that Athlean X guy.

edit: I was thinking in terms of facial attractiveness and people in path being average. If we're including weight then yeah the 20s and young 30s do care about their weight. I'm non-trad and married with kids so I've "let myself go," no longer near 10% BF and I imagine I'd get beat by the 4/5 ranked people on our old high school tennis team, but back in the day I could go head to head with anyone ranked 1/2 in our state.

Agreed. I don't see many amazing looking path residents. Or really any medical residents. Certainly no more so than in the remote past or distant past. I don't think anything has really changed all that much other than the perceptions of the original poster.