Recommendations for pathology rotation

[maplecookie]

Hello,

I am a rising third year medical student soon starting clinicals. I entered medical school very certain that I wanted to be a pathologist but my thoughts have significantly drifted since then and I'm no longer certain of what specialty I am interested in. Several professors have advised (and I agree with) that I should still do an early elective rotation in pathology to really gauge how I feel about it. I am at a new medical school and I don't think there is a home pathology rotation available so I am looking into doing an away rotation.

Are there any recommendations for particular institutions that would give a good experience/exposure to pathology that I could do an away rotation at?

Thank you!

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[bauber]

Do your rotation at a medium to large sized academic center in a place you want to or can see yourself living in for 4 years. Every place has its own quirks, but most of the medium to large sized centers will be good for an away rotation or training. "Will I be happy to spend 4 years here?" is the question you want to answer for yourself. Do not ever mention you are still deciding about a specialty.

As far as deciding between path and non-path specialties...Do you want to see patients? Not path or rads. Do you want to stay far away from patients? Path or rads.

 

[Rxor49]

It might help to know what region of the country you are in, as well as whether you intend to stay in that area for your training.

 

[ScubaV]

Do your rotation at a medium to large sized academic center in a place you want to or can see yourself living in for 4 years. Every place has its own quirks, but most of the medium to large sized centers will be good for an away rotation or training. "Will I be happy to spend 4 years here?" is the question you want to answer for yourself. Do not ever mention you are still deciding about a specialty.

As far as deciding between path and non-path specialties...Do you want to see patients? Not path or rads. Do you want to stay far away from patients? Path or rads.

Agree. If residents/faculty think you're interested in pathology they will actually put in some effort to teach and show you stuff. Otherwise you'll be put in the category of "just doing an easy/vacation rotation" and given a cursory demonstration and told to "go study".

Also be aware that both path and rads rotations can be kind of boring even for someone who's interested in the field because you're basically shadowing and not allowed to do anything. If you're in the first category above and the residents like you, you might get to run the bowel on an autopsy or cut a placenta frozen section.

 

[maplecookie]

Thank you for the responses!

I definitely plan to be as involved as possible in the path rotation whether or not I end up in the field. I volunteered and shadowed in pathology before I came into medical school and thought it was really interesting so I'm hoping to be able to do more in a rotation.

Actually one of the reasons I was so set on path in the beginning was that I thought I didn't want to see patients but it turns out I like them more than I thought. I just don't know if it's enough that I would want my entire career rooted in it.

I am currently in the southeast and have been here pretty much my entire life but I do want to branch out in residency. My inexperience with different areas is partially the reason I'm finding it difficult to choose a specific place to do the rotation and later training. I know I want to be at an academic center in a non-rural area and I think I prefer staying in the eastern half of the US but I am not set on it and am quite open geographically.

In addition to asking for specific institutions to go to, are there any specific institutions to avoid?

 

[deleted314957]

Agree. If residents/faculty think you're interested in pathology they will actually put in some effort to teach and show you stuff. Otherwise you'll be put in the category of "just doing an easy/vacation rotation" and given a cursory demonstration and told to "go study".

Also be aware that both path and rads rotations can be kind of boring even for someone who's interested in the field because you're basically shadowing and not allowed to do anything. If you're in the first category above and the residents like you, you might get to run the bowel on an autopsy or cut a placenta frozen section.

Let me emphasize this. Showing interest in path is big. I got to do a s*** load at Bethesda Naval in @the 70’s. It was great during a med school rotation.


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