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Yet another resident weighs in on the current pathology job market
- Thread starter WEBB PINKERTON
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Unfortunately this pathologist is incorrect in her assumption that the"boonies" are underserved in pathology. I know many people who work the "boonies" who are barraged with competition for every sebk and gallbladder.
Additionally, she is also incorrect that dermpaths are in high demand. There is no high demand for dermpath except demand for the specimens!
Find me one dermatologist in this country who can't get his/her specimens read!!!!
Additionally, she is also incorrect that dermpaths are in high demand. There is no high demand for dermpath except demand for the specimens!
Find me one dermatologist in this country who can't get his/her specimens read!!!!
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One of the first discussions I had on the DP fellowship interview trail last year with an interviewer was about the poor job market.
Kinda doubt they just made that up just for sake of conversation.
Kinda doubt they just made that up just for sake of conversation.
That is unfortunate. It doesn't exactly add up to much leverage for new pathologists. Most pathologists don't know what leverage is, especially those in academia.
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Yep. It didn't affect any decision I made, as I've been working toward DP since med school...however, I'm a Derm resident (leverage).
I get the impression that the trend may be to lock down DP fellowship positions. That of course is prudent if the job market is that unstellar.
I get the impression that the trend may be to lock down DP fellowship positions. That of course is prudent if the job market is that unstellar.
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Dermpath is not necessarily in high demand. Just a popular choice for residents to say they want to match into (at least when they enter residency). I know pathology trained DP's who tell me that the market is tight and that the preference is for dermatology trained DP's. These are pathology trained DP's who are having trouble getting jobs where they do only DP. Most DP's I know, especially if in private practice and not in academia, also do general surgpath. Pretty much MOST path subspecialties are saturated and the "impending retirement cliff" may never come as older pathologists who are not as old as those retiring will probably just fill their place.
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Underserved boonies and impending retirement are both BS. You know the job market sucks when that's your hope for finding employment. I don't see rural areas being underserved and I live on the freaking Kentucky border servicing patients in VERY rural areas of Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana. There is competition from all over. This isn't Tajikistan for god's sake. It's in formalin, there are roads (although some may be dirt, gravel) so you can send it anywhere.
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Whomever reponded to that lady's blog using my name, please use your own name next time. Only a coward would do something like that.
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Dermpath demand has fallen, I think. Some of this is due to lab consolidation and efficiency (which means more cases per pathologist) but also due to increasing dermpath fellowship spots. I think it was around about the time I was finishing residency that the number of dermpath spots seemed to jump quite significantly. I don't have any data on that though, it just seemed like lots of places were starting to advertise new dermpath fellowships.
Dermpath is competitive - it's getting rarer to see general pathologists who "also do dermpath." Dermpaths tend to be close to 100% specialized these days.
Dermpath is competitive - it's getting rarer to see general pathologists who "also do dermpath." Dermpaths tend to be close to 100% specialized these days.
I wonder how many unemployed/underemployed pathologists does a person need to talk with before they finally get it in their head that the shortage is complete crap? At a conference with a bunch of people looking for work....crappy sign. People trying to network with a bunch of people who are not hiring and just trying to keep their specimens.
There is no shortage in rural america. Name one hospital/town where it exists. Any town, no matter how rural/small. Name one! Yes, just freaking one.
Sad to see the other thread...people hoping to match into this crap. Not having job security sucks.
There is no shortage in rural america. Name one hospital/town where it exists. Any town, no matter how rural/small. Name one! Yes, just freaking one.
Sad to see the other thread...people hoping to match into this crap. Not having job security sucks.
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Leave it to a resident to tell us how the job market is when they've never looked for one. But it's a "blog" so I guess they can spout whatever they want. Saying there's a "pathologist shortage in terms of misdistribution geographically" is a bit of an oxymoron and doesn't equate to, nor should be interpreted as an overall shortage of total number of pathologists in rural areas. Of course there are more docs concentrated in big cities just like any other specialty and the rural places are going to require a fewer total number of physicians including pathologists. And these places usually have some old stalwart who's been hunkered down there for the past thirty plus years with surrounding practices chomping at the bits waiting till they retire or kick the bucket so they can be taken over.
They also state that there is not a surplus in dermpath compared to heme, but there's not exactly a dearth either. I remember having dinner awhile back with a dermpath colleague and his dept. chairman who both practiced in a hospital located in a small town. This colleague was recently hired because the practice specifically wanted a dermpath and the job was advertised as such. When I asked the chair if he got a lot of applications, I was a slightly surprised when he said yes; given this being more subspecialized, and no less being located in a non-urban area. He said he figured the job market must be bad because he received many CV's including those from general pathologists as well as dermpaths who were coming from places like WashU, HMS, etc. to Smalltown, USA. Of course this is anecdotal, and it's not to say that everbody from the ivory towers is going to wind up stuck in Texarkana, Arkansas where the best meal around town is pig ear sandwiches and moon pies at the local truck stop, but you get the drift...
They also state that there is not a surplus in dermpath compared to heme, but there's not exactly a dearth either. I remember having dinner awhile back with a dermpath colleague and his dept. chairman who both practiced in a hospital located in a small town. This colleague was recently hired because the practice specifically wanted a dermpath and the job was advertised as such. When I asked the chair if he got a lot of applications, I was a slightly surprised when he said yes; given this being more subspecialized, and no less being located in a non-urban area. He said he figured the job market must be bad because he received many CV's including those from general pathologists as well as dermpaths who were coming from places like WashU, HMS, etc. to Smalltown, USA. Of course this is anecdotal, and it's not to say that everbody from the ivory towers is going to wind up stuck in Texarkana, Arkansas where the best meal around town is pig ear sandwiches and moon pies at the local truck stop, but you get the drift...
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