Comments on: 5 Reasons Why You Should Consider Pathology

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 21:58:19 +0000

I’m currently a medical school applicant, and I’m going to take the MCAT next summer (2012). Pathology is definitely my top specialty of choice…provided I get into medical school. I was a Pathologist’s Assistant major at my undergraduate college (St. John’s University….one of the very few colleges that offered this on the bachelor’s level). So right there, I have an excellent set-up for this particular field.

My undergraduate GPA is 3.97. The MCAT is the only hurdle that I’m dreading. Even if I get a sub-par MCAT score, I should still apply to med school regardless. With my GPA and experience as a non-traditional student, I think my application would get a deeper look. They shouldn’t just toss my application to the side if they see a low MCAT score with a high GPA. According to my own psychological thinking, I believe that med schools should look at the rest of my application to figure out why there’s a difference there. And when they see the high GPA with the relevant experience, I actually just may get an interview. But that’s just what I think might happen when I put myself in the shoes of the admissions committee. Also, I plan on volunteering from now until next summer (maybe 3 days a week at local hospitals), and I’ll also shadow physicians in other specialties (averaging around 50 to 60 hours).

Wouldn’t you think that this overall set-up would grant me at least an interview, even with a sub-par MCAT score? I’m guessing yes, but what do you guys think? If an interview is granted, I know I’ll ace that.

By: Victoria

Victoria — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:16:49 +0000

I’ve heard it it very difficult to find jobs after Path residency. Is this true?

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 18:54:44 +0000

The OP is absolutely right about one thing. Path is becoming competitive. Applications from US seniors are up 33% this year. Some places have more than _four hundred_ applications from US Seniors. The typical rate is about 250-300, with 300 or so IMGs. Pathology is going to go the way of Radiation Oncology if this holds. This could be bad too; I personally love my histology and pathology rotations, enjoy slides and making diagnosis, and research. But if people are going into path for the wrong reasons, what does that say? Well at any rate, with the downturn in the economy med schools are going to have 100,000 people applying for 16,000 ish spots and if there is massive competition for pathology, radiation oncology etc, then there will still be good people doing surgery.

By: LifeSucks

LifeSucks — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:54:41 +0000

Is there anyway after doing my PGY-1 this year that I can switch to pathology next year? Would I have to reenter the Match? Would my current medicine program write me a mean letter just because I bailed out of their 3 yr commitment? [I should say 'unwritten' 3 yr agreement since my contract is only for 1 yr after all.]

By: Hoover

Hoover — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 00:11:22 +0000

That’s certainly a concern Eric. However, the digital media of radiology studies make it slightly easier to outsource radiology reads moreso than pathology slides.

Until pathology goes to a fully digitized format, it most likely won’t be cost-effective to prepare slides and then ship them to another location for outsourced reading.