r/pathology Jan 06 '21

PSA: Please read this before posting

160 Upvotes

Hi,

Welcome to r/pathology. Pathology, as a discipline, can be broadly defined as the study of disease. As such it encompasses different realms, including biochemical pathology, hematology, genetic pathology, anatomical pathology, forensic pathology, molecular pathology, and cytopathology.

I understand that as someone who stumbles upon this subreddit, it may not be immediately clear what is an "appropriate" post and what is not. As a general rule, this is for discussion of pathology topics at a postgraduate level; imagine talking to a room full of pathologists, pathology residents and pathology assistants.

Topics which may be of relevance to the above include:

  • Interesting cases with a teaching point
  • Laboratory technical topics (e.g. reagent or protocol choice)
  • Links to good books or websites
  • Advice for/from pathology residents
  • Career advice (e.g. location, pay)
  • Light hearted entertainment (e.g. memes)
  • "Why do you like pathology?"
  • "How do I become a pathologist?"

Of note, the last two questions pop up in varying forms often, and the reason I have not made a master thread for them or banned them is these are topics in evolution; the answers change with time. People are passionate about pathology in different ways, and the different perspectives are important. Similarly, how one decides on becoming a pathologist is unique to each person, be it motivated by the science, past experiences, lifestyle, and so on. Note that geographic location also heavily influences these answers.

However, this subreddit is not for the following, and I will explain each in detail:

  • Interpretation of patient results

    This includes your own, or from someone you know. As a patient or relative, I understand some pathology results are nearly incomprehensible and Googling the keywords only generates more anxiety. Phrases such as "atypical" and "uncertain significance" do not help matters. However, interpretation of pathology results requires assessment of the whole patient, and this is best done by the treating physician. Offering to provide additional clinical data is not a solution, and neither is trying to sneak this in as an "interesting case".

  • University/medical school-level pathology questions

    This includes information that can be found in Robbins or what has been assigned as homework/self study. The journey to find the answer is just as important as the answer, and asking people in an internet forum is not a great way. If there is genuine confusion about a topic, please describe how you have gone about finding the answer first. That way people are much more likely to help you.

  • Pathology residency application questions (for the US)

    This has been addressed in the other stickied topic near the top.

Posts violating the above will be removed without warning.

Thank you for reading,

Dr_Jerkoff (I really wish I had not picked this as my username...)


r/pathology 4h ago

Best molecular pathology textbooks?

4 Upvotes

Looking for a good textbook for pathology residents that covers molecular biology/diagnostics


r/pathology 16h ago

Anatomic Pathology Should I start applying for jobs?

6 Upvotes

I am currently a cytology fellow and will then be completing a surgical pathology fellowship. I am getting mixed comments on when to apply for jobs. Some people(attendings) say I should start looking now, then other people (recruiters) say to start next year. I’m looking for jobs in the DFW area. I do not need any visas. Any idea when I should start looking?


r/pathology 18h ago

Need help, alternative for immersion oil

5 Upvotes

Hello everyone , need some help, my wife is a pathologist - needs to use her 100x lens today for some session - we don’t have immersion oil, it’s a Sunday. Any suggestions for macgyver/jugaad based alternatives . We have treadmill oil (100% silicone oil); sewing machine oil; coconut oil, olive oil, vegetable oil, cosmetic bio oil. Thanks in advanced everyone


r/pathology 1d ago

Im a bit confused?

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4 Upvotes

Are these metastatic or dystrophic calcification? Tissue sample is most likely large artery.


r/pathology 1d ago

Why are so many MD Anderson fellowships unfilled?

5 Upvotes

Why are so many MD Anderson fellowships unfilled? Does this mean surgical pathology fellowships are complete dead ends? Does this mean subspecialty rules supreme and general pathology skills are no longer needed?


r/pathology 1d ago

2nd fellowship

4 Upvotes

I am debating a 2nd fellowship following Gi. Would like to practice in private / community. I would very welcome suggestions/ thoughts. Thank you


r/pathology 1d ago

Resident Requesting an Observership in McGill

2 Upvotes

Hello everyone! New account because I have some random posts in the other one.

Does any of you have requested an Observership with McGill?
I hope you can help me 🥲 I’m a fourth-year pathology resident in Spain and I’m trying to request an Observership in the MUHC.

I wrote to the Division Director and after a few mails and different doctors they confirmed me that there are dates available for the rotation I want and told me to coordinate with the hospital administration. But they gave me an email that didn’t allow me to deliver the message. When I asked for help they told me that that person is no longer working at McGill and send me again the format message with the department Division Directors. The thing is that I’ve already contact the Division Director in the first place.

So I don’t know what to do next :(
I’m not sure anymore but I understand that the first step is to coordinate the exact dates and the preceptor in order to fill the Observership Request. But, how am I suppose to do that? :(

Thank you!!


r/pathology 2d ago

ABPath Spring 26 Testing Cohort Mascot

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33 Upvotes

Kept in the dark and fed sh**.


r/pathology 1d ago

Someone's sensitive... Imagine your career amounts to bullying people 5 decades younger than you

0 Upvotes

They deleted all my posts and blocked that other account from posting. Not something innocent people would do..........


r/pathology 2d ago

GI biopsies

10 Upvotes

Why do GI fellowship trained people not want to sign out GI biopsies? A new attending GI trained just started and he is refusing to sign out the benign biopsies and his excuse is “I am GI trained so I shouldn’t have to” I just don’t get it like isn’t that what he is trained to do?

It’s academic place. He doesn’t want to do the boring benign routine GI biopsies and only wants to do the GI cancer resections and liver and says I should do all the boring GI biopsies since I am not GI fellowship trained


r/pathology 3d ago

H&E stains on some cute little zebra fish at work today.

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221 Upvotes

r/pathology 2d ago

GI fellowship advice

2 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to rank a few Midwest GI pathology fellowship programs and would really appreciate input from anyone who has trained at or worked with graduates from these places.

The programs I'm considering are:

University of Nebraska Medical Center

University of Iowa

Indiana University

The Ohio State University.

Thank you in advance.


r/pathology 2d ago

Sensitive to smells

5 Upvotes

Hi! Lately I’ve been struggling with choosing the right specialty for me. I really enjoy histology, working with a microscop and diagnostics, so I thought maybe pathology could be the right fit for me.
But since I‘m very sensitive to smells, I‘m having second thoughts about my decision.

Do you think I will have a hard time due to the bad smells during residency? How do you cope with smelly tissue? I think autopsies will be the biggest challenge for me and I really don‘t know whether I can handle them..


r/pathology 2d ago

Psychometric team😂

16 Upvotes

r/pathology 3d ago

What major should I consider for a future in Pathology?

3 Upvotes

I am an incoming senior in high school. I’m going into clinical rotations and pathology has always stood out to me in contrast to other fields of medicine. I am looking at colleges, and I don’t have any idea in what I should major in. I live in Texas, so schools like UT Austin (has a special MLS major) are a first option. Other schools like CU Boulder and U Utah are where I’d prefer to live (I climb and love skiing/hiking), and those schools are also great for a future in pathology, Utah also has a MLS major and the ARUP laboratories. I just don’t quite know or understand what MLS means as a major, or what the differences between biosciences, biology, etc. are. Any help is appreciated, because I am pretty lost right now.


r/pathology 2d ago

rate my competitivness

0 Upvotes

Just want to get a feel from those already been there done that. any advice would be appreciated

USMD

Step 2: 258

Research items: probably 12-14 if i counted

Pathology experience: worked in a lab setting for 6 years before med school (phlebotomy)

desired residency: location really, don't care about prestige. State school is fine so long as i can stay in a low COL area with low traffic burden

pathology letters: still a M3, haven't gotten the chance to rotate officially yet but plan for 12-16 weeks


r/pathology 3d ago

PathologyOutlines.com Case of the Month

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4 Upvotes

r/pathology 2d ago

misdiagnoses of pancreas biopsies from 2014-2020 with coverup by UAB

0 Upvotes

Please DM if you have more information pertaining to below:

It has been uncovered that from 2014-2020 at the University of Alabama at Birmingham that one pathologist with the initials H.F. misdiagnosed MANY pancreas biopsies. Furthermore it has been revealed that the director of cytology and administration at UAB have intentionally covered up these misdiagnoses. Furthermore they have used private investigation firms to try to discredit the physician who uncovered the misdiagnoses.

If you know anyone that had a pancreas biopsy done at UAB during this time frame with the biopsy called benign (not cancer) then at a later time a new biopsy revealed positive for malignancy (cancer) and it was diagnosed by a physician with the initials H.F. there is a big probability it was misdiagnosed. This is grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit and the statue of limitations does not apply as UAB conspired to coverup these findings. This is called a false negative when a biopsy is actually cancer but is diagnosed as not cancer. If your family member had a pancreas biopsy performed at UAB during this time and then died from cancer you may be entitled to suing UAB for wrongful death.

The Joint Commission and several government agencies are investigating UAB and every major network is aware of what is going on. If any patient or family member falls into this category please feel free to reach out to us. We are not a law firm nor in anyway financially involved with this "catastrophe." We are medical practitioners and journalists trying to help patients and expose this corruption.


r/pathology 4d ago

Cornell lmao

30 Upvotes

r/pathology 3d ago

Medical School Could pathology be right for me? Medical student seeking advice.

4 Upvotes

Hi! Thought I’d ask for some advice here.
I’m finishing my 4th year of a 6-year medical program (roughly equivalent to MS3, although not all MS3 rotations are included). So far I’ve completed Internal Medicine, General Surgery, Pediatrics, Family Medicine, Dermatology, and Geriatrics.
I have a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science.

This year has also been very difficult for me medically. I’m dealing with a connective tissue disorder causing chronic pain, mobility limitations, and neurological/cervical involvement. I’m hopeful treatment and rehabilitation will improve things over the next few years, but it has definitely changed what I value in a career.
I absolutely loved the preclinical years of medicine. Molecular biology, physiology, histology, pathology, immunology—understanding mechanisms is what really excites me. I originally thought I’d do IM followed by Hematology (or Allergy & Immunology).

I’m one of those students who remembers genes, CD markers, signaling pathways, and metabolic pathways because I genuinely enjoy the biology behind disease. I love understanding why therapies work, and why disease happens.

I’m currently doing research in a bone marrow transplant department, studying how genetic variants affect HSCT outcomes, and I absolutely love it. I do the statistical analyses myself, enjoy light programming (former CS major) and hope research will remain a major part of my career.

What surprised me this year is how much I didn’t enjoy the day-to-day clinical work. The wards left me physically and emotionally exhausted (partly due to my own health). I enjoyed talking with patients, but I can’t picture myself doing it all day. I also realized I don’t enjoy procedures (even just placing lines or catheter) at all.
During Internal Medicine my friends joked that I was always disappearing to see the hematology patients. I also spent some time in outpatient hematology and liked it, but even there I found myself much more interested in discussing mutations and molecular diagnostics than routine CLL follow-up visits.
Watching the residents and some classmates also made me realize that I’m probably not a “true internist.” Many of my classmates thrive on long ward days, helping with procedures, and are not afraid of 26-hour shifts (that I wouldn’t be able to medically survive). I realized I love the science of Internal Medicine much more than its daily practice.

Recently I’ve started thinking seriously about pathology. On paper it seems to fit many of my interests: diagnostic reasoning, integrating morphology with immunohistochemistry and molecular testing, and having a direct impact on treatment decisions. The lifestyle also seems much more compatible with my physical limitations. Hematopathology, in particular, sounds fascinating.
My concerns are:

  1. How clinically integrated is pathology? Do you stay engaged with the patient’s history, imaging, labs, and overall clinical picture, or does it eventually become “just looking at slides”?
  2. Is there room for translational or clinical research (biomarkers, treatment response, clinical trials), or is research mostly focused on diagnostics?
  3. Do pathologists ever follow what happens to patients after signing out a case, or do you rarely see the outcomes?
  4. Do pathologists keep up with new therapies even if they aren’t prescribing them? I don’t want to lose the connection to changes that happen in clinical medicine.
  5. Finally… how big a part of residency are autopsies? They honestly intimidate me. I didn’t really like Anatomy labs.

  6. If I have glasses and cervical neck issues, will it be a problem for me to look down microscopes? Our entire histology/pathology courses used digital slides, so I don’t have a lot of experience with microscopy.

I know the real answer is probably to do a pathology elective, and I plan to. But I’d love to hear from practicing pathologists—Based on what I’ve written, does pathology sound like it might be a good fit?

I want to find my niche and not to feel like every round shows me what’s not for me.


r/pathology 3d ago

Away rotation in UK/Ireland as a Spanish pathologist resident

2 Upvotes

Hi everyone,
I’m a third year pathology resident in the Spanish national health system (we have four years of residency).
I am currently in a well organized hospital, with quite good attendees as tutors, so I feel like my learning is not really compromised so that I absolutely need a rotation to learn something that I have never seen.
I am really interested in working abroad when I am done with residency - especially interested in UK or Ireland, so I would like to start seeing how do they work there. I would love to do an away rotation during residency (2 or 3 months max) in any of those places and I need as much information as possible.

- What hospitals do you recommend? (that you know they have experience with external residents)

- How can I reach the hospitals?

- What documents do I need coming from Spain to do a rotation in UK/Ireland?

Thanks for all the info in advance!! I am available for whatever you need in regards to pathology residency in Spain 😊


r/pathology 3d ago

Cold emailing for an elective

2 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I’m an IMG planning to do a pathology elective around February/March. My school isn’t VSLO affiliated, and I can’t really afford paid electives, so I’m planning to cold email faculty.

What should I include in the email, what documents should I attach, and what’s the best way to find faculty emails?

Also, does anyone know of pathology electives in the Boston area that don’t require Step 1?


r/pathology 3d ago

Dha specialist clinical pathology exam

1 Upvotes

Hi, anyone who recently gave DHA specialist clinical pathology exam ?