Hello im new pathology resident in europe, i have been in this residency since 6 months and now the other new resident with whom we did the grossing in our pathology left the job (we took turns weekly, 1 week him, 1 week me). Now we are only 4 people - the boss, one young specialist, one older resident (5 years in patho) and me. They all want that from this moment only i do all the grossing and tell me that they did the first 1-2 years of residency only grossing 8 hours every day. In our pathology grossing takes on average 2 hours a day (for example 15 small stuff - appendix, gallblader, tonsils, blood vessels, hysterektomy, skin, amputate, cysts; and 2 big stuff - hemikolektomy, whipple, breast, kidney) and maximum 4 hours a day. I feel sick when i gross long periods of time im not sure if i can do this alone so long. My questions are: How much time a day and how long in residency did you gross? Is the grossing volume in the pathology that i am small, average, big?

For some background context I am a PGY-1 in internal medicine. Considering trying to switch to pathology by applying next match cycle (September 2025). I initially applied to IM because I enjoyed the broad pathophysiology and team dynamic the specialty offered but now I find myself becoming increasingly burnt out from the workflow and patient interaction in IM and can’t picture myself continuing my career in IM.

I am a US-IMG, YOG is 2022, Step scores are 251/270/253. I have some volunteer experiences in my CV but nothing pathology related. I’m planning on speaking to my program director and letting them know about my intentions to switch and hopefully spend some elective time with the pathology program at the same hospital to get a better idea of what pathology residency looks like and to show interest in the field.

What would my chances of matching into pathology be ? Any similar stories of people switching from IM? I’d appreciate any advice or suggestions to increase my chances

i’m really interested in pathology and histopathology and especially forensic pathology, im doing a diploma in biomedical science and i know 100% i’m not capable of medical school, even more, residency. is there an alternative route? like how about if i want to be an assistant or something? i have loved the entire aespect of the job for years now, and if i can’t go med school i guess i just have to work in med lab tech or histology. But i was just wondering, i dont live in US so there is no college, free diploma its undergrad uni.

Hey, I'm an M3 whose interest in pathology is growing. I just finished all my rotations, and I'm looking at what to specialize in. I was almost dead set on IM throughout med school, but hated my IM rotation and hated hospital medicine in general. Was looking at options, and nobody has ever brought up pathology while here, so I never thought about it. However, I found out about it now, and TBH, it seems pretty cool. I'm looking to do a rotation in it in the upcoming year to get a better idea about what it's like.

I just had a few questions based on what I've read on here

1. One thing is that I'm much less interested in patient interactions than I was at the beginning of clinicals. One question I have, though, is are there ever times where you miss them or it feels too lonely (not sure if that's the best way to put it)?

2. I heard about how much you guys have to study. Is it really like preclinicals where it's PPT and lecture heavy and you spend a ton of hours at home studying? How much do you study at home/on weekends? Asking because I absolutely hated preclinicals since it was pretty much purely PPT lectures and videos at home. Didn't mind studying after clinicals since I was sort of applying stuff we learn during the day, then coming home and doing QBanks and Anki and sometimes a resource book.

3. How research-heavy is the specialty? I don't have that much research right now. Do I need to get some more before applying?

4. Piggybacking off of that, what should I do to learn more about the field and see if it's truly for me?

Hello guys, I'm now a second year resident in pathology. During my brief training I've seen 2 or 4 times my colleagues receiving cases of nephrectomy and colectomy from a same patient. In the colon it's usually an adenocarcinoma, in the kidney a different type of cancer each time. Yesterday I received the same thing, and I started wondering if it was a thing in other places ?

Also I wanted to know, from your valuable experience, is this topic of association interesting enough to make a '' case sefies '' about it ? If yes, what are the things that can be '' relevant '' and '' interesting '' to focus on exactly?

Thanks in advance!

Dear r/pathology,
Do you ink your thyroidectomies before grossing?
If yes, why? Sorry if the question seems ignorant, I understand some labs do and some don't....
Would appreciate your feedback. Thank you!

Do you have a colleague who signs both equally (let's say one week of each service)? Will it be possible to do it in a private practice setting and avoid surg path coverage whatsoever?

Do you prefer one over the other depending on different anatomic sites or different scenarios? If so, why?

What are the major differences in terms of salary and difficulty and case volume?

First off, I thought this sub was mostly just US pathology but I recently saw a post asking about pathology in Australia which got a few answers. So, I thought I'd try my luck.

I should be graduating with an MMed in ChemPath next year from a South African university (i.e., a fully fledged / board certified Chemical Pathologist in South Africa). I would like to move over to Oz (ideally Brissie) ASAP. The RCPA website is quite helpful and detailed but I'd like to know if anyone has actually done this in, say, the last 10 years or so?

I plan on visiting next year around August.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I am applying to Hempath Fellowship programs and have applied to a few already. I just wanted to know if anyone could suggest any good programs. My preference is big cities at east cost mainly Thanks

Hello I'm a non us img who fully matched in 2024 but couldn't start residency because my country would not give the statement of need (needed for J1 visa) the program i matched with does not sponsor h1b visa. I have been devastated by this event, I decided to start pathology residency in my homecountry to boost my cv then apply for 2026, but again I could not start path residency in my country because I got ill the day of residency exam(we have to take an exam to access specialties) I've been really distressed by all the above & honestly don't know what to do or what to think anymore Should I do observerships? Or can i work in a lab? What's the best job to show sincere interest in pathology

I am going through a very depressing time any advice would be useful Thank you!

Will eventually the manual diff count be obsolete and we can only focus on morphology?

I got couple of IVs on October 18 and since then I got nothing. Are the programs done sending IVs? or just because I am an IMG and still there is time for me to wait?

Hello Pathologists! I’m a PGY5 looking at a career in pathology in Australia. I am struggling to decide whether I want to do AP or General. I love histo and the lab, but I love the idea of the broad areas of study offered by histo. One minor concern is that AP may not be varied enough? I do love looking at slides and diagnostics, but how much of your time is spent doing other things? Is it 8 hours of microscope every day? I really like the idea of getting into teaching and research, and being part of MDTs, and all that kind of work. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Any kind of ‘average day’ description of general or anatomical pathology would be amazing. Thanks very much in advance 😊👍

Seeking Guidance on Pathology Research Opportunities Post-USMLE Steps.I recently completed my USMLE step 1 and will be writing my USMLE step 2 in coming months.I am an IMG from Bangladesh

Hello everyone,

I recently completed my USMLE Step 1 and am now looking to get involved in pathology research to strengthen my application for residency. I’m particularly interested in gaining experience with research methodologies, data analysis, and hopefully contributing to some publications.

Does anyone have recommendations on where to start? Should I reach out to academic labs, or are there specific programs or institutions known for accepting medical students in a research role? Also, any tips on contacting potential mentors or structuring my inquiry emails would be super helpful!

I’d really appreciate any advice or personal experiences, especially if you’ve taken a similar path in pathology. Thanks in advance!

I just received an email from ABPath. They say I get the result in December. Fyi, I took the forensic pathology board exam this year. Any ideas?

PGY1. At a "cush" program regarding grossing. We're on a 3 day cycle, and the service is not reliant on residents. This means we rarely if ever do biopsies. We have a checklist of things to gross as we progress.

I thought I was doing fine until a rotating senior resident from another program said this is like being on vacation, and that I won't be prepared for the rigors of a good fellowship, particularly at their "big-name" program.

My seniors said that the focus is on seeing more slides and minimizing non-educational grossing. But some were uncertain since obv they've only ever been at this program. I recall from auditions that most other programs have residents gross much more than I do.

Should I bring this up to my PD as a valid concern, or not get psyched out?

Basically the title - which transfusion medicine fellowship programs have the best PBM training?

Currently a PGY2 interested in transfusion, and I've heard a lot about where to go if you're interested in apheresis, cell therapy, sickle cell disease, etc. - but I'm most interested in patient blood management and want to go somewhere with perioperative blood management, hands-on management of product inventory, product triaging, and so on. Cedars-Sinai seems to be well-known for blood bank training, but I don't know if that is exactly what I'm looking for.

I appreciate any insights y'all might have :)

Edit: Conversely, if there are any programs to avoid because they don't do any transfusion management, I'd love to hear about those too!

What types of jobs would allow a 6-month split between working in the U.S. and internationally each year as a pathologist ? Are there specific roles or fields (like academic, consulting, telepathology, locums) that offer this kind of flexibility?

Curious if anyone has seen or experienced this kind of setup. Thanks!