Questions about pathology

[haphalos]

Hi, I'm really interested in pathology but am a bit concerned about the future job prospects and general stability of the field. I was wondering if there are some residents or grads that could answer some questions I had?

1. How is the fellowship situation in Canada? Do most residents have to turn to the US to get fellowships?

2. Do US fellowships for pathology require the USMLE?

3. Even with a fellowship, how difficult is it to get a job in a desired location (ie. ~1 hour radius of GTA/Vancouver)?

Thanks a lot for your help!

[GrouchoMarx]

6 hours ago, haphalos said:

Hi, I'm really interested in pathology but am a bit concerned about the future job prospects and general stability of the field. I was wondering if there are some residents or grads that could answer some questions I had?

1. How is the fellowship situation in Canada? Do most residents have to turn to the US to get fellowships?

2. Do US fellowships for pathology require the USMLE?

3. Even with a fellowship, how difficult is it to get a job in a desired location (ie. ~1 hour radius of GTA/Vancouver)?

Thanks a lot for your help!

1. You can get fellowships in canada at certain centers but they are limited.

2. as far as i know, yes

3. very hard and will only get harder by the time youre out in the workforce should you choose pathology. the field is consolidating and there is heavy recruitment of foreign trained pathologists.

[Educated Se7en]

1. As mentioned earlier, there are relatively few fellowship positions in Canada right now. If you look you can definitely find some (esp. Forensics, Cytopathology, Lymphoma, and rarely Dermpath). I would say the trend is about 50/50 for people actually getting fellowships, and of those getting fellowships about 50% go to the US and the rest stay in Canada.

2. Whether you need USMLE depends on your IMG status. If you graduate from a Canadian medical school and residency program, many of the US schools will let you perform a fellowship without USMLE. Really, pathology residency/fellowship is a way for US hospitals to run the lab with cheap labour. Generally, Canadian trained pathology residents have have a desirable novelty in the US because we have a longer training with a very different curriculum style, which creates well rounded pathologists. However, if you did medical school outside of Canada (even if you complete your pathology residency in Canada) you will need all your USMLE scores to apply for a fellowship.

3. If you go into Anatomical Pathology, you will need a fellowship to work in GTA or Vancouver. In all of Canada these are generally the more difficult locations to get jobs. Often, it is the luck of the draw, as a position may become available for a specific pathology position requiring specific fellowship training that you might just have. Alternatively, if you train in these institutions they will sometimes look to the residents to fill potential future openings (e.g. a Head & Neck pathologist is retiring and you impress most of the staff, so the faculty will help you in securing a fellowship with an understanding that you return to fill the position).